My last name is Halbert, and I've always wondered what Halberd fighting was like in practice. Thank you for bringing the past to life in this way. The weapon actually seems much more effective to me now that I can see the ways that it combines the reach of a spear with the heavy cutting force of an axe blade.
Not quite the reach of a spear. It can be the same length as a spear, but a trade-off of that heavy multipurpose head is that you have to use more of the haft for leverage to control it. If you have a Halberd and a Spear of equal length, the spear is going to be able to use that length more effectively. You can use a halberd like a spear, but not as well.
I want to see more pole-weapons in movies. Spears, pikes, halberds, bills, pole-axes all were crucial weapons for the longest time in history and sadly get over-shadowed by swords in pop-culture.
@@tatumergo3931 Well.....uhhh. I'm kinda from Florida. Plus what kind of traditions? Minnesota isn't anything special? Plus isn't that one of the more liberal states? If I'm mistaken please correct me.
@@tatumergo3931 Not kinda in that manner. Just said kinda for no reason. I am a proud floridian. And Texas doesn't beat us in SHIT. They got oil but that doesn't make them special.
You two move so fluidly together and your control is fantastic - I actually felt myself tense at a few of your exchanges! Extremely helpful to see the slow motion repetitions with your explanations. It is one thing to read it in a book and quite another to see it demonstrated ;-) Not sure if you accept visitors, but hope to study with you one day when I visit Europe again.
Good technique, precision and control; even when using synthetic heads for the weapons, it's not easy to hold back such a short distance from the partner's face. Also, great composure on her part, she remains steady despite the attack striking so close. So many good things about this video. If someone is wondering how these strikes could be potentially countered, sidestepping just at the right time and at the correct angle (moving a bit forward), while deflecting the opponent's weapon to the side with your own weapon, is generally a good way to thwart the strikes and immediately counter; easier said than done though! You can usually tell when a combatant is skilled, if you watch how he positions himself, my old instructor used to say: position is the key to victory. Halberds should never be underestimated as weapons of great historical importance; to a certain extent (no pun intended), they are equalizers on the battlefield, giving the advantage to a decent warrior, when he faces off against a slightly superior opponent that is armed with a shorter range weapon.
Halbards are longarms. There's a lot of focus on Swords, the sidearms. Likewise, modern movies, and games focus on the Pistol more than whatever longarm (Varies, Carbine, rifle...) when historically, battles were won with Spears. For the most part, even the other polarms at least had a spear point, for the most part. However, that's not heroic, standing in line with a bunch of spears, behind shield bearers. Or Pike and Musket formation, everybody played "The 3 Musketeers" which everybody knew were great and famous swordsmen.
funnily enough the halbert techniques displayed in both of your videos regarding the halberd have somewhat helped my improve my own footwork using a zweihänder, and some of the attacks even work with a zwei, so thanks very much for making these good sir!
Sometimes its so much harder to perform such techniques without actually going through. This looks like one of those cases and I really appreciate your effort.
I just found this channel and while maybe it isn't the intention, it's an excellent art reference for practice drawing or writing weapons. Their stance and posture, the way the wield and hold the weapons and how they move with them... It's all excellent and I'm thankful to have seen it!
Your ability to demonstrate and concisely explain the forms and their functions is quite impressive -I dare say underrated. These steps work quite amicably for using a long-but-not-quite-pole hammer.
On one hand, I love how you demonstrate the techniques with no protective gear at all, on the other hand part of me screams "wear goggles at the very least!"
Whoever she is, she is Amazonian and a highly skilled practitioner of HEMA. Bjorn's videos wouldn't be the same without her. I admit I am slightly sad to see him always defeating "Halberd Wife" in demonstrations. She should get to parry and defeat him sometimes too. 😋
Wow those moves really made me anxius for your GF... But you two coreographed These plays smoothly . Cheers to both of you P.s. May i ask what kind of Heads you are using ? They Look Sharp but Sound synthetic... P.p.s Love the narration in this episode. Keep it Up it is much easier to follow the plays this way.
4 роки тому+35
The heads are synthetics from tempus-fugitives.co.uk/
The most important safety measure we have in HEMA is trust. If you and your partner fence each other often and prioritize safety above winning then it's not at all strange to be able to perform the dance laid out in plays with minimal gear. Obviously, gear should be warn as much as possible to maximize safety but there are situations like this where some corners can be cut.
@@PieLovesPi yeah you are right. Fencing with someone unexpirienced or someone who takes winning over safety is dangerous and kinda disturbs the fun. It takes a lot of practice and lots of trial and error before you can have trust this deep as in the video. I train together with 5 different people and i only have trust in 2 of them to "spas" out and wave their swords around without any control in case of an error. You have to ensure that everyone you fight knows his techniques and is surely aware of the danger fighting (even with Gear) can have. And most importantly when to stop hitting the opponent. It's not an easy task to achive and i think the best preparation to evade insury is to talk with each other before each fight and making clear what the signs for a hit are and when to stop and give the otherone time to Catch breath again. Long Story short: Stay safe HEMA friends !
