Your to se to epee, small sword system & similar. A historic spada striscia=strip/flay sword could cut as well any cruciform sword associated with the middle ages. Mind a rapiere means rasper/grater sword! flick, wrist & elbow cur so any form of cordazo as the Spaniard's call it are more then lethal but that is not how historic rapiers were used push, draw or best of all one rakes/grates great slabs of flesh of the opponent. Thrust as in the point is only 1/3 of what is involved in swordsmanship with a rapier be it one handed like a dress sword or your small sword that has no real weight or meat to the blade which is perfectly usable but it can't function a fraction as well as a rapier is suppose to though your is far easier to carry. Would I be correct in guessing your blade is about 600grams to 700grams? A dress sword which was a late middles ages & renaissance side arm weight about kilo to 1.4 kilo. On a side note the 1st weapon referred to as a rapier was Tuck/Estoc or pazerstretcher all being the same sword but the latter is german & the middle is French. A tuck id the original rapier from the 14th being a 2 handed sword that did have complex hilts from as early as the 15th century. The dress sword would later derive from the tuck in likely Spain, Italy & or France as the exact date is hard to pin down. The tuck is a specialised blade for fighting armoured opponents that was derived from the cruciform knightly sword that most people associate with the middles ages though many types of sword existed in the middles ages like the rapier in 2handed then later the more iconic 1 handed form. A weapon is only useful if one understands of why & for what it came to be. I hope my understanding of polemology=warfare studies was helpful on this matter Sidney. Enjoy what you will but you are to comfortable in fencing in my opinion. A bit of history & slicing an hog carcase for slaughter could teach you much. My Great grand father John & uncle Arthur were uninterrupted swordsmen up to ww2. My god father was a butcher which taught me much about blades & anatomy through trailed error under instruction. You treat blades with to much prestige when it is really a sharp shaped lump of iron for a purpose! ''Simplicity is beauty'' as we Engineers say for complexity gets in the way from the fundamental truths of matters. Personally, no film or display has ever shown a historic rapier or knightly sword duel or conflict as it was for it would likely be to gruesome to display. If they are struck through quick & clean then you going to rend chunks of them or 1/2 sword the point into gaps if the combatants is in plated harness. I have hacked up a hog with a carcase splitter or broke a rabbits neck in a snare & most everyone gasps, is in tear or shock & that is from adults! My elders are all ex forces & to end a resisting human is a far more grizzly affair if not using a gun! Kind regards!
First time watcher, now subscriber. Greetings from México!! Been doing HEMA for 2 years now, love rapier. I am saddened that we had pretty notorious fencing schools down from the border because of the whole spanish heritage and colonial times, and even though in modern days it is treated as a sport (and it is oodles of fun), it has long been a martial art as you point out in this video. I hope you keep on recovering from your injuries, you did great and had fun! Also nice to see Martin Fabian is your friend, had the pleasure of having a class with him in this year's Encuentro de Artes Marciales Históricas Europeas in Toluca. I am glad I found your channel, love to see what fellow swordsmen share! In your experience, Ms. Sidney, what is the rapier school/style that you enjoy the most? I am partial to destreza, but have dabbled in italian and german styles because it is nice to learn new things and also broaden one's repertoire of stuff to try. Also, I see you missed the chance to pull a "I am not left handed!" Princess Bride quip! (well, right handed in your case as you expertly demonstrated). Best wishes and warm regards. Will look forward to more of your quality content while enjoying your backlog.
You know. It is actually pretty awesome to see a duel with 18th century weapons happening in a modern 21st century concrete-and-glass server room. Glad to see HEMA slowly becoming more mainstream and stylish.
"We are exhausted after 30 minutes of continous fencing." I can imagine. I did 8 fights (longsword) in 3 hours yesterday, and I can still feel it all over.
Having trained rapier for sometime now I gotta say it might be the heaviest weapon in HEMA despite how quick it is to maneuver. Having to hold a 41” blade arm extended tires you out way faster than a sabre, backsword, or longsword.
@@appletree13 I actually don’t think so. As big as the great swords are their usage is still based on leverage instead of using pure strength to wield. They also are not held in an extended position like rapiers (even in long point those swords are held not only with two hands but also much closer to the body than rapiers)
@@appletree13i think the thing is, most weapons that seem heavy solely off weighing them usually use leveraging with 2 hands, therefore requiring relatively less strain on under-exercised muscles. a rapier however, is held on one hand and requires a lot of wrist movements, which seems more exhausting than levering a longsword id say
@Zoey-- dog attacks are getting way too frequent. I was getting in my van last week and a big but young dog was loose. It ran up to have a go but luckily I had my laptop bag in my hand. I swapped it to my left hand as that is my buckler hand and fended it off. HEMA proving it still uses in this modern day
Unfortunately, I can't fence anymore for unforeseeable time in the future (a severe shoulder injury that was unrelated to HEMA) and I usually avoid videos like these as they make me depressed since I am unable to enjoy what I truly loved for so many years, but for the first time in a long period I thoroughly enjoyed watching a HEMA-related video and I'm happy that I clicked on it. It was concise, informational, and very fun and interesting to watch. By the way, I always loved the "Rob Roy" and "The Duelists" fights. I was today years old when I found out that they were choreographed by the same person.
I feel your pain. First had my armored combat kit stolen, then cancer that caused 60 lbs/27 kg weight loss. Four years unable to do anything. Then a friend said "You want to learn Fiore?"
As someone who exclusively practices destreza and don't have many fighter from different school around me, this is an interesting video to watch. There are some: "huh, I can do that?" and "wait, why didn't she do this" moments that make me wish I live in the area where we have more rapier fencers to exchange knowledge with (through spar!).
@MacanWigit Are you ased in Europe and if so, have you heard about the Malta fencing festival in November each year? Worth a weeks holiday to get 3 or 4 days of tuition and sparring. If you are UK based and cannot afford the plane ticket there is Swordpunk weekends twice a year. I bit less serious but just as fun.
@@FriedEdd no, I’m in Indonesia, lmao. My school is the only rapier school in the whole country, as far as I know. The rest are individual learners which are far and in between.
Too bad there isn't a lot of video about it on the internet. There are only a few demos, and a few on basic techniques. There is very little about competition or sparring. I'd also love to see more on other Spanish techniques, such as rapier/buckler, rapier/dagger, and Vizcaino razor/cape.
@@CptFugu Yes, there is not that much information around, but I have heard of very good opinions from different fencers on historic records about the Spanish style, and you can tell by battles such as Lepanto that it was legendary (not to diminish any other style ofc). I heard the movie Captain Alatriste: The Spanish Musketeer was good on the fight scenes.
To be fair, the Rapier Duel in 'Princess Bride' is actually really well done and very realistic, they even make mention of various actual Sword fighting styles during the fight.....
There's not a single action in the Prince's Bride duels that are realistic. On the other hand in the Duelist they pretty much are, and for more realism the Polish film the Deluge.
