The Liechtenauer glosses speak of the buffalo, and not in a very complimentary fashion. However, we should not make the naïve assumption that the buffalo is a fencer who is strong but dumb, nor should we assume that the buffalo is a bad fencer. …
Thoughts about the Schaitelhaw and fencing from Alber
The Schaitelhaw is one of the most difficult strikes in the Liechtenauer tradition of fencing, and most people struggle to find a good interpretation of the technique that they can rely upon during sparring and tournaments. I will be the first to …
Thoughts about the Schaitelhaw and fencing from AlberRead More
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 …
Safe training swords part 3: the schilt / ricasso
This is the third part of a short series of articles on safety features on swords. The first part was concerned with "tipping solutions" for the point; the second part was concerned with measuring flexibility for the thrust; and …
Meyer’s four openings drill (aka Meyer’s square)
In his 1570 book, Joachim Meyer included a brief paragraph and a small diagram to describe an exercise for learning how to strike to the four openings (the Vier Blossen) on an opponent. Both the diagram and the exercise have become popular in the …
Trying to simulate a real fight
When people design rules for a HEMA tournament, a common idea is that the competition should simulate a real fight as closely as possible. This always involves a series of assumptions about what a “real fight” is, exactly, and also about how a person …
Unhelpful advice part 1: “Make yourself a smaller target”
This is the first article in a short series, discussing common pieces of advice that sound helpful but in fact can be detrimental to your practice of some HEMA systems. A common piece of advice in HEMA is to stand in profile, with your side …
Unhelpful advice part 1: “Make yourself a smaller target”Read More