@@-Shinoray- Then you are not fencing but play fighting really. My Maitre always pitted the best fighters against beginners. Cos high level fighters expect opponents to react in a certain way. Beginners can do really crazy stuff. When you learn to deal with the unexpected you can pretty much beat anyone. Then the bastard blindfolds you and puts you on a 5 cm beam just to learn to do it all over again. Just like I learned to do whip strikes hitting opponents in the back with foil. Which can be done with sabre as well. Epee is a more rugged blade which is only suppose to bend 'lightly'. When I learned to do it with epee as well? I was literally accused of cheating 9 out of 10 times at competitions. My Maitre is over 70 years now and runs 12km each morning with his granddaughter. So very respectable and great honour. Not a very nice man if he's training you. True competition gear these days? Yea bulletproof stuff. Which unfortunately makes it very expensive.
I have to book mark this now because this is a very good demonstration of motion and posture for artists like myself who is madly in love with the halberd.
Amazing skill with the halberd, a weapon that deserves a lot more recognition. And also, M8 the anxiety, your girlfriend has nerves of steel, you stop so close of her sometimes
Outstanding, what a fluid & beautiful display of Halberd fighting, with amazing finesse & accuracy (FANTASTIC!!)💯💯👍👍 Interestingly, all throughout the 1300s-early 1400s the famed & fearsome Swiss fighting men used the Halberd to brutally devastating effect in several major battles, defeating all before them (it wasn't until the 1420s that the highly motivated & cohesive Swiss soldiers began to incorporate greater degrees of pikes into their hard fighting formations, becoming extremely proficient in the use of them, thus did their overall renown, power & prestige as fierce warriors grow substantially!). It was also the weapon that the superbly trained English infantrymen utilized to defeat the savage, sword & ax wielding Scottish tribesmen at the bloody & ferocious battle of Flodden in 1513, as English Halberds wreaked terrible havoc amongst the primevally driven, wild Scots, whose swords & axes were badly outreached by the finely wielded English Halberds. Keep up the Great Work, as the sheer dedication of your training has paid off marvelously, with your various, thoroughly developed skills being very refined, intricate, dazzling, lethal & thrilling to behold💯💯👍👍
Your videos have inspired me to keep up with my training even during the quarantine. I may have "The Art of Combat 1570" book but, these videos give such a wonderful insight .
Halberd is a versatile weapon. It can cut, thrust, chop, or even hook to disarm. One wrong move will results in death. What this video has taught me is that if I ever have to Halberd duel with someone for whatever the reason, I'll just run away and throw rocks at them.
Thanks for narrating what you were doing, and having a friend participate so we can see the plays in action. Have you ever been hired to choreograph scenes in movies or plays before?
doin' a mini battle with some friends and found your video on poleaxes, which are similar enough to this to make it worth it lol thanks for everything!
Much appreciated, especially the slow motion replays. I am reading a Warhammer Fantasy book , Sword of Justice, which has a Captain of Halberdiers as one of the main characters. I wanted to see some videos so that it would be easier to visualize the fighting.
What I can't imagine though, if you have a unit of helberdiers fighting in cohesion, was there room for all of these techniques, or was it more like the pike blocks of later years, where it's just a hedge of pike points poking you off of the field?
where can I buy a halberd trainer? I have never been so interested in a long weapon such as this one, but you make it look so strong, balanced and efficient, and i wanna learn how to use that
Are you going to mix weapons? Halberd vs Sword strategy, for example, or shield, or other polearm. I don't know if such thing existed or if your channel is about those things. I'm new to this.
@@arjun._.bbC6 Being a shield? Point of a halbert at least is so you can de-shield on the front line. This type of one on one combat would be more for tournaments. In real battle it just gets messy real fast. Sidestepping is rarely possible if you have to hold the line.
@@MrFlatage Well I actually meant "bring", stupid typo. Granted halbeard's are supposed to break shield defenses, but I'd assume you have slightly better chances of surviving with a shield than another polearm.
One additional thing to note is that these are meant for halberd vs hablerd fight. Once you are facing halberd vs spear, some of these techniques are not a good idea, since halberds have a hefty metal bit at the end and aren't quite as nimble and quick as a spear. Change through can work, but is riskier, fifth play will just get you stabbed. The last play should probably only be attempted only if you want to meme on your foe anyway.
First video of yours I've watched. I have some question about the one-handed underhew though - Is there not the danger of a physically stronger opponent striking at your polearm and knocking it out of your hand - Or simply knock it aside entirely and leaving you open for a counter thrust to the chest? Edit: Dyslexia is bad, kids.
If they read it, sure. I imagine most people back in the day or most fencers nowadays wouldn't anticipate a one-handed underhau from a massive halberd, so it's mostly used in this technique as bait to do exactly as you said; they're likely going to panic and try to swat it away, opening them up for the final strike in the technique.
@@eirin481 I see. I'm not a polearm practitioner but rather I practice with quarterstaffs. There's a similar move that beginners do and It often ends up with either a blowthrough, or the reciever of the attack simply backs out of reach and resets the fight. It seems hard to use to push the fight and a bit clunky in my eyes; But having a sharp edge to your weapon makes all the difference I guess.