Good cinema/stage sword fights are an extension of the characters wielding the weapons - language in itself. Great scenes are that PLUS all the other ups and downs in a drama, even concluding a story. The end fight in Rob Roy is the best example of this, that I've seen.
Awesome video! Informative and entertaining. Topless duel mention is a nice touch. And The Duelists movie is awesome too :) Question - during your practice duel with Connor, why did his weapon not have the tip cover, like your rapier? Is it blunt enough to not be a concern?
From what I was able to see, his sword had a rolled tip. Usually, you don't need a tip cover for those. I don't know about the rules of HEMA schools in other countries, but in the one I was a part of nobody ever used a tip cover, however our trainers were adamant that when we were purchasing our swords we're to get the one with a rolled tip.
I have loved swords and swordfighting since I was a kid in the '70s. This goes right along with what I have learned. Also, I've been trying forever to learn the name of that movie (the Duelist) since I walked into the last scene (pistol duel) when my father was watching it in my 'tween years. FINALLY I know the movie and can go watch it. Thanks! SO much good information here.
Great video, thanks! Rapier was my HEMA first love, and I have a Castille too :-) However arthritis in the shoulder made it too difficult, so I dropped down to small sword at one end of the spectrum, and long sword (inc, harnessfechten) at the other. Fights against different type of weapons are always fun too!
I have been using a rapier for a couple decades now and I very much thank you for this analysis and fun. Maybe we'll cross steel sometime in the future.
That's some nice fencing, Sidney. In the movie Rob Roy, I thought that Liam Neeson was using a Basket Hilt Arming Sword or Back Sword. Either way it was an awesome blade!
Great video. Your jackets are cool. And half an hour of non-stop fencing would be hard for ANYONE. A partner and I once got kind of forgotten by our coach in a foil class so we just kept on fencing for about 25 minutes and that was good enough for us.... I'm confused though about y'all's handedness. Conner has a left-handed jacket and yours is right-handed, then you both switch hands. What's up with that? And for his high cut, what about parry 5? Not used much (or at all) in foil, but used a lot in sabre. Really nice video! Your counter-attacks to the high line at the end are awesome: great job closing his line as you move in. Beautiful.
Topless fighting makes sense. It removes a source of infection, the clothes as these are often unwashed for days, weeks and if the fibers are pushed into a wound, will cause an infection and death
If they were noble ladies then they may also not have had much available that wasn't extremely restrictive to their movement. Or they may just not have wanted to get blood on their clothes.
I have a strong gutfeeling that infection wasn't the reason for that, but rather to save those expensive dresses they were wearing. Wouldn't really look ladylike if they were wearing bloodstained dresses that are ripped to shredds.
First time on your channel , loved this video , your only disadvantage is you did not have a moustache , hahaha , looking forward to more of your great work , be careful , be safe .
I looked at this channel first for good information about real fencing.The introduction is fantastic and after the topless fencing story, you really made me subscribe hahahahahaha I have to say that at last, I can see a hot girl moving a Rapier and teaching me how is supposed to be done.Most of movies are jus choreography and good explanation of technics is for the real interested in the theme.Whatching the pairing wooow made me think how tech between weapons,weight, and height really affect the fight and don't shows in the movies the way it should be.
Some of my favorite screen fighting scenes with rapiers were in the Three Musketeers and Four Musketeers from the 1970s. They were crazy, and vicious (using improvised weapons, breaking swords, etc.) and didn't seem overly stagy. The blade grab was used in the Four Musketeers and sliced a hand. Great movies.
The best thing William Hobbs did was show how exhausting a long bout can be. He also was more thrust centric than most film sword work, particularly American style sword choreography, that is 19th century saber centric. IMHO, if you want historic then the styles of the 15/16th Boulognaise masters, George Silver, or Meyer that combine both the cut and thrust can be utilized.
SO happy she mentioned Wm. Hobbs and the movies he worked on! I've been a huge fan of The Three (and Four) Musketeers for a long time, as well as the other movies included. I've had a year of Foil fencing in college, a couple years in the SCA (light and heavy weapons) and various martial arts weapons training. Also a huge fan of Bob Anderson, of course!
@@jedironin380 . There are some HEMA guys that have gone to theorize how an actual lightsabre duel might be fought. The conclusion so far is that thrusts would be favored over cuts...
@@tatumergo3931 Corridor Crew hired a fight choreographer and made a "real" lightsaber training/fight video. It's very good. I agree it would look more like a fight with epee's or sabers than broadsword, but as Bob Anderson once said, "This is the movies!"
New sub here, so 11:33 .....n i c e! Perfect rollout! In my book series I'm going to have to choreograph a fight in text, katana vs 12th century longsword. Pray for me!
Awesome! I would love to see your take on Japanese swords. The katana is one type and most well known. I've had an interest in the rapier for sometime. I would love to see sword and dagger. Myself being both Bujinkan and Pekiti Tirsia Kali practitioner grew to love espada y daga. Some Filipino Marital Art (FMA) systems have been influenced by WMA (Western Martial Arts). Great work! Greetings from North East Japan!
I damn near gagged when you showed Angelo's french school of smallsword treatise for an example of Spanish Destreza, but then I noticed it was the one page where he's literally describing how to fight a Spanish fencer lmao 😅
Also, the excess focus on cuts in theatrical (and, by extension, cinema) fencing serves two purposes: (a) the excessively expressive movement is very visible to the audience, quite contrary to how a real duel might unfold, where it is very much a 'blink and you missed it' kind of thing; more importantly, perhaps, (b) it is a matter of safety, the idea being that even a noob opponent will never fail to mistake an incoming blow, because the way the movement is structured hints at what is coming and when. So, e.g., the cut is 'announced' by you drawing the blade across, and showing your elbow. The thrust, obviously, is done with this very over the top movement of pulling back (the 'announcement) and then thrusting. And, of course, there are films that do a better job in depicting sword duels... 'The Duellists' have a very decent smallsword duel (and an excellent sabre one), and the little smallsword engagement in 'Barry Lyndon', however short, works well enough, with its economical movement. Rapiers make a fairly fun appearance in 'Le Bossu', and are OK in 'Alatriste'. By contrast, 'Scaramouche' (which has the longest sword duel in the history of cinema) and 'Mask of Zorro' are much more over the top, and the less said about the various Three Musketeers adaptations, the better. Generally, Hollywood is much worse in portraying things like this, mostly by convention, than European cinema. You will see slightly more believable choreography in European films than in American ones.
I used to have sabre duels at the construction site. Our boss had a pair, I'd learned as a child and my regular opponent was trained in a Cuban salle d'arms. It was great fun that gave welts and rips as prizes.
The side sword was more commonly used in battle and the thrust sword was more common in civilian life, but the modern term rapier was generally a cutting sword and thrust there was no difference as such.
