A point about longsword technique
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- čas přidán 21. 04. 2014
- Some words on how to and how not to use a longsword, followed by some playful speculation regarding a technique I came up with while fiddling about with my new longsword.
There are good reasons why one shouldn't swing very hard with a longsword. One day I might mention a few more.
www.LloydianAspects.co.uk
0:42 was the exact moment i got a heart attack
A wild Lloyd appeared.
Dark spirit?
😂😂😂😂
Whoopsie
Роман Гогешвили purple eyed
30 seconds. 30 seconds of the word long accompanied by rambling and I loved every second.
Moax Lycan long and hard all day long baby
I love this guy's personality. He's oddly charismatic and just looks like a mentor father figure type. Awesome.
"hurt him enough that he can't hurt me back" The beat way to describe any fighting style or Marshall art ever
Marshall.
epiclolman57 "haha, you werent expecting that!"
epiclolman57 no disrespect but it's spelled martial
*salutes* Marshall Art!
Despite Mojave's typo they have a point. The aim of most if not all successful martial arts, in a self-defense context, seem to have the same goal. Especially considering legality issues and necessary use of force, I would say a true swordsman should be in control and should be adept at being able to simply neutralize an opponent, not dismember them with blood fountain-spraying all over the place like in Kill Bill.
In reality most people will either submit or go full force if you give them a disabling cut. You follow up with deadly force if the attacker chooses the latter. I also imagine cutting limbs or torsos in half requires an accurate, follow-through cut that would be doable outdoors but harder indoors. /2cents
So...A longsword is a long sword but a long sword isn't necessarily a longsword because there were longer swords than longswords.
And yet there were swords that were long while still shorter than a longsword.
Not complicated at all.
That's why I prefer the term: "hand-and-a-half" , or "Bastard Sword". Which have been argued to be different weapons, but all share very similar proportions and can quite easily be used for "longsword" techniques
WarbananaOfDA
Those terms are quite usefull, in french it seems everyone agrees they are used to describe a sword you can use two handed without gloves (or small lether ones) and one handed with steel gauntlet, with a blade lenght from the hip to the top of the ankle (on average), while a true "longsword" (for wich, to my knowledge we use an other term that is quite uncertain) can be used confortably with 2 hands with gauntlets and have a blade length going from the hip to the ground.
This nomenclature seems to be agreed by most (for what I know)
Exactly.
It's chiefly an issue of the frame of reference. When "longswords" appeared, they were longer than the standard one-handed sword. As such, they were "long swords". Conversely, when those one-handed swords were widespread, they were also considered long swords quite frequently because they were longer than a gladius or many a seax. So depending on what you consider standard, you can consider the spatha-style sword a "longsword" compared to the gladius, or the gladius a "shortsword" compared to the spatha-style sword.
Charlemagne, for example, in a letter to Abbot Fulrad, demanded a certain kind of soldiers/knights to be armed with "spatum et semispatum" - swords and "half-swords", i.e. they were supposed to have a longer spatha-style blade to use from horseback, probably, and a shorter stabbing blade to use when fighting on foot in formation.
"Extra eight inches of stab." Someone's gonna be happy in bed...
First 30 seconds are the best Lindy digression evar.
It is exactly this which keeps me coming back again and again.
"an extra 8 inches of stab."
First thing that came to me when I saw that lamp was "He's going to hit that lamp."
Turns out, he already did. Once again you delivered before the order was made, well done Lindy!
All jumpscares:
0:42
That interjection at 0:41 scared the shit out of me.
0:42 JESUS CHRIST
*falls out of chair*
Heard that in the voice of King Arthur from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (specifically when the rabbit attacks)
surprise lindy is best lindy
Incredible CloSEup!
Vito C Me too Love the delivery of that line
when he said, "and they wouldn't expect that " did anyone else think "no one expects the Spanish inquisition!"?
+ Timothy HeimbacH NNNNOOOOOOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION, NOOOOOBODY!
+The Ampharos Freak you win the internets for this year omg!
@@TheAmpharosFreak But the pear shaped pommel is harder to unscrew
you are the only person who explained the whole offhand swing thing to me perfectly. THANK YOU! i could tell the difference instantly
Hungary!! That's where I'm from! Yay, we've been mentioned on telly!
Every time i watch a video of yours, i feel slightly more educated. Thank you :)
That _is_ a good reason. I myself purchased the Albion Vigil because it sported double fullers, which made it look a bit like the the sword on the front cover of "Voyage of the Moonstone" in the Lone Wolf series.
Paint a giant eye and tape a few tendrils on that thing and pretend it's a beholder.
Great practice for your brand spanking new sword, Lindy.
TheSweetestCurse now I’m wondering if thats a ROTMG reference or an actual thing not from a video game
I love it when he uploads a new video, it is always informative and entertaining.
I can really see the amount of work put into this, really cool! You can see that he cares about these videos, great job!
Princess Bride reference at the end? Your videos keep getting better!
I like that no matter how far back you go he looks and sounds exactly the same
0:05 Trying to convince a girl at the club to come home with you...
SharkTank bruh, don’t be like that
that's pretty good lol
Your technique for extra reach exists, but you use your left hand. That way, there's no need to make the weapon slide. I remember it from my short experience with kendo.
Is there any need to make the claim that something can or should only be done exclusively with one hand?