@@ajithsidhu7183 Well typically you'd either use them to bind their weapon, or throw them at their face to distract them and impair their vision, then strike at them with whatever else you are equipped with. But some people also just wear the pants for clothing instead, or so I've heard.
THANK YOU, I was hoping someone else was gonna say something! Everyone else out here like "this fencing is amazing!" and I'm like "Those pants are amazing!" I'd wear those pants just out and about in addition to while swordfencing
The swiss militias mercenaries were famous for fighting with halberds in tight formation, one of the reason why knights as heavy cavalry became less and less important in warfare. The swiss mercenaries were so famous for their skills the popes themselves hired them as their guard (though part was certainly because Swiss was neutral, so the chance of betrayel was minimal). They still serve today, though pretty much only in a ceremonial way.
4 роки тому+3
Halberds where often used for protecting flags, cannons etc or standing in the middle of a Pikeformation to defend it esp. when it comes to close combat situations between two enemie-groups. But there are also pure groups of halbadiers. Another purpose is the armament of city guards or just for ceremonial matters. In my video i showed off only Joachim Meyers plays. These techniques are more for 1v1 situations - but you can extract the very basics and use it for formation fights also.
I'm not identifying these moves from the Meyer section on wiktenauer. Are you using different source material?
4 роки тому+1
I use Joachim Meyers 1570 manuscript! As far as I can see the halberd is not shown there (wiktenauer). Only staff... i will add the pages of the original in the video description :)
>be me >searching rifle news stuff >your videos pop up regardless I guess I'll get a new polearm instead Edit: I just realised I'd added the video to martial arts playlist, not hema one. EDC halberd anyone?
How use this tricks in regular medieval formations like tercio or equal another? (Как использовать эти приемы в обычном средневековом строю вроде терции или им подобным?)
Hi @Björn Rüther I’m watching your videos from Los Ángeles, Chile 🇨🇱 in South America and I found them very illustrative, I’m wondering if there’s some way to learn from here (I was a Kendo student) in this place there’s no groups to learn European medieval martial arts and I would like to begin to learn and possibly teach others.
I feel the first strike should be aimed at your opponant, and if that strike hits home, well great, but if your opponant evades that strike, ie slipping back, then you continue as shown. Going to be practicing these drills as halberd is a weapon i have wanted to learn.
Love all of the content! I’ve watched and learned a lot from a variety of your different videos. I’ve been looking for sparring halberds such as the ones in this video to order, do you know where I can find sparring ones to safely practice with that are made of polypropylene or a similar synthetic material? Thanks!!
Рік тому
Our heads are from tempus-fugitives.co.uk/. With these heads you can perform safer sparring as with steel ones but! it remains dangerous. Sparring with pole weapons remains, no matter what you use as a head more dangerous than anything else such as sword, sabel, etc.. Thrusts are hard and stiff, blows to the head extremely powerful...in the end, the most important thing that gives you safety is the careful use of the fencer/partner and a good agreement. Have fun :)
In a judicial duel most of the attacks seam to be logical and economical first, but in close formation 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th attack are not uselfull because you will harm your mates, open up your defence to long - and you will be hit by enemy mates, 4th attack used the range of the weapon as well the speed - keep your weapon in front of you. Not worth mentioning A halbert is always a hook to break up the enemy line.
4 роки тому
Its not for formation fight. The fencing treatise describes only duel situations as mentioned in the video description below
I know nothing of halberd fighting but I do fencing; I have a question: isn't it extremely dangerous to start with a upper strike completely exposing yourself to stabs from the opponent? Because every time you start with a upper strike you are completely exposed to thrusts to the chest from the opponent (sorry, I am not english speaking so I don't know the correct words in this language)
Halberds frequently were used by guards (ex. Swiss Vatican guards) so their have more movement. When on battlefields they were used in rank and file with the first strokes similar for the unit if properly trained. (hew, trust, recover) and then skirmishing would ensue. Other weapons, look like halberds (glaives or Bills and poleaxe) but were ofthen irregulars or mercanaries in the case of glaives or bills and knights using the poleaxe when full plate became a thing (at agincourt for example)
Could they not just thrust and angle the shaft to defend? Edit: just saw you explained what to do if they thrust but she didn’t look very committed to the thrust?
Are those techniques ambidexterous or would you need to improvise with the angles and positioning if you were holding it right hand forward?
4 роки тому
You can mirror all plays with yor right hand forward if you want. The reason why the left is teached forward is because one handed actions (eg 6. play from this video) with a left hand on the rear is really difficult.
I used to think long weapons are useless as it only takes one to close the gap and deliver fatal stabs. But seeing this, it’s amazing how getting in close proximity with a halberd user is virtually impossible when one wields it with such skill. It also looks so humiliating to get hit by such a weapon. Unlike a sword, a halberd just screams “I’m literally open the entire time and I still managed to hit you”
I am wondering if it will be difficult to actually do the upward swings, wouldnt the opponent easily push down on them ? The attacker also looked as though he stepped in front of the opponent's tip
Björn, did you round off the tip of the square haft by hand to make the halberd head fit, or did you do it by machine, using a lathe? (Drechselbank) I have the same halberd head and am thinking about whether I should just go the easy route and stick it on a round haft or put in the extra work and try to make it fit on a square haft for better edge alignment / historical accuracy.