Re. the time of an actual duel: I was watching a club that practiced sword play (very slowly with naked blades), the guy who was giving the lecture said that the average duel was about 2 to 3 seconds. If you watch a modern Kendo match, that's about how long it is for each point. An actual sword fight is on my F-It list.
Quite enjoyable and instructive. I think the best swords have souls...but you can really reach out and touch someone with a rifle. Sadly, the modern age.
Sidney ! Are you aware of a film from the 1970s called Royal Flash? In it there is a short reenactment of that duel of the noblewomen. Not topless, but close. There are also several comedic sword duels, including one being intentionally staged to inflict the saber scars necessary to pull off the imposter's replacing a look alike who already legitimately has them. The director is Tony Richardson, who had directed the two Musketeer movies. Loved this video! Let's see you fighting in full dress like those nutty noblewomen...but with corset or blouse of course. Seems like the dress and all those petticoats would be fairly weighty and cumbersome. Could it be done at all? If not...bloomers?
Have you read "By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions" by Richard Cohen? I found it very good and would love to hear your take on it.
Arent longsword rather too long for a sidearm. Arming swords would be more likely. Also depends on a bunch of factors, what sort of armour you had, what role you had, where you were fighting.
@101Mant They are not too large. Yes, arming swords and a variety of other weapons can also be used as sidearms, but longswords were definitely used as such. Look through some medieval art. Look up nanuscript miniatures and tag longsword,
Have you seen "El capitán Alatriste"? It has some good sword scenes, maybe you'll like it. Is a Spanish movie, not Hoolywood one. Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn in Lord of the Rings) is the star on it.
Some of my favorite movie sword-fighting scenes are in that movie for sure. Other "honorable" mentions would be "Rob Roy", "The Duelists" (already mentioned in the video) and "The Deluge".
The biggest problem with fencing in hollywood and this video for the matter is the low framerate. A realistic fight has fast moving swords, and without 60fps+ it just looks like a blur.
Yes, a real sword fight would be very difficult for the audience to see, the main difference between "movie" fighting and "real" fighting. Watching Olympic Foil duels in person is difficult enough, trying to film it would be ... pointless. hehe
When fencing a taller opponent distance management is critical as he mentioned. An aspect he did not get into is the attack on the preparation. Being a competitive epee fencer at only 5.9 while Kelsey and Rostal were in the 6 ft ranges with Rostel a lefty as well messing with your reflexive impulses to guard against the wrong approach. When fencing against their height I especially favored an attack on the preparation because I would place myself for them to need half to a full step to close before their thrust. If you time your close with theirs with a short burst close on your side putting yourself inside their guard. Often I would do this without taking the blade as if you leave it alone you do not distract the body from the attack they press and trigger their defensive training if you can do it right. Also get used to fighting in a high guard to lock them above your head while dropping the point to their vulnerable body and legs. I would also recommend a larger area as being forced into a space without the ability to play with distance to start learning his trained responses. After their a initial plan we all have a panic parry we like to go for its not enough to know they will use a counter six but where they want to release you and what distance they want to work from. That is why I preferred a defensive approach because you tell a lot more about yourself when your plan is one of attack versus a response to their own actions. Footwork is very important in when against height even more than most alternating from jerky, jumpy, to fluid and sudden distance closing you can also mess with their own sense of distance and timing where they lose because you control the tempo of the whole bout. Best thing about footwork is you can stabilize your shoulder and focus on balance and footwork in orthodox and unorthodox ways. Wish you a speedy recovery and Denver has one of the best fencing communities/programs in the country you may want to try modern fencing for the footwork and tempo. While HEMA is better about treating the blades as real there have been hundreds of years of evolution to distance and timing that are transferable skills without violating the principles of HEMA as every fencer in history has their own sense of distance and timing that they bring to their application of their respective art so conditioning your distance and timing through modern fencing while learning the appropriate HEMA forms and blade treatment could be a good way to recover since modern fencing weapons are likely lighter for your recovering shoulder and some skills are transferable. If this does not help I hope it is at least interesting.
I read that the women's dual was conducted topless for fear of infection if clothing fibres entered any cuts. Glad to see someone disseminate the ridiculous ending of what seemed to be a very authentic duel in 'Rob Roy'. No expert, but I feel that the first duel in that film (against Guthrie) and the fencing seen in 'Duelists' to be probably the most close to reality of any film duelling combat.
Grabbing the blade works but not if you are static on the floor. on your feet for half a second while you brain your opponent it's a legitimate documented technique.
Destreza, one of the schools that you mentioned (and I learn) involves blade grabs and other grapples. It also dissuades lunging (why stretch yourself out and create a huge opening if your thrust fails when you can take two steps and achieve the same while remaining protected?). And on top of all of that, Destreza suggests a shorter rapier (based on your wingspan) because it gives your blade more binding presence and is better for grappling. This, combined with the Destreza's penchant for cutting and thrusting means my rapier is closer to your friend's broadsword than your rapier (though I also have a Castille Armory blade that I use against some opponents for safety). Destreza might be one of the hardest to film because it's circular footwork instead of linear. Most rapier styles hop forward and back with off-line steps used more for specific moves, while Destreza will regularly involve circling your opponents. I once fought a Modern Fencer using it and he described it as terrifying because he had to constantly adjust his body's line. Also, splitting hairs a bit, but a lot of the examples from films you showed were straight sabers and smallswords, not rapiers. But that's a distinction only really practitioners use. You also go in a lot about speed and how light the rapier is, but I'd caution against that in the future. The Rapier isn't much faster than other weapons, it's "speed" is usually due to its length allowing for more thrusting which is always faster than cutting because it has less space to cover, and it's weight varies greatly depending on the sword, some are as heavy as longswords. It's weight distribution usually means it feels lighter, but it's not, it's just well-made. The Smallsword, which is the first weapon in The Duellists is a better example of fast and light thrusting weapon. And final hair to split, Rapiers were used just as extensively by commoners as nobles, so arguably there were more poor men fighting with them than rich men using them as accessories.
I think the distinction between a small sword, a side sword, and a rapier to the laymen will seem like splitting hairs. But there is a significant weight difference (and difference in systems, etc). That being said, what is rapier and what is a smallsword are on a sort of spectrum with sidesword and spadroon somewhere in between.
Do you like the book The Fencing Master by Arturo Perez-Reverte? They should make it into a movie and you would be perfect for the role of the female protagonist.
I understand that even in this kind of duel you don't want to get hit, but I feel like the knowledge that the risk of death is very real if you screw up would change how most people fight. I have no experience with any kind of dueling, though.
OnlyDuels channel is a dynamite concept! Seriously though, thank you for the video, always great to see such appreciation of swordsmanship and public perception of it.
I assume the women fought topless because a common cause of death in rapier duels is infection after the fact. Because of the blades shapes cloth is punctured and packed in the wounds made by the blade. So they probably removed the shirts specifically to avoid that.
