03.08.08

MEMAG’s Zornhau Plays

Posted in Historical Combat, Longsword, Videos tagged , at 8:34 am by Michael

The Medieval European Martial Arts Guild recently posted their interpretations of the Zornhau plays. I think the technical aspect at the bind is rather good, and that their use of literally accurate Vom Tag stances is also beneficial to the appearance of things. Period dress is something that usually bothers me, but here it seems to be done rather nicely - toned down and realistic, not showy and overbearing. There are some elements that are lacking, most notably a sense of actual martial spirit - the attacks themselves look as if they were done at less than full strength, aiming more to intercept and stop the sword than to attack the individual behind it.

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03.02.08

Spreading the Word

Posted in Longsword, Videos tagged , , at 8:38 am by Michael

Lance Chan, who studies out of Hong Kong if I remember correctly (and I may not!), recently presented some introductory ideas about the German longsword to the Dharma Buddhism Association, making it one of if not the first presentations of German longsword material to the public in Cantonese. The Historical European Martial Arts are growing and spreading.

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02.27.08

The Guild of Armoursmiths Video

Posted in Dagger, Fighting in armour, Longsword, Messer, Videos, Wrestling tagged , , , , at 10:33 am by Michael

The Guild of Armoursmiths have posted a rather good video showing a number of techniques with different weapons including longsword, messer, dagger, wrestling, and fighting in armour.

Take a look: (link)

Longsword Video Critiques

Posted in Longsword, Videos tagged , , at 10:17 am by Michael

Over at SwordForum a few longsword videos have been posted by an individual for critique. The videos are of freeplay, and the responses are both helpful and informative in their own right. There was some interesting discussion about the differences in interpretation and the differences between the masters themselves, especially regarding postures (leaning forward v. remaining upright) and the use of longer swings and greater zufechten distances.

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