3 роки тому+1
The extra work is it worth. I have used a big belt sander for the tip.
3 роки тому+1
And after the grinding work i filled the halberd head with 2 component glue to fill the gaps and put it together. The side is attached by coppernails.
@ Thanks for the tips, using a belt sander is a great idea. If I glue the halberd head to the haft and the haft breaks during training, won't that make it impossible to place the head on a new haft? (Because it will be firmly glued to the broken haft)
3 роки тому+1
@@heirihunziker thats right...try to believe in ash...otherwise, one prob after other :D
@ Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. It's tempting to buy the readily available hafts from the Baumarkt (cheap pine/spruce/fir) but I do buy ash whenever I get the chance. For spears, I've used beech and basswood and haven't broken any hafts so far, but for halberd & poleaxe I better listen to your advice = Spend the cash on ash!
I guess that since the motion starts with an upper guard, the opponent would anticipate a downward hew and try to quickly bring their off-center weapon upwards to parry. However, the one-handed hew from below comes out instead and the momentum of bringing up their own weapon would make it harder to react to that. Since it's one-handed, it the reach can go a little farther if it wasn't pulled backwards as a feint for the next downward hew.
very nice! Just im a bit worried wihen u pull up your halberd to charge a hit that your opponent can easily enter and hit you simply going with a straight touch, if the opponent it smart of course
The pants clearly say, it's Halberd time.
Halt! Halberd time!
Just break the wrist, and then walk away. Break the wrist; walk away.
Im writing a novel and I want the combat to be written based off historical treaties. Thank you for the demonstration
Same! Even though the protagonist will mainly be using a mace, a hailbred would be her secondary weapon
Dónde publicarás tu historia
My last name is Halbert, and I've always wondered what Halberd fighting was like in practice. Thank you for bringing the past to life in this way. The weapon actually seems much more effective to me now that I can see the ways that it combines the reach of a spear with the heavy cutting force of an axe blade.
Not quite the reach of a spear. It can be the same length as a spear, but a trade-off of that heavy multipurpose head is that you have to use more of the haft for leverage to control it. If you have a Halberd and a Spear of equal length, the spear is going to be able to use that length more effectively. You can use a halberd like a spear, but not as well.
Halbert fighting
Fighting with halberts
If you mastered the halberd technique, you shall be the ultimate halrberdt
Jim?
I want to see more pole-weapons in movies. Spears, pikes, halberds, bills, pole-axes all were crucial weapons for the longest time in history and sadly get over-shadowed by swords in pop-culture.
I would like that too, but they will probably spoil it by fancy kung fu swirling of the weapon.
VERY interesting ive seen almost no one cover halbers like this, i cannot wait for more'
too dangerous
Seems to be the only one outside of schola gladiatora and maybe lindybeige.
It’s an incredibly effective weapon, good for protestors too
Sparring at full tempo is dangerous even with rubber heads, and with steel you'll break bones.
@@gabem3251 who said anything about sparring... ? noone even does much about the movements strikes and footwork
Man you know that's love when your GF helps you with your nerdy historical weapons studies.
@@tatumergo3931 I suppose. Not many girls like this where I live in the states. Not too many actually interested me.
@@tatumergo3931 Well.....uhhh. I'm kinda from Florida. Plus what kind of traditions? Minnesota isn't anything special? Plus isn't that one of the more liberal states? If I'm mistaken please correct me.
@@tatumergo3931 Actually being liberal or not doesn't really matter.
@@tatumergo3931 Not kinda in that manner. Just said kinda for no reason. I am a proud floridian. And Texas doesn't beat us in SHIT. They got oil but that doesn't make them special.
@@tatumergo3931 And we have the most beautiful women in all the states and nobody can tell me otherwise.
Great to see one of the best weapons there is, "the spear's big bro", receiving more appreciation
The spear's big brother is the pike.
This is their uncle lmao
I freaking love halberds :^
They're life
Not to be too literal, but i think they're rather death aren't they?
@@frdrsch Yeah, I think they're more too
You two move so fluidly together and your control is fantastic - I actually felt myself tense at a few of your exchanges! Extremely helpful to see the slow motion repetitions with your explanations. It is one thing to read it in a book and quite another to see it demonstrated ;-) Not sure if you accept visitors, but hope to study with you one day when I visit Europe again.
Based Nipponese
>mfw when I will never have a halberdier waifu
>feelsbadman.jpg
>tfw we will never have gf
Bro just lift
White men are in high demand
@@jakemocci3953 I highly doubt my man roasties only go for the money
the halberdier waifu is the rarest kind of waifu
BE the halberdier waifu you wish to see in the world
Good technique, precision and control; even when using synthetic heads for the weapons, it's not easy to hold back such a short distance from the partner's face. Also, great composure on her part, she remains steady despite the attack striking so close. So many good things about this video.