From what I know, longswords and rapiers hardly ever met, which I find a bit surprising, considering that Europeans phased out such a great weapon earlier than the rapier. Rapiers will dominate most duels but have severe disadvantages in a military context. Ironically, there were probably better chances that early rapiers faced off against greatswords. This brings me to an important point: greatswords and polearms are primary weapons, whereas sabers, rapiers, arming swords, basket-hilted swords, and longswords are secondary weapons. There's a good reason why many swords had minimalistic hand protection, be it a crossguard, a D-guard, or a small disk. And it's not just about shields and armor! Just imagine falling off your horse onto the hilt of your sword... In war, there are many reasons you might fall or throw yourself in the dirt, and complex hilts can get entangled in many things... In addition to this, they make a sword much heavier or remove the blade presence, which makes cutting and parrying less effective. Don't forget that in a war you're unlikely to face another rapier and far more likely a musket with bayonet, or a frigging polearm, like a halberd, which hits like a truck! That's why I think that longswords could have remained relevant for longer. They offer much stronger parries and work from binds. They cut better, have a similar reach, and are cheaper and easier to maintain... Yet, the go-to military sword became the saber (which is still a cool weapon). They still overlapped with many basket-hilted swords, which were often as heavy as longswords, which means that they really drain your stamina when using them, but they hit and parry with authority. Rapiers on the other hand often have the blade length of a longsword and the weight of an arming sword (if not a bit heavier), but make the blade as thin as possible to get metal further back to protect the hand more... This results in very agile blades that can move blindingly fast and be used with high accuracy, but are also very whippy and struggle against thick clothing.
C'mooon, just perform a few suicidal thrusts; guys get lost and shocked quite often, and you get the upper hand) And make a scary and emotional face through the maskXDD
In a real fight you would also grapple as soon as you are close enough. Pretty much all the swords manuscripts from the late Middle Ages and the renaissance had grappling in it.
In "Rob Roy", Archibald was simply a better fencer than Rob. The rapier, of course, has an advantage, but the main advantage that Archibald had was his fencing skill.
Delightful video, simple, elegant, informative. Try spicing things up with a main gauche though. It is immense fun, and might help compensate for lower thrust distance. You know, the dagger brings people closer. ;) 'Most (rapier duels) went to first blood' really depends on the time and geography. In the sixteenth century, and especially in Italy, things were pretty deadly, and Spain and France more or less followed the trend. In the seventeenth century things are just a little bit less deadly, but again, this is only in regards to those duels we have detailed records of. Much more illustrative are the very many occasions, where corpses are found killed evidently in a duel, but where you would not find any details beyond a brief comment of the magistrate or other court official. From the eighteenth century onwards duels start becoming more structured, and could be done to first blood, but again, this was depending greatly on the offense involved. So , while death outcomes do see a decline, it is not quite accurate to say that they mostly went to first blood, even with a structured, proper later duel, it really depended on the circumstances of the quarrel.
I can respect being able to acknowledge the advantages of another without being venomous or whiney about it. It's very refreshing, especially in the current day and age.
Oddly a place to see some of the schools of rapier fighting is in the 1973 version of the three musketeers. Unfortunately it’s also a place where you can see the limitations of applying the real world schools to film. Although the scene where the cloak is used in the off hand does represent a real technique some people found it confusing. Dragging the cloak behind you in a retreat actually works (it’s not a technique permitted in any fencing schools because it tends to produce actual falls and injuries that the conventional protective equipment is useless in preventing 😳. ) but it really doesn’t make all that interesting or understandable of a movie fight.
The topless duel may or may not have happened, but there were rumours about it at the time regardless. I'm inclined to believe it actually did, mostly because it makes history more fascinating.
The reason for the topless duel was not because of some deviant sexual reason, but because the noble women involved did not wanted to ruin their dresses by staining them with blood. Since duels by the late 19th century and early 20th, we're fought just to first blood and definitely not with rapiers or smallswords. But with dueling epee which just sharp points, thus not able to kill but just wound.
Thank you everyone for attending my very modern server room duel (no thanks to a week of below zero blizzards n Denver 😂). Enjoy!
Honestly we should run Away together i littorally live 40 min Away 😆
Your to se to epee, small sword system & similar.
A historic spada striscia=strip/flay sword could cut as well any cruciform sword associated with the middle ages.
Mind a rapiere means rasper/grater sword!
flick, wrist & elbow cur so any form of cordazo as the Spaniard's call it are more then lethal but that is not how historic rapiers were used push, draw or best of all one rakes/grates great slabs of flesh of the opponent.
Thrust as in the point is only 1/3 of what is involved in swordsmanship with a rapier be it one handed like a dress sword or your small sword that has no real weight or meat to the blade which is perfectly usable but it can't function a fraction as well as a rapier is suppose to though your is far easier to carry.
Would I be correct in guessing your blade is about 600grams to 700grams?
A dress sword which was a late middles ages & renaissance side arm weight about kilo to 1.4 kilo.
On a side note the 1st weapon referred to as a rapier was Tuck/Estoc or pazerstretcher all being the same sword but the latter is german & the middle is French.
A tuck id the original rapier from the 14th being a 2 handed sword that did have complex hilts from as early as the 15th century.
The dress sword would later derive from the tuck in likely Spain, Italy & or France as the exact date is hard to pin down.
The tuck is a specialised blade for fighting armoured opponents that was derived from the cruciform knightly sword that most people associate with the middles ages though many types of sword existed in the middles ages like the rapier in 2handed then later the more iconic 1 handed form.
A weapon is only useful if one understands of why & for what it came to be.
I hope my understanding of polemology=warfare studies was helpful on this matter Sidney.
Enjoy what you will but you are to comfortable in fencing in my opinion.
A bit of history & slicing an hog carcase for slaughter could teach you much.
My Great grand father John & uncle Arthur were uninterrupted swordsmen up to ww2.
My god father was a butcher which taught me much about blades & anatomy through trailed error under instruction.
You treat blades with to much prestige when it is really a sharp shaped lump of iron for a purpose!
''Simplicity is beauty'' as we Engineers say for complexity gets in the way from the fundamental truths of matters.
Personally, no film or display has ever shown a historic rapier or knightly sword duel or conflict as it was for it would likely be to gruesome to display.
If they are struck through quick & clean then you going to rend chunks of them or 1/2 sword the point into gaps if the combatants is in plated harness.
I have hacked up a hog with a carcase splitter or broke a rabbits neck in a snare & most everyone gasps, is in tear or shock & that is from adults!
My elders are all ex forces & to end a resisting human is a far more grizzly affair if not using a gun!
Kind regards!
