Why You MUST Fight Other Martial Arts Schools [sword talk]

Today I talk about how I fought at a Longsword school and got completely shut down in sparring. It was a good wake up call and I think sparring against other schools and styles is a fantastic way to improve your swordsmanship or unarmed martial arts very quickly and to prevent you from falling into predictive patterns for yourself and of your opponents.
Huge thanks to Stoccata School of Defence for allowing me to train with them and spar with them despite not coming from a longsword background.
Always be aware of your surroundings and minimise harm to yourself, others and your environment. Never use weapons when intoxicated or upset or for any act of violence.
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[@StuartMcDermid]

Hi! It’s the “instructor in question” here.
First of all, you have an absolutely fantastic attitude to training. Rocking up like you did, putting on the gear, and just going for it shows courage, integrity, and commitment to getting better.
It’s been great having you around and watching the interaction between our style and yours.
Watching the fencing, it’s not technique, or speed or anything like that that makes the difference, rather it’s movement skills.
I felt like I was able to use distance control and explosive passing steps to hit you from a distance that you weren’t used to receiving attacks from.
I suspect that once you adjust, and once your movement skills improve so that you can strike with your step rather than after it, you’ll be a very dangerous opponent.

[@StuartMcDermid]

Thinking about it some more, I think you concentrate on speed and stability at the expense of measure control. When I strike, my moving foot is nowhere near touching the ground when the blade hits. Your tendency is to step and then attack.

[@JustaBug]

@@StuartMcDermid thanks for the feedback and thanks for checking out my channel! Thanks for the feedback, I agree our style very much focuses on speed and stability first and I've been working on the sword, body, feet sequencing at home to try and get my strikes landing faster before the foot lands. Thanks again for letting us train at your club, the lessons we've been learning have been invaluable

[@StuartMcDermid]

@@JustaBug No problem at all. We love having you around. As you say, cross training is useful. I do *secretly* want to convert you to Liechtenauer though. :D

[@JustaBug]

Haha I am seeing the effectiveness of the liechtenauer longsword style compared to the two motion cuts used in asian styles. I might one day get my head around a false edge and a cross guard and be able to use a longsword half decently

[@hugom2418]

Very introspective video. I agree, fighting against different styles and ways of fighting is highly beneficial. I'm sure the guys at the longsword school learned some things from you as well. Expanding our horizons and testing our skill against others outside of your usual training is what really enables growth in my humble opinion. Thank you!

[@JustaBug]

Thank you for your kind words and support!

[@akkeriworkshop]

Hiya, Ari from Strathfield here (blue jacket and Mando mask). It's great having you guys around. Just found the channel and you make really good content :) You make an excellent point R.E. versatility/adaptability, highlighting mistakes, and learning.
(Plus Stu is just frustratingly good at exploiting mistakes and forcing one to address them haha)

[@JustaBug]

Hey Ari, thanks for finding the channel! Stu definitely is frustratingly good at finding and exploiting mistakes. It's been great learning

[@allsparkle]

Keep at it bro, the advantages of European swords can be addressed with training. I practice Chinese and German martial arts, highly recommend you take a couple of Longsword classes so you know more about the weapon you're facing. I highly recommend training to use Katana-to-Tachi-sized swords with one hand, gives you more options when done correctly and helps with the reach disadvantage (esp. against one-handed European swords). I spar my Jian, Yang TaijiDao and MiaoDao more with HEMA schools than anything else, in my experience mixed weapons is more important once you have the basics (make sure you have no errors in your form).

[@hectorchavez7097]

I did that on my younger days with my Aikido and it absolutely enhanced my training. Won some, lost some but learned everytime!
But Iaijutsu for over 6 years now, I would love to get into sparring other forms.....great concept!

[@aggroalex5470]

You must think that longsword spanned many kingdoms of warfare. Techniques that worked were well tested and adopted very widely geographically speaking compared to Japan/Korea. Also the longsword came later into the sword game as an answer to a problem where the Katana-like swords really didn't change due to lack of problematic diversity due to geographic isolation. It's very natural that you had a hard time. I think longsword, sabre, rapier/dagger are probably best at mixed duels due to the historical geographic vastness of knowledge that is baked into their sources.

[@kobet7341]

This is very important point. Sparring other styles will help you figure out the holes in your own style and how to adjust for it, whether that be for swordsmanship or unarmed combat.

[@ivanfiorani1363]

Sparing against other styles is important, especially if you come up with different weapons..eg a spear.
However a good solid base of real martial arts, in your case swordsmanship, is essential.
As I mentioned before training with revers cuts, correct stances and balance etc us essential when it comes to adapting to different styles and weapons.
Remember you fight like you train..if your training is limited or flaws you will always be disadvantaged…as you have experienced,
People always say”but that your style and there are many” they are correct and most aren’t authentic nor realistic.
An authentic style, armed or unarmed will always teach you to adapt with variations

[@AgouraSteve]

Makes perfect sense 👍🏻

[@zakr911]

Please add footage of the sparring next time.

[@JustaBug]

That depends whether I have permission to film or not

[@neutralfellow9736]

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