Ringen Analysis at Ritterkunst

There is a very nice article about grips in ringen over at Ritterkunst:

HEMA practitioners who spend the majority of their time focused on the swordsmanship aspect of the Art have a great advantage in their study, in that the techniques have names and classifications that are, for the vast majority of the time, consistent across treatises. This, sadly, is not the case for Ringen. Rather, more often than not, techniques are called something like “another good technique” which isn’t very useful for comparing and contrasting techniques across manuscripts!

Further, different masters have different words they use to describe steps or arm movements, adding to the confusion. Some treatises are words-only, some are images only, some are images with brief descriptions and others (though too few) have both images and text. It muddles the tactical lessons inherent in the throws and leaves us to work out on our own these important details in the proper use of these throws. This lack of continuity in nomenclature, pedagogical presentation of the techniques, and visual presentation has left many with the impression that there are hundreds, if not thousands of discrete techniques, none of which are named.

I believe otherwise, and suspect that there are in fact only a relatively small number of techniques that can be properly called Ringen techniques. Much more likely, there are probably 70 or less discrete techniques, but that each technique has a variety of possible entries, grips from which it may be performed, and other small differences that can be identified, while the basic throw is unchanged. These techniques can be used often as stand-alone throws, as counter-throws, or as combination techniques.

Leckuchner Videos

I think I need to make video interpretations of all the plates on Leckuchner. What do you think? Who wants to help?

Armored fighting

We mostly do unarmed fighting at SactoHEMA, but here is an account of a real duel in the 14th century.

Their lances struck but failed to penetrate the thick hides covering their shields and the combatants wheeled and charged again, this time striking one another on their helms. Rounding once more, the knights charged a third time, again striking shields and this time both shattering their lances. Reeling from the impact, the warriors drew their axes and charged a fourth time. Slashing and kicking at one another in the centre of the field, they traded blows until Le Gris, the much stronger man, was able to drive his axe through the neck of Carrouges' horse. As the beheaded beast tumbled to the ground, Carrouges jumped clear and lashed out with his own weapon, disemboweling Le Gris' steed in turn.

Now on foot, the knights drew swords and returned to battle, Le Gris again proving stronger than his opponent and slowly gaining the upper hand. After several minutes of engagement, Carrouges slipped and Le Gris was able to stab his rival through the right thigh. As the crowd gasped and murmured, Le Gris stepped back to view his opponent's injury and Carrouges desperately counter-attacked, wrestling Le Gris to the ground. Le Gris' heavy armour prevented him from regaining his feet and Carrouges repeatedly stabbed at his floored opponent, his blows denting but not puncturing the thick plate steel. Realising that his sword was inadequate, Carrouges straddled Le Gris ...
.

No class December 26

Enjoy your holiday. Contact me to see about class on Jan 2.

We are closed Thanksgiving weekend

There will be no class November 28. Class will return December 5th.
Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Is HEMA the new Crossfit?

New York magazine has a write up on a school in NY.

“Here is a problem that can be solved with the body instead of the mind and heart,” Embers added. Though she called herself “a big dork” — pink dyed hair, a Metroid Prime tattoo — she also hoped the sword-fighting would help her feel less frustrated at work: “I think it will, if I get to hit something.”

SoCal Swordfight

I just got back from SoCal.
I took a ton of classes and got my ass handed to me in the open synthetic tournament.
I took classes on how to be a better teacher and how to choreograph fights. I also took a class on bartitsu, the Victorian gentlemen's self-defense system. I took a class on Fiore's pole-axe and taught a class on ringen.
I got a new Blackfencer synthetic trainer and some Cold Steel rondel dagger trainers.
Oh, and then there was teh banquet. I will leave yo with these videos of what happens at a HEMA banquet.