First time watcher, now subscriber. Greetings from México!! Been doing HEMA for 2 years now, love rapier. I am saddened that we had pretty notorious fencing schools down from the border because of the whole spanish heritage and colonial times, and even though in modern days it is treated as a sport (and it is oodles of fun), it has long been a martial art as you point out in this video. I hope you keep on recovering from your injuries, you did great and had fun! Also nice to see Martin Fabian is your friend, had the pleasure of having a class with him in this year's Encuentro de Artes Marciales Históricas Europeas in Toluca. I am glad I found your channel, love to see what fellow swordsmen share!
In your experience, Ms. Sidney, what is the rapier school/style that you enjoy the most? I am partial to destreza, but have dabbled in italian and german styles because it is nice to learn new things and also broaden one's repertoire of stuff to try.
Also, I see you missed the chance to pull a "I am not left handed!" Princess Bride quip! (well, right handed in your case as you expertly demonstrated).
Best wishes and warm regards. Will look forward to more of your quality content while enjoying your backlog.
Is there anything more cyberpunk than a duel in the server room?
I need two things, A time machine and an address.
You know. It is actually pretty awesome to see a duel with 18th century weapons happening in a modern 21st century concrete-and-glass server room.
Glad to see HEMA slowly becoming more mainstream and stylish.
Mainstream? It is gourmet.
That's one of the reasons I love Highlander.
"We are exhausted after 30 minutes of continous fencing." I can imagine. I did 8 fights (longsword) in 3 hours yesterday, and I can still feel it all over.
i just realized that dueling in the server room is the way, i don't think HR are aware of something called server room.
Highly recommend 😂 It was below zero here in Denver for almost a week straight, so that was my last resort!
Offices should have a dueling room to settle disagreeements at work! 😁 Locating it near the server room ensures privacy and sound proofing.
In the server room...no one can hear you scream....just sayin'.
Having trained rapier for sometime now I gotta say it might be the heaviest weapon in HEMA despite how quick it is to maneuver. Having to hold a 41” blade arm extended tires you out way faster than a sabre, backsword, or longsword.
I think that award goes the zweihander/montante/spadone/whatever-you-want-to-call-it but the rapier comes in a (somewhat) close second!
@@appletree13 I actually don’t think so. As big as the great swords are their usage is still based on leverage instead of using pure strength to wield. They also are not held in an extended position like rapiers (even in long point those swords are held not only with two hands but also much closer to the body than rapiers)
@@appletree13i think the thing is, most weapons that seem heavy solely off weighing them usually use leveraging with 2 hands, therefore requiring relatively less strain on under-exercised muscles. a rapier however, is held on one hand and requires a lot of wrist movements, which seems more exhausting than levering a longsword id say
Dog casually takes down very experienced human duelist. Now thats a story :D
@Zoey-- dog attacks are getting way too frequent. I was getting in my van last week and a big but young dog was loose. It ran up to have a go but luckily I had my laptop bag in my hand. I swapped it to my left hand as that is my buckler hand and fended it off. HEMA proving it still uses in this modern day
@@FriedEddbro parried the dog😭
funny enough there was a famous historical duel between a man and a dog. France 1400 Montdidier's dog.
Unfortunately, I can't fence anymore for unforeseeable time in the future (a severe shoulder injury that was unrelated to HEMA) and I usually avoid videos like these as they make me depressed since I am unable to enjoy what I truly loved for so many years, but for the first time in a long period I thoroughly enjoyed watching a HEMA-related video and I'm happy that I clicked on it. It was concise, informational, and very fun and interesting to watch.
By the way, I always loved the "Rob Roy" and "The Duelists" fights. I was today years old when I found out that they were choreographed by the same person.
Can't you at least coach train or teach?
From a former martial artist/coach
I feel your pain. First had my armored combat kit stolen, then cancer that caused 60 lbs/27 kg weight loss. Four years unable to do anything. Then a friend said "You want to learn Fiore?"
As someone who exclusively practices destreza and don't have many fighter from different school around me, this is an interesting video to watch. There are some: "huh, I can do that?" and "wait, why didn't she do this" moments that make me wish I live in the area where we have more rapier fencers to exchange knowledge with (through spar!).
@MacanWigit Are you ased in Europe and if so, have you heard about the Malta fencing festival in November each year? Worth a weeks holiday to get 3 or 4 days of tuition and sparring. If you are UK based and cannot afford the plane ticket there is Swordpunk weekends twice a year. I bit less serious but just as fun.
@@FriedEdd no, I’m in Indonesia, lmao. My school is the only rapier school in the whole country, as far as I know. The rest are individual learners which are far and in between.
Fencing is beautiful and a great exercise for sure! I love the destreza española the most.
Too bad there isn't a lot of video about it on the internet. There are only a few demos, and a few on basic techniques. There is very little about competition or sparring.
I'd also love to see more on other Spanish techniques, such as rapier/buckler, rapier/dagger, and Vizcaino razor/cape.
@@CptFugu Yes, there is not that much information around, but I have heard of very good opinions from different fencers on historic records about the Spanish style, and you can tell by battles such as Lepanto that it was legendary (not to diminish any other style ofc). I heard the movie Captain Alatriste: The Spanish Musketeer was good on the fight scenes.
@@ramonvelasquez8431The movie is excellent. Apparently the extras and fight choreographers are actual practitioners.
@@CptFugu I have it on my list to watch it!
Me: Just chilling watching another hema video in youtube..
*Martin Fabian appears*
Me: SANTOS BACALAOS! ES EL JEFE!
(Holy halibut! It's the chief!)
To be fair, the Rapier Duel in 'Princess Bride' is actually really well done and very realistic, they even make mention of various actual Sword fighting styles during the fight.....
They do, but use none of them in the actual duel. Still... a fine scene for a fine movie. And by fine, I mean "personal favourite".
There's not a single action in the Prince's Bride duels that are realistic. On the other hand in the Duelist they pretty much are, and for more realism the Polish film the Deluge.
Good cinema/stage sword fights are an extension of the characters wielding the weapons - language in itself. Great scenes are that PLUS all the other ups and downs in a drama, even concluding a story. The end fight in Rob Roy is the best example of this, that I've seen.
I'm still not sure why this channel only have 5k subs
Ah Rob Roy. My favorite sword fighting movie. When you hate a man so much you open him like a fish.
subscribed for the topless content 😵💫👍👍👍 joke aside, nice duel.
I appreciate the care put into the production. It seems that rapiers and smallswords were largely conflated however.
And spadroons...as Zorro used a spadroon.
@@batteredwarrior spadroons don't get enough love.
Awesome video! Informative and entertaining. Topless duel mention is a nice touch. And The Duelists movie is awesome too :)
Question - during your practice duel with Connor, why did his weapon not have the tip cover, like your rapier? Is it blunt enough to not be a concern?
From what I was able to see, his sword had a rolled tip. Usually, you don't need a tip cover for those. I don't know about the rules of HEMA schools in other countries, but in the one I was a part of nobody ever used a tip cover, however our trainers were adamant that when we were purchasing our swords we're to get the one with a rolled tip.