If someone is wondering how these strikes could be potentially countered, sidestepping just at the right time and at the correct angle (moving a bit forward), while deflecting the opponent's weapon to the side with your own weapon, is generally a good way to thwart the strikes and immediately counter; easier said than done though! You can usually tell when a combatant is skilled, if you watch how he positions himself, my old instructor used to say: position is the key to victory.
Halberds should never be underestimated as weapons of great historical importance; to a certain extent (no pun intended), they are equalizers on the battlefield, giving the advantage to a decent warrior, when he faces off against a slightly superior opponent that is armed with a shorter range weapon.
Halbards are longarms. There's a lot of focus on Swords, the sidearms. Likewise, modern movies, and games focus on the Pistol more than whatever longarm (Varies, Carbine, rifle...) when historically, battles were won with Spears. For the most part, even the other polarms at least had a spear point, for the most part. However, that's not heroic, standing in line with a bunch of spears, behind shield bearers. Or Pike and Musket formation, everybody played "The 3 Musketeers" which everybody knew were great and famous swordsmen.
funnily enough the halbert techniques displayed in both of your videos regarding the halberd have somewhat helped my improve my own footwork using a zweihänder, and some of the attacks even work with a zwei, so thanks very much for making these good sir!
This is the definitely the best trust exercise that I have ever seen!!
This gives me anxiety every time you go for a thrust
Me too. This stuff is dangerous, you could seriously hurt someone in the face.
Yep, helbert is effective but also dangerous for practices because you should predict the length of the helbert
Don't worry, she's very used to his thrusting.
@@lelionnoir4523 thank you good man, you made my day
@@MrSagaTeller Glad I could do that with saucy wit. ;-)
I wish I could get my wife to practice with me. Björn you're so lucky!
Sometimes its so much harder to perform such techniques without actually going through.
This looks like one of those cases and I really appreciate your effort.
I just found this channel and while maybe it isn't the intention, it's an excellent art reference for practice drawing or writing weapons. Their stance and posture, the way the wield and hold the weapons and how they move with them... It's all excellent and I'm thankful to have seen it!
Your two videos have been the only places I've seen anyone explain the use of this weapon. It's been motivating me to take up this sport!
Your ability to demonstrate and concisely explain the forms and their functions is quite impressive -I dare say underrated. These steps work quite amicably for using a long-but-not-quite-pole hammer.
Thx mate
On one hand, I love how you demonstrate the techniques with no protective gear at all, on the other hand part of me screams "wear goggles at the very least!"
Good that someone takes time to share helpful life skills like this. They really should include this in basic education gym classes.
No girlfriends were harmed in the making of this video! 😉
XD
The forth play... 🛌😉😆 That's what she said;-)
They where, however, armed
Whoever she is, she is Amazonian and a highly skilled practitioner of HEMA. Bjorn's videos wouldn't be the same without her. I admit I am slightly sad to see him always defeating "Halberd Wife" in demonstrations. She should get to parry and defeat him sometimes too. 😋
Wow those moves really made me anxius for your GF...
But you two coreographed These plays smoothly .
Cheers to both of you
P.s. May i ask what kind of Heads you are using ? They Look Sharp but Sound synthetic...
P.p.s Love the narration in this episode. Keep it Up it is much easier to follow the plays this way.
The heads are synthetics from tempus-fugitives.co.uk/
@ I'm sure they would be dangerous for eyes in the hands of someone with less control.
The most important safety measure we have in HEMA is trust. If you and your partner fence each other often and prioritize safety above winning then it's not at all strange to be able to perform the dance laid out in plays with minimal gear. Obviously, gear should be warn as much as possible to maximize safety but there are situations like this where some corners can be cut.
@@PieLovesPi yeah you are right. Fencing with someone unexpirienced or someone who takes winning over safety is dangerous and kinda disturbs the fun.
It takes a lot of practice and lots of trial and error before you can have trust this deep as in the video.
I train together with 5 different people and i only have trust in 2 of them to "spas" out and wave their swords around without any control in case of an error.
You have to ensure that everyone you fight knows his techniques and is surely aware of the danger fighting (even with Gear) can have.
And most importantly when to stop hitting the opponent.
It's not an easy task to achive and i think the best preparation to evade insury is to talk with each other before each fight and making clear what the signs for a hit are and when to stop and give the otherone time to Catch breath again.
Long Story short: Stay safe HEMA friends !
@@-Shinoray- Then you are not fencing but play fighting really. My Maitre always pitted the best fighters against beginners. Cos high level fighters expect opponents to react in a certain way. Beginners can do really crazy stuff. When you learn to deal with the unexpected you can pretty much beat anyone.
Then the bastard blindfolds you and puts you on a 5 cm beam just to learn to do it all over again.
Just like I learned to do whip strikes hitting opponents in the back with foil. Which can be done with sabre as well. Epee is a more rugged blade which is only suppose to bend 'lightly'. When I learned to do it with epee as well? I was literally accused of cheating 9 out of 10 times at competitions.
My Maitre is over 70 years now and runs 12km each morning with his granddaughter. So very respectable and great honour. Not a very nice man if he's training you.
