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i don't exactly do "fencing" 
we call it HEMA -- "historical European martial arts"
basically i study 13th, 14th, 15th century manuals written by German & Italian master-at-arms, and try to recreate the actual European 'art' of longsword dueling. fencing is actually pretty far removed from this, though it was derived from it. modern fencing - even 16th century fencing - developed as a gentleman's 'sport' rather than a useful set of techniques for combat. kicks aren't allowed, nor is any kind of grappling, and certain other kinds of strikes - for the most part only thrusts, and the 'duel' is over the moment someone scores a 'point' -- even if you "tag" me with what may not even have penetrated a gambeson, and i am in full swing about to slice your throat a second later, you "win" in fencing. stances are different and footwork is different. many techniques are very different and much more defensive-minded. fencing is still very cool, and i have a lot of respect for it -- but it's not the sort of thing i'm interested in.
i would study fencing because what i really wanted to learn was longsword. for a long time i really wanted to, because i had no idea that one could actually study longsword. over the last couple of decades a number of manuals were "discovered" in old libraries & personal libraries and translated. it's really cool stuff IMHO, and one thing that's cool about it is that no one actually knows how to interpret a lot of it -- this art was 'lost' and replaced with the 'sport' of fencing -- so there is a lot of variation and room for your own interpretation. and it really is a martial art, proper -- it used to be thought that there wasn't very much skill with a blade in Europe, compared to Asia, and that people more or less just whacked at each other. but it turns out there are very well defined styles, very technical and involved approaches and wisdom, the same kind of 'mystery' you see about the whole thing in Asia: that it was reserved for the royal to learn, and should be hidden from 'vulgar men and vagabonds' -- and interestingly, these master-at-arms were Christians, and urged that the right art should be taught to anyone who did 'the work of God on earth' i.e. defending the poor and the widow and the unjustly accused.
i could go on & on about it, obviously. it's "one of my favorite hobbies"
pretty small-scale now, but growing -- and much faster & bigger in Europe than in the States, for obvious reasons.
we call it HEMA -- "historical European martial arts"
basically i study 13th, 14th, 15th century manuals written by German & Italian master-at-arms, and try to recreate the actual European 'art' of longsword dueling. fencing is actually pretty far removed from this, though it was derived from it. modern fencing - even 16th century fencing - developed as a gentleman's 'sport' rather than a useful set of techniques for combat. kicks aren't allowed, nor is any kind of grappling, and certain other kinds of strikes - for the most part only thrusts, and the 'duel' is over the moment someone scores a 'point' -- even if you "tag" me with what may not even have penetrated a gambeson, and i am in full swing about to slice your throat a second later, you "win" in fencing. stances are different and footwork is different. many techniques are very different and much more defensive-minded. fencing is still very cool, and i have a lot of respect for it -- but it's not the sort of thing i'm interested in.
i would study fencing because what i really wanted to learn was longsword. for a long time i really wanted to, because i had no idea that one could actually study longsword. over the last couple of decades a number of manuals were "discovered" in old libraries & personal libraries and translated. it's really cool stuff IMHO, and one thing that's cool about it is that no one actually knows how to interpret a lot of it -- this art was 'lost' and replaced with the 'sport' of fencing -- so there is a lot of variation and room for your own interpretation. and it really is a martial art, proper -- it used to be thought that there wasn't very much skill with a blade in Europe, compared to Asia, and that people more or less just whacked at each other. but it turns out there are very well defined styles, very technical and involved approaches and wisdom, the same kind of 'mystery' you see about the whole thing in Asia: that it was reserved for the royal to learn, and should be hidden from 'vulgar men and vagabonds' -- and interestingly, these master-at-arms were Christians, and urged that the right art should be taught to anyone who did 'the work of God on earth' i.e. defending the poor and the widow and the unjustly accused.
i could go on & on about it, obviously. it's "one of my favorite hobbies"
pretty small-scale now, but growing -- and much faster & bigger in Europe than in the States, for obvious reasons.
Last edited:
posthuman; said:
i don't exactly do "fencing"
we call it HEMA -- "historical European martial arts"
basically i study 13th, 14th, 15th century manuals written by German & Italian master-at-arms, and try to recreate the actual European 'art' of longsword dueling unjustly accused ...
i could go on & on about it, obviously. it's "one of my favorite hobbies"
pretty small-scale now, but growing -- and much faster & bigger in Europe than in the States, for obvious reasons.
we call it HEMA -- "historical European martial arts"
basically i study 13th, 14th, 15th century manuals written by German & Italian master-at-arms, and try to recreate the actual European 'art' of longsword dueling unjustly accused ...
i could go on & on about it, obviously. it's "one of my favorite hobbies"
pretty small-scale now, but growing -- and much faster & bigger in Europe than in the States, for obvious reasons.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/sports/for-longsword-a-comeback-ages-in-the-making.html?_r=0
GREAT stuff.