I have loved swords and swordfighting since I was a kid in the '70s. This goes right along with what I have learned.
Also, I've been trying forever to learn the name of that movie (the Duelist) since I walked into the last scene (pistol duel) when my father was watching it in my 'tween years. FINALLY I know the movie and can go watch it. Thanks!
SO much good information here.
How does this channel not have more subs? Amazing content
How are you not at 1M subs with content like this? Your production value and editing is above par
Surprised that this channel is only at 6k subs. Good video.
Nice end scene, practically ensured that everyone watched all the way through, lol.
Wow! Awesome content, you deserve much more. Keep it up!
Me: ~*expecting movie fight critique~*
0:36 - 😳😳 … I feel like “that escalated quickly” is a fucking understatement
Great video, thanks! Rapier was my HEMA first love, and I have a Castille too :-) However arthritis in the shoulder made it too difficult, so I dropped down to small sword at one end of the spectrum, and long sword (inc, harnessfechten) at the other. Fights against different type of weapons are always fun too!
"just 30 minutes of continuous fencing" ma'am I got winded just THINKING about that much fencing
this video was really good!!
Boxing, fencing and moving martial arts all say footwork.....gotta keep that in mind..... lovely demo...ty
I have been using a rapier for a couple decades now and I very much thank you for this analysis and fun. Maybe we'll cross steel sometime in the future.
This time reality is way more beautiful than the movies. Very interesting and informative vid 👍
Greets from the Netherlands 🌷, T.
That's some nice fencing, Sidney. In the movie Rob Roy, I thought that Liam Neeson was using a Basket Hilt Arming Sword or Back Sword. Either way it was an awesome blade!
Great video. Your jackets are cool. And half an hour of non-stop fencing would be hard for ANYONE. A partner and I once got kind of forgotten by our coach in a foil class so we just kept on fencing for about 25 minutes and that was good enough for us.... I'm confused though about y'all's handedness. Conner has a left-handed jacket and yours is right-handed, then you both switch hands. What's up with that? And for his high cut, what about parry 5? Not used much (or at all) in foil, but used a lot in sabre. Really nice video! Your counter-attacks to the high line at the end are awesome: great job closing his line as you move in. Beautiful.
That was super interesting. Thanks!
Topless fighting makes sense. It removes a source of infection, the clothes as these are often unwashed for days, weeks and if the fibers are pushed into a wound, will cause an infection and death
If they were noble ladies then they may also not have had much available that wasn't extremely restrictive to their movement. Or they may just not have wanted to get blood on their clothes.
well I don't actually care. I mean I'm not actually arguing against topless fighting of noble women. Heck, many would even pay to see it!
I have a strong gutfeeling that infection wasn't the reason for that, but rather to save those expensive dresses they were wearing. Wouldn't really look ladylike if they were wearing bloodstained dresses that are ripped to shredds.
if they were nobles im willing to bet the clothes were expensive, wouldnt want them tattered and bloodstained
First time on your channel , loved this video , your only disadvantage is you did not have a moustache , hahaha , looking forward to more of your great work , be careful , be safe .
Sidney you was the only one I missed in this UA-cam hell🎉🎉
I looked at this channel first for good information about real fencing.The introduction is fantastic and after the topless fencing story, you really made me subscribe hahahahahaha I have to say that at last, I can see a hot girl moving a Rapier and teaching me how is supposed to be done.Most of movies are jus choreography and good explanation of technics is for the real interested in the theme.Whatching the pairing wooow made me think how tech between weapons,weight, and height really affect the fight and don't shows in the movies the way it should be.
Cant wait to see the video with katana!!!!
Wonderful Just wonderful
Thank you
Some of my favorite screen fighting scenes with rapiers were in the Three Musketeers and Four Musketeers from the 1970s. They were crazy, and vicious (using improvised weapons, breaking swords, etc.) and didn't seem overly stagy. The blade grab was used in the Four Musketeers and sliced a hand. Great movies.
The best thing William Hobbs did was show how exhausting a long bout can be. He also was more thrust centric than most film sword work, particularly American style sword choreography, that is 19th century saber centric. IMHO, if you want historic then the styles of the 15/16th Boulognaise masters, George Silver, or Meyer that combine both the cut and thrust can be utilized.
SO happy she mentioned Wm. Hobbs and the movies he worked on! I've been a huge fan of The Three (and Four) Musketeers for a long time, as well as the other movies included. I've had a year of Foil fencing in college, a couple years in the SCA (light and heavy weapons) and various martial arts weapons training. Also a huge fan of Bob Anderson, of course!
@@jedironin380 . Have you try HEMA yet?
@tatumergo3931 No, and I should. These days I'm really into Star Wars stuff, so I might be looking for a Saber League group in my area... 😆
@@jedironin380 . There are some HEMA guys that have gone to theorize how an actual lightsabre duel might be fought. The conclusion so far is that thrusts would be favored over cuts...
@@tatumergo3931 Corridor Crew hired a fight choreographer and made a "real" lightsaber training/fight video. It's very good. I agree it would look more like a fight with epee's or sabers than broadsword, but as Bob Anderson once said, "This is the movies!"
Martin!
I try katana versus rapier and it is hard, less reach and heavy blade. Cool video!
New sub here, so 11:33 .....n i c e! Perfect rollout! In my book series I'm going to have to choreograph a fight in text, katana vs 12th century longsword. Pray for me!
Awesome! I would love to see your take on Japanese swords. The katana is one type and most well known. I've had an interest in the rapier for sometime. I would love to see sword and dagger. Myself being both Bujinkan and Pekiti Tirsia Kali practitioner grew to love espada y daga. Some Filipino Marital Art (FMA) systems have been influenced by WMA (Western Martial Arts). Great work! Greetings from North East Japan!
I damn near gagged when you showed Angelo's french school of smallsword treatise for an example of Spanish Destreza, but then I noticed it was the one page where he's literally describing how to fight a Spanish fencer lmao 😅
Do you have a video on the rapier vs. the Chinese Jian? That would be super!
0:21 I would say please tell me more...over DINNER! 😜
Also, the excess focus on cuts in theatrical (and, by extension, cinema) fencing serves two purposes: (a) the excessively expressive movement is very visible to the audience, quite contrary to how a real duel might unfold, where it is very much a 'blink and you missed it' kind of thing; more importantly, perhaps, (b) it is a matter of safety, the idea being that even a noob opponent will never fail to mistake an incoming blow, because the way the movement is structured hints at what is coming and when. So, e.g., the cut is 'announced' by you drawing the blade across, and showing your elbow. The thrust, obviously, is done with this very over the top movement of pulling back (the 'announcement) and then thrusting.