ASaxonAtHeart Yes there is, but it was phrased wrong. You do it with your "off hand", since it is at the pummel to begin with. When you slide there is only the weight of the blade moving forwards, and that won't penetrate much. If you use your "off hand" you always have the strength of your body in the thrust :)
lakshen47 Yes i meant the off hand, the one closer to the pommel :)
JuliusAkavirius I know :)
lakshen47 I must insist that a good few years of longsword combat and weapons testing definitely suggest otherwise! I've a very good friend who often employs this technique against me with each hand, and I can assure you that both are strong enough to seriously mess with one's shit.
this guy is so awesome, so humble and relatable, very at ease to watch yet very informative. thanks, dude!
I cannot begin to tell you how much I love that final panel and was laughing for a solid minute
I can see it now: A mighty warrior wielding his Prettylongsword, or better yet a Verylongsword
This video has been unspeakably helpful in helping me to describe the scene I'm working on for my current novel. Thanks!
Your videos are entertaining and informative. Thanks for making them, Lloyd!
"I don't have to disect him, i just need to hurt him enough so that he can't hurt me back" -lindybiege
Now I fell like I must commit myself to create a sword family called "longersword"!
After talking to my instructor, I now know what's up. Using the left hand to strike is the italian technique, while using the right hand is the german technique. Very good to know!
I love how I start to take you seriously again, and then you pull the rug out at the end of your videos.
OH GOD! You've got a doppelganger with a GIANT HEAD!
“And you grab here, the pommel!” *every Italian fighter winces in agony*
2:40
Swish swish
Love that sound. Brb, gonna go play with my sword.
That lindy jump scare
You and skalligrim would be great Friends
I was looking for educational videos, the intro made my hunt all the more worth it.
I would love to have seen a video of you sparring.
I am an american (from the USA where we call our selves quite egotistically "Americans"... but let's face it, since we are really not the only ones calling ourselves "Americans" when we mean from the United States of America, is it pure ego or is it just a shorthand that everyone mostly agrees with... and sounds better than United Statesian, or USA-an... but I digress) and as an American I have seen many "British" (yes I know not all "Brits" are English but again, it is a world view, mostly, to think of programing and content from that "general" area as "British", so that is what I am doing) TV Shows and have learned to enjoy the humor from that zone of the world with it's distinctive style.
I say all that to say that your opening about the longsword was possibly the most "British" I have seen you be since I started watching your videos. I loved it. It made me smile wider each time you said longsword or long sword or longer sword or a sword that is long and a longsword...
Anyway, take this comment as a compliment (as intended) or as a commentary or whatever you want. I just wanted to say love your videos and never stop being you!
Note: I have also been learning a thing or two about the stuff in your "Points" vids and many have given me something to think about as an avid gamer, both video and pen and paper. So more thanks.
Hearty Approval of Casual Princess Bride reference!
Hungary? I was hoping the Lady in the Lake gave it to you
I very much enjoy your videos kind sir! Thank you for sharing!
Guy Windsor (Of the School of European Swordsmanship) mentioned that deceptive thrust in a seminar once. He said that it was one of those "secret" strikes that experienced swordsmen often had. A kind of a useful trick you could try against an opponent to catch him off guard when he thinks you've thrust too short and then you push onward. Heh, he also mentioned doubting that it'd actually work, before his sparring partner managed to get him twice with it.
Swordsmen probably had a lot of these "secrets" they came up with and learned. Probably not something you'd use in a chaotic, swirling melee situation, but like you said, they could come in handy in more controlled environment.
Many Viking sagas actually mention a similar technique with a swing, called "slipping". Quite literally, you let the sword slip in your hand as you strike, catching it by the pommel so that your reach is extended by a hilt's length during the strike. Probably not something anyone would have time to appreciate (or get fooled by) when everything's chaotic, and people aren't getting used to ranges or even paying attention to an opponent being just a bit too far away, but one on one, it'd probably be easier to fool an opponent with such a technique.
0:42 - OH HELLO THERE!!
LOVE the quote at the end! :)
I smacked myself in the knee with the first "sword" I swung as a kid. I learned an important lesson that day, so glad it wasn't sharp.
It's good that your home looks like an arts storeroom.
Totally want more videos concerning this sword
Love the quote at the end...
I don't know what I enjoy more: the interesting things you're saying, or the way you're saying them.
My favorites were "well, I suppose they could have called them longer-swords" and "that's a good reason!!!"
By the way, reminded me of the Doctor in the first minute of the video. XD
You're fun and just great. seriously. :)
A good reason indeed. Being an American of Welsh (amongst other things) decent, I can't help but appreciate European dry humor.
Jesus Christ, when your head suddenly popped out of the foreground I almost shat myself.
nice piece lin
I've noticed before that there are a fair number of similarities between medieval long-sword techniques and the bokken stuff I've learnt in Aikido.
I suppose it's inevitable that if you give two people from the same species the same tool they'll eventually come up with the same way of using it.
It's 1:54 am and I'm half naked drinking beer and watching someone waving a sword around on youtube.
What is wrong with me ?
Great video though.
About three weeks ago I was up at 3 in the morning watching a documentary about water recording emotions and data or some pseudo-science thing. Anyone who stays up long enough will eventually wind up on what is collectively called "the weird part of CZcams". Happens all the time. :p
"Aha! I have my longsword!"
"Fool, I brought a longersword!"
"That's no match for my longestsword!"
That second one is something I kind of wish would happen more often. Working in the service industry, when I hear someone whistling so loud that it can be heard through the whole store, I just boil with frustration.
holy shit, at around 0:46 when he interrupts I almost shit my pants! ahahaha. It scared me.
Let me put this in simpler terms; when swinