Test cutting with sharp swords is a valuable exercise for HEMA practitioners. However, as with any exercise or skill, there must be development and progression in the skill, so that it becomes better and more relevant to the activity in …
Is technique important?
Sometimes there is a question about technique and its importance, compared with other elements of fighting, martial arts, and/or sports. Often some people will suggest that historically accurate technique is what verifies our practice of HEMA; other …
Is your art really “a killing art”?
Back in September, Kaja Sadowski posted quite an interesting question to Facebook for discussion by her friends and colleagues: Honest question for my HEMA friends: if you consider the totality of the sources you work from, to what extent is the …
Training for the future
This article was originally posted on Encased in Steel on 18th September 2016. It has been edited and improved for posting here. Although I enjoy my HEMA training as it happens, I make a point of training for the future. A few months ago, I turned …
Attacking the hands in sparring
This article was originally posted on Encased in Steel on 28th August 2015. It has been edited and improved for posting here. Every so often, I find a discussion (online and in person, in roughly equal quantities) where people debate the merits …
Review of “Cutting with the Medieval Sword”
I have been looking forward to the publication of Cutting with the Medieval Sword by Michael Edelson, and now that it is finally in print, I bought a copy immediately. It arrived a few days later and I immersed myself in it over the course of an …
When can we question the masters?
An interesting discussion that arises from time to time in the HEMA community is how much we can trust what the authors of our source material wrote, when we may in fact have better ideas and can improve upon these methods, and generally: when can we …
Ethical considerations with antique swords, part 2: cutting
This article was originally posted on Encased in Steel on 12th February 2016. It has been edited and improved for posting here. This is going to be a short article, presenting an ethical consideration. The previous article in this series discussed …
Ethical considerations with antique swords, part 2: cuttingRead More
Review of the Armour Class sharp longsword (MS6T)
Armour Class has been around in the re-enactment and HEMA communities for at least a couple of decades. Their swords have an excellent name and reputation in re-enactment circles, although they haven’t always been so popular in HEMA clubs: the blunt …
You cannot hide from boolean data
One of the most important developments in my practice of fencing was when I started doing test cutting, because this gave me boolean data, and either I succeeded or I failed. There was no longer any way to hide behind an excuse for why a technique …
Learning the position of Vom Tag
When I teach the position of Vom Tag to beginners, I do it very differently these days to what I used to teach even a year ago. My understanding of the Vier Leger (the Four Positions) has changed in general, for the better I think, and my cutting …