And, of course, there are films that do a better job in depicting sword duels... 'The Duellists' have a very decent smallsword duel (and an excellent sabre one), and the little smallsword engagement in 'Barry Lyndon', however short, works well enough, with its economical movement. Rapiers make a fairly fun appearance in 'Le Bossu', and are OK in 'Alatriste'. By contrast, 'Scaramouche' (which has the longest sword duel in the history of cinema) and 'Mask of Zorro' are much more over the top, and the less said about the various Three Musketeers adaptations, the better. Generally, Hollywood is much worse in portraying things like this, mostly by convention, than European cinema. You will see slightly more believable choreography in European films than in American ones.
I used to have sabre duels at the construction site. Our boss had a pair, I'd learned as a child and my regular opponent was trained in a Cuban salle d'arms. It was great fun that gave welts and rips as prizes.
Watch "The Duelists". It shows how quick and vicious real duels were.
Hate to break it to you but that wasn't real either. Good, but not real.
5:56 rekt in literally seconds
The side sword was more commonly used in battle and the thrust sword was more common in civilian life, but the modern term rapier was generally a cutting sword and thrust there was no difference as such.
Re. the time of an actual duel: I was watching a club that practiced sword play (very slowly with naked blades), the guy who was giving the lecture said that the average duel was about 2 to 3 seconds. If you watch a modern Kendo match, that's about how long it is for each point. An actual sword fight is on my F-It list.
Liam Neeson and Tim 'Larry, my liver!' Roth😂😂😂
hi nice video! what rapiers brands are you using in this video?
I think it would be fun to fence with you even though I have never done it before.
Quite enjoyable and instructive. I think the best swords have souls...but you can really reach out and touch someone with a rifle. Sadly, the modern age.
What tip do you have on the end of your rapier and how is it attached
Excellent Inquartata at 12:16! ⚔
Sidney ! Are you aware of a film from the 1970s called Royal Flash? In it there is a short reenactment of that duel of the noblewomen. Not topless, but close. There are also several comedic sword duels, including one being intentionally staged to inflict the saber scars necessary to pull off the imposter's replacing a look alike who already legitimately has them. The director is Tony Richardson, who had directed the two Musketeer movies. Loved this video! Let's see you fighting in full dress like those nutty noblewomen...but with corset or blouse of course. Seems like the dress and all those petticoats would be fairly weighty and cumbersome. Could it be done at all? If not...bloomers?
Where did you buy your rapier? I am medieval fencer in the market for a new rapier and I like your rapier's design.
Have you read "By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions" by Richard Cohen? I found it very good and would love to hear your take on it.
very cool.
I also feel like pointing out that longswords were a sidearm on the battlefeild. Polearms are primary.
Arent longsword rather too long for a sidearm. Arming swords would be more likely. Also depends on a bunch of factors, what sort of armour you had, what role you had, where you were fighting.
@101Mant They are not too large. Yes, arming swords and a variety of other weapons can also be used as sidearms, but longswords were definitely used as such. Look through some medieval art. Look up nanuscript miniatures and tag longsword,
Not always, look at the period artwork.
Hollywood owes us an apology for not giving us historical accurate half naked women duels.
I know it is Hollywood, but I have always been curious about the realism of the Rob Roy dual.
Have you seen "El capitán Alatriste"? It has some good sword scenes, maybe you'll like it. Is a Spanish movie, not Hoolywood one. Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn in Lord of the Rings) is the star on it.
Some of my favorite movie sword-fighting scenes are in that movie for sure. Other "honorable" mentions would be "Rob Roy", "The Duelists" (already mentioned in the video) and "The Deluge".
The biggest problem with fencing in hollywood and this video for the matter is the low framerate. A realistic fight has fast moving swords, and without 60fps+ it just looks like a blur.
Yes, a real sword fight would be very difficult for the audience to see, the main difference between "movie" fighting and "real" fighting. Watching Olympic Foil duels in person is difficult enough, trying to film it would be ... pointless. hehe
@@jedironin380 Not pointless, 120 fps would work.
When fencing a taller opponent distance management is critical as he mentioned. An aspect he did not get into is the attack on the preparation. Being a competitive epee fencer at only 5.9 while Kelsey and Rostal were in the 6 ft ranges with Rostel a lefty as well messing with your reflexive impulses to guard against the wrong approach. When fencing against their height I especially favored an attack on the preparation because I would place myself for them to need half to a full step to close before their thrust. If you time your close with theirs with a short burst close on your side putting yourself inside their guard. Often I would do this without taking the blade as if you leave it alone you do not distract the body from the attack they press and trigger their defensive training if you can do it right. Also get used to fighting in a high guard to lock them above your head while dropping the point to their vulnerable body and legs. I would also recommend a larger area as being forced into a space without the ability to play with distance to start learning his trained responses. After their a initial plan we all have a panic parry we like to go for its not enough to know they will use a counter six but where they want to release you and what distance they want to work from. That is why I preferred a defensive approach because you tell a lot more about yourself when your plan is one of attack versus a response to their own actions. Footwork is very important in when against height even more than most alternating from jerky, jumpy, to fluid and sudden distance closing you can also mess with their own sense of distance and timing where they lose because you control the tempo of the whole bout. Best thing about footwork is you can stabilize your shoulder and focus on balance and footwork in orthodox and unorthodox ways. Wish you a speedy recovery and Denver has one of the best fencing communities/programs in the country you may want to try modern fencing for the footwork and tempo. While HEMA is better about treating the blades as real there have been hundreds of years of evolution to distance and timing that are transferable skills without violating the principles of HEMA as every fencer in history has their own sense of distance and timing that they bring to their application of their respective art so conditioning your distance and timing through modern fencing while learning the appropriate HEMA forms and blade treatment could be a good way to recover since modern fencing weapons are likely lighter for your recovering shoulder and some skills are transferable. If this does not help I hope it is at least interesting.
Nice
I read that the women's dual was conducted topless for fear of infection if clothing fibres entered any cuts.
Glad to see someone disseminate the ridiculous ending of what seemed to be a very authentic duel in 'Rob Roy'.
No expert, but I feel that the first duel in that film (against Guthrie) and the fencing seen in 'Duelists' to be probably the most close to reality of any film duelling combat.
Grabbing the blade works but not if you are static on the floor. on your feet for half a second while you brain your opponent it's a legitimate documented technique.
Destreza, one of the schools that you mentioned (and I learn) involves blade grabs and other grapples. It also dissuades lunging (why stretch yourself out and create a huge opening if your thrust fails when you can take two steps and achieve the same while remaining protected?). And on top of all of that, Destreza suggests a shorter rapier (based on your wingspan) because it gives your blade more binding presence and is better for grappling. This, combined with the Destreza's penchant for cutting and thrusting means my rapier is closer to your friend's broadsword than your rapier (though I also have a Castille Armory blade that I use against some opponents for safety).
Destreza might be one of the hardest to film because it's circular footwork instead of linear. Most rapier styles hop forward and back with off-line steps used more for specific moves, while Destreza will regularly involve circling your opponents. I once fought a Modern Fencer using it and he described it as terrifying because he had to constantly adjust his body's line.