True competition gear these days? Yea bulletproof stuff. Which unfortunately makes it very expensive.
It's so nice of Rollo from vikings to show us these things
I have to book mark this now because this is a very good demonstration of motion and posture for artists like myself who is madly in love with the halberd.
Absolutely brilliant. Great to see such high quality and informative coverage of a wonderful weapon. Thank you. Excited for more!
Amazing skill with the halberd, a weapon that deserves a lot more recognition. And also, M8 the anxiety, your girlfriend has nerves of steel, you stop so close of her sometimes
Bjorn, your video's and instruction are excellent. Thank you for sharing them!
Outstanding, what a fluid & beautiful display of Halberd fighting, with amazing finesse & accuracy (FANTASTIC!!)💯💯👍👍
Interestingly, all throughout the 1300s-early 1400s the famed & fearsome Swiss fighting men used the Halberd to brutally devastating effect in several major battles, defeating all before them (it wasn't until the 1420s that the highly motivated & cohesive Swiss soldiers began to incorporate greater degrees of pikes into their hard fighting formations, becoming extremely proficient in the use of them, thus did their overall renown, power & prestige as fierce warriors grow substantially!). It was also the weapon that the superbly trained English infantrymen utilized to defeat the savage, sword & ax wielding Scottish tribesmen at the bloody & ferocious battle of Flodden in 1513, as English Halberds wreaked terrible havoc amongst the primevally driven, wild Scots, whose swords & axes were badly outreached by the finely wielded English Halberds.
Keep up the Great Work, as the sheer dedication of your training has paid off marvelously, with your various, thoroughly developed skills being very refined, intricate, dazzling, lethal & thrilling to behold💯💯👍👍
Your videos have inspired me to keep up with my training even during the quarantine. I may have "The Art of Combat 1570" book but, these videos give such a wonderful insight .
By far the coolest of all the Medieval hand-to-hands.
Always good info presented clearly and with great final messages, well done!
Thx mate :)
Having trained with bolognese sources, its quite interesting to see Meyer's take on the halberd
Halberd is a versatile weapon. It can cut, thrust, chop, or even hook to disarm. One wrong move will results in death. What this video has taught me is that if I ever have to Halberd duel with someone for whatever the reason, I'll just run away and throw rocks at them.
Thanks for narrating what you were doing, and having a friend participate so we can see the plays in action. Have you ever been hired to choreograph scenes in movies or plays before?
Wonderful. Hopefully I find a lifelong hema school one day.
doin' a mini battle with some friends and found your video on poleaxes, which are similar enough to this to make it worth it lol thanks for everything!
Brilliant stuff mate, as usual! Really helped me with my polearm tactics (no pun intended).
When fighting turns into a precise dance...albeit a deadly one. Great job!
FromSoftware and other game companies should pay attention to these videos.
Much appreciated, especially the slow motion replays. I am reading a Warhammer Fantasy book , Sword of Justice, which has a Captain of Halberdiers as one of the main characters. I wanted to see some videos so that it would be easier to visualize the fighting.
I Subscribed. Lots of good looking videos here.
What I can't imagine though, if you have a unit of helberdiers fighting in cohesion, was there room for all of these techniques, or was it more like the pike blocks of later years, where it's just a hedge of pike points poking you off of the field?
I always loved pole style weapons, they are wacky in the wrong hands, but extremely powerful when used right
I like that one-handed swing in the last play! Very flashy
Wirklich gut erklärt. Danke!
Where do u get Your Halberds From? And are they Cheap?
There are so many vendors out there...you can buy really good ones for about 100 bucks. But you have (and should) attach the staff by your self.
Very well presented.
where can I buy a halberd trainer? I have never been so interested in a long weapon such as this one, but you make it look so strong, balanced and efficient, and i wanna learn how to use that
Are you going to mix weapons? Halberd vs Sword strategy, for example, or shield, or other polearm. I don't know if such thing existed or if your channel is about those things. I'm new to this.
If you have a sword and have to fight some kind of pole arm, your best bet is simply to run away to a more tight space.
@@derek96720 or bring a shield. Granted it isn't the best option, but a shield can buy you some defense against a polearm.
@@derek96720 Yea learn to throw swords. It's fun. ;-)
@@arjun._.bbC6 Being a shield? Point of a halbert at least is so you can de-shield on the front line. This type of one on one combat would be more for tournaments. In real battle it just gets messy real fast. Sidestepping is rarely possible if you have to hold the line.
@@MrFlatage Well I actually meant "bring", stupid typo. Granted halbeard's are supposed to break shield defenses, but I'd assume you have slightly better chances of surviving with a shield than another polearm.
Your partners head movement is on point.
Amazing, I love Halberds and Staffs :)
Bjorn, we are missing your cool videos, when will you come back?
I'll be back...
adore to watch you guys: the look and moves - if I need to go to some epic quest I would definitely ask you to join :] Wish you best!
One additional thing to note is that these are meant for halberd vs hablerd fight. Once you are facing halberd vs spear, some of these techniques are not a good idea, since halberds have a hefty metal bit at the end and aren't quite as nimble and quick as a spear.