Also, splitting hairs a bit, but a lot of the examples from films you showed were straight sabers and smallswords, not rapiers. But that's a distinction only really practitioners use. You also go in a lot about speed and how light the rapier is, but I'd caution against that in the future. The Rapier isn't much faster than other weapons, it's "speed" is usually due to its length allowing for more thrusting which is always faster than cutting because it has less space to cover, and it's weight varies greatly depending on the sword, some are as heavy as longswords. It's weight distribution usually means it feels lighter, but it's not, it's just well-made. The Smallsword, which is the first weapon in The Duellists is a better example of fast and light thrusting weapon. And final hair to split, Rapiers were used just as extensively by commoners as nobles, so arguably there were more poor men fighting with them than rich men using them as accessories.
I think the distinction between a small sword, a side sword, and a rapier to the laymen will seem like splitting hairs. But there is a significant weight difference (and difference in systems, etc). That being said, what is rapier and what is a smallsword are on a sort of spectrum with sidesword and spadroon somewhere in between.
Do you like the book The Fencing Master by Arturo Perez-Reverte? They should make it into a movie and you would be perfect for the role of the female protagonist.
That longsword comment about them being used to hack and cleave on the battlefield irked so many longsword people :p
Can you do a video on LED saber?
I understand that even in this kind of duel you don't want to get hit, but I feel like the knowledge that the risk of death is very real if you screw up would change how most people fight. I have no experience with any kind of dueling, though.
OnlyDuels channel is a dynamite concept! Seriously though, thank you for the video, always great to see such appreciation of swordsmanship and public perception of it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought "ambidextrous" meant equally good with either hand. "Off hand" would mean other than your primary hand.
Flower arrangements? Imagine if they had their finger on the red button.
If someone grabs the blade you can try a military trick of pushing in and up sharply and then strongly pulling back and down.
that cameo lmao
I assume the women fought topless because a common cause of death in rapier duels is infection after the fact. Because of the blades shapes cloth is punctured and packed in the wounds made by the blade. So they probably removed the shirts specifically to avoid that.
its really shocking how low most peoples stamina is for these kinds of engagements, like 2 minutes of intense sparring and most people are 100% Gassed
From what I know, longswords and rapiers hardly ever met, which I find a bit surprising, considering that Europeans phased out such a great weapon earlier than the rapier. Rapiers will dominate most duels but have severe disadvantages in a military context.
Ironically, there were probably better chances that early rapiers faced off against greatswords. This brings me to an important point: greatswords and polearms are primary weapons, whereas sabers, rapiers, arming swords, basket-hilted swords, and longswords are secondary weapons.
There's a good reason why many swords had minimalistic hand protection, be it a crossguard, a D-guard, or a small disk. And it's not just about shields and armor! Just imagine falling off your horse onto the hilt of your sword... In war, there are many reasons you might fall or throw yourself in the dirt, and complex hilts can get entangled in many things...
In addition to this, they make a sword much heavier or remove the blade presence, which makes cutting and parrying less effective. Don't forget that in a war you're unlikely to face another rapier and far more likely a musket with bayonet, or a frigging polearm, like a halberd, which hits like a truck!
That's why I think that longswords could have remained relevant for longer. They offer much stronger parries and work from binds. They cut better, have a similar reach, and are cheaper and easier to maintain...
Yet, the go-to military sword became the saber (which is still a cool weapon). They still overlapped with many basket-hilted swords, which were often as heavy as longswords, which means that they really drain your stamina when using them, but they hit and parry with authority. Rapiers on the other hand often have the blade length of a longsword and the weight of an arming sword (if not a bit heavier), but make the blade as thin as possible to get metal further back to protect the hand more... This results in very agile blades that can move blindingly fast and be used with high accuracy, but are also very whippy and struggle against thick clothing.
Very nice lunges at the end.
U can tell Connor is more experienced at saber than rapier he throws too many slashes and she takes full advantage on that at the end
C'mooon, just perform a few suicidal thrusts; guys get lost and shocked quite often, and you get the upper hand) And make a scary and emotional face through the maskXDD
In a real fight you would also grapple as soon as you are close enough. Pretty much all the swords manuscripts from the late Middle Ages and the renaissance had grappling in it.
I wish I could have learned HEMA when I was young enough to do it and enjoy it.
In "Rob Roy", Archibald was simply a better fencer than Rob. The rapier, of course, has an advantage, but the main advantage that Archibald had was his fencing skill.
Delightful video, simple, elegant, informative. Try spicing things up with a main gauche though. It is immense fun, and might help compensate for lower thrust distance. You know, the dagger brings people closer. ;)
'Most (rapier duels) went to first blood' really depends on the time and geography. In the sixteenth century, and especially in Italy, things were pretty deadly, and Spain and France more or less followed the trend. In the seventeenth century things are just a little bit less deadly, but again, this is only in regards to those duels we have detailed records of. Much more illustrative are the very many occasions, where corpses are found killed evidently in a duel, but where you would not find any details beyond a brief comment of the magistrate or other court official. From the eighteenth century onwards duels start becoming more structured, and could be done to first blood, but again, this was depending greatly on the offense involved. So , while death outcomes do see a decline, it is not quite accurate to say that they mostly went to first blood, even with a structured, proper later duel, it really depended on the circumstances of the quarrel.
I can respect being able to acknowledge the advantages of another without being venomous or whiney about it. It's very refreshing, especially in the current day and age.
Girl, there was a certain thing in this video that should have been in the thumbnail and you easily would have gotten 100k views!
Респект, было интересно. Красивые и красноречивые женщины с холодным оружием в руках - никогда не выйдут из моды. 😏
Realistic looks so much better!
Damn that last inquartata was sexy
Oddly a place to see some of the schools of rapier fighting is in the 1973 version of the three musketeers. Unfortunately it’s also a place where you can see the limitations of applying the real world schools to film. Although the scene where the cloak is used in the off hand does represent a real technique some people found it confusing. Dragging the cloak behind you in a retreat actually works (it’s not a technique permitted in any fencing schools because it tends to produce actual falls and injuries that the conventional protective equipment is useless in preventing 😳. ) but it really doesn’t make all that interesting or understandable of a movie fight.
You can't speak French but François Fournier was well pronounced. Kudos to you, lady!
How is rapier different from epee?
The topless duel may or may not have happened, but there were rumours about it at the time regardless. I'm inclined to believe it actually did, mostly because it makes history more fascinating.
The reason for the topless duel was not because of some deviant sexual reason, but because the noble women involved did not wanted to ruin their dresses by staining them with blood. Since duels by the late 19th century and early 20th, we're fought just to first blood and definitely not with rapiers or smallswords. But with dueling epee which just sharp points, thus not able to kill but just wound.
I'm kinda curious how modern fencing would change if minimal protection was worn.