Change through can work, but is riskier, fifth play will just get you stabbed. The last play should probably only be attempted only if you want to meme on your foe anyway.
This is beautiful.
Hey do you happen to practice blunt weapons in your Martial Arts? Would love to see some blunt weapons fighting techniques, like warhammers and maces.
First video of yours I've watched. I have some question about the one-handed underhew though - Is there not the danger of a physically stronger opponent striking at your polearm and knocking it out of your hand - Or simply knock it aside entirely and leaving you open for a counter thrust to the chest?
Edit: Dyslexia is bad, kids.
If they read it, sure. I imagine most people back in the day or most fencers nowadays wouldn't anticipate a one-handed underhau from a massive halberd, so it's mostly used in this technique as bait to do exactly as you said; they're likely going to panic and try to swat it away, opening them up for the final strike in the technique.
@@eirin481 I see. I'm not a polearm practitioner but rather I practice with quarterstaffs. There's a similar move that beginners do and It often ends up with either a blowthrough, or the reciever of the attack simply backs out of reach and resets the fight. It seems hard to use to push the fight and a bit clunky in my eyes; But having a sharp edge to your weapon makes all the difference I guess.
0:38 oh shit, your girl got some balls for wanting to play like that. That was a close one!
what are the cuts aimed at or is it just a feint?
Its mostly aimed for hands, arms or the staff to deceive the opponent in this examples.
Good question! Nice answer 👌
@ will it work with polehammer too?
It would be interesting to see your take on the dane axe since there isn't much information on ttp's. Would be cool to see how you would use it
4:50 is silly. Power does not come from the above, so it is good trade for a opponents thrust, and quite good way to lose weapon.
I just discovered your channel. Your videos and amazing. subbed and put notification on.
Where can I get these amazing pants?
I got mine here: highhillpants.wixsite.com/index/catalog-en
@ how is it used against swords ,axes etc
@@ajithsidhu7183 Well typically you'd either use them to bind their weapon, or throw them at their face to distract them and impair their vision, then strike at them with whatever else you are equipped with. But some people also just wear the pants for clothing instead, or so I've heard.
THANK YOU, I was hoping someone else was gonna say something! Everyone else out here like "this fencing is amazing!" and I'm like "Those pants are amazing!"
I'd wear those pants just out and about in addition to while swordfencing
MC Hammer used a similar pair, can´t remember if he used a halbeard tho 😉 but they are not that hard to make if you look at some tutorials online.
Were halberds used in battles in formation fights, or was it more of 1 on 1 weapon?
The swiss militias mercenaries were famous for fighting with halberds in tight formation, one of the reason why knights as heavy cavalry became less and less important in warfare.
The swiss mercenaries were so famous for their skills the popes themselves hired them as their guard (though part was certainly because Swiss was neutral, so the chance of betrayel was minimal). They still serve today, though pretty much only in a ceremonial way.
Halberds where often used for protecting flags, cannons etc or standing in the middle of a Pikeformation to defend it esp. when it comes to close combat situations between two enemie-groups. But there are also pure groups of halbadiers. Another purpose is the armament of city guards or just for ceremonial matters. In my video i showed off only Joachim Meyers plays. These techniques are more for 1v1 situations - but you can extract the very basics and use it for formation fights also.
This is coming in handy for learning how to draw dnd characters
Contemplating I should start being a Halberd main than being a Paladin or Priest main
I'm not identifying these moves from the Meyer section on wiktenauer. Are you using different source material?
I use Joachim Meyers 1570 manuscript! As far as I can see the halberd is not shown there (wiktenauer). Only staff... i will add the pages of the original in the video description :)
The Halberd is My favorite of all the Medieval weapons.
>be me
>searching rifle news stuff
>your videos pop up regardless
I guess I'll get a new polearm instead
Edit: I just realised I'd added the video to martial arts playlist, not hema one. EDC halberd anyone?
How use this tricks in regular medieval formations like tercio or equal another? (Как использовать эти приемы в обычном средневековом строю вроде терции или им подобным?)
Excellent demonstration! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
i'm surprised i've haven't encountered no For Honor references here....hold on!
AD MORTEM INIMICVS
ngl..feels good
Great flow! Wish you the best for you!
Hi @Björn Rüther I’m watching your videos from Los Ángeles, Chile 🇨🇱 in South America and I found them very illustrative, I’m wondering if there’s some way to learn from here (I was a Kendo student) in this place there’s no groups to learn European medieval martial arts and I would like to begin to learn and possibly teach others.
Are the first strikes meant to break the opponents wooden shaft (plays 1-5)?
I feel the first strike should be aimed at your opponant, and if that strike hits home, well great, but if your opponant evades that strike, ie slipping back, then you continue as shown. Going to be practicing these drills as halberd is a weapon i have wanted to learn.
No
Love all of the content! I’ve watched and learned a lot from a variety of your different videos. I’ve been looking for sparring halberds such as the ones in this video to order, do you know where I can find sparring ones to safely practice with that are made of polypropylene or a similar synthetic material? Thanks!!
Our heads are from tempus-fugitives.co.uk/. With these heads you can perform safer sparring as with steel ones but! it remains dangerous. Sparring with pole weapons remains, no matter what you use as a head more dangerous than anything else such as sword, sabel, etc.. Thrusts are hard and stiff, blows to the head extremely powerful...in the end, the most important thing that gives you safety is the careful use of the fencer/partner and a good agreement. Have fun :)
In a judicial duel most of the attacks seam to be logical and economical first, but in close formation 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th attack are not uselfull because you will harm your mates, open up your defence to long - and you will be hit by enemy mates, 4th attack used the range of the weapon as well the speed - keep your weapon in front of you. Not worth mentioning A halbert is always a hook to break up the enemy line.
Its not for formation fight. The fencing treatise describes only duel situations as mentioned in the video description below
the Indiana Jones method vs melee is what i love!
Would you say the Halberd is a good weapon for people of shorter stature?
This will be very useful the next time I pack my Halbert in my Day-Cary-On pocket.
I know nothing of halberd fighting but I do fencing; I have a question: isn't it extremely dangerous to start with a upper strike completely exposing yourself to stabs from the opponent? Because every time you start with a upper strike you are completely exposed to thrusts to the chest from the opponent (sorry, I am not english speaking so I don't know the correct words in this language)
So cool, my man! Thank you!
Would love to see some tutorials on battle axe technique!
I thought these things were used in formations if so wouldn't it be somewhat difficult to pull those moves off?
This is more for duels
Halberds frequently were used by guards (ex. Swiss Vatican guards) so their have more movement. When on battlefields they were used in rank and file with the first strokes similar for the unit if properly trained. (hew, trust, recover) and then skirmishing would ensue. Other weapons, look like halberds (glaives or Bills and poleaxe) but were ofthen irregulars or mercanaries in the case of glaives or bills and knights using the poleaxe when full plate became a thing (at agincourt for example)
Where can i get my own pair of pink combat trousers?
Could they not just thrust and angle the shaft to defend?
Edit: just saw you explained what to do if they thrust but she didn’t look very committed to the thrust?
Great vids...
How long it took you grow that long hair?
European hair grows round about 1cm per month maybe a bit more. Asian hair up to 1,5cm per month as far as I know.
Beautiful body mechanics!! Nice!!👍
3:34 Is getting axed in the head a mandatory part of the move or can I skip that bit?
What are those socks you guys warring? Or are they apart of the pants
Are those techniques ambidexterous or would you need to improvise with the angles and positioning if you were holding it right hand forward?
You can mirror all plays with yor right hand forward if you want. The reason why the left is teached forward is because one handed actions (eg 6. play from this video) with a left hand on the rear is really difficult.
I used to think long weapons are useless as it only takes one to close the gap and deliver fatal stabs. But seeing this, it’s amazing how getting in close proximity with a halberd user is virtually impossible when one wields it with such skill. It also looks so humiliating to get hit by such a weapon. Unlike a sword, a halberd just screams “I’m literally open the entire time and I still managed to hit you”
How much training does this take? Let's say I'm an uneducated farmer who gets "voluntered " to fight.
I am wondering if it will be difficult to actually do the upward swings, wouldnt the opponent easily push down on them ? The attacker also looked as though he stepped in front of the opponent's tip
Björn, did you round off the tip of the square haft by hand to make the halberd head fit, or did you do it by machine, using a lathe? (Drechselbank) I have the same halberd head and am thinking about whether I should just go the easy route and stick it on a round haft or put in the extra work and try to make it fit on a square haft for better edge alignment / historical accuracy.
The extra work is it worth. I have used a big belt sander for the tip.
And after the grinding work i filled the halberd head with 2 component glue to fill the gaps and put it together. The side is attached by coppernails.
@ Thanks for the tips, using a belt sander is a great idea.
If I glue the halberd head to the haft and the haft breaks during training, won't that make it impossible to place the head on a new haft? (Because it will be firmly glued to the broken haft)
@@heirihunziker thats right...try to believe in ash...otherwise, one prob after other :D
@ Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. It's tempting to buy the readily available hafts from the Baumarkt (cheap pine/spruce/fir) but I do buy ash whenever I get the chance. For spears, I've used beech and basswood and haven't broken any hafts so far, but for halberd & poleaxe I better listen to your advice = Spend the cash on ash!
I have a hard time understanding the last one. What Is the purpose of the one handed hew?
I guess that since the motion starts with an upper guard, the opponent would anticipate a downward hew and try to quickly bring their off-center weapon upwards to parry. However, the one-handed hew from below comes out instead and the momentum of bringing up their own weapon would make it harder to react to that. Since it's one-handed, it the reach can go a little farther if it wasn't pulled backwards as a feint for the next downward hew.
i always love music intro and outro 😁
I had to concentrate really hard on this video because I was constantly distracted by how beautiful and fit the girl is
very nice! Just im a bit worried wihen u pull up your halberd to charge a hit that your opponent can easily enter and hit you simply going with a straight touch, if the opponent it smart of course
Those are nice Red Hilted Halberds, but what about THE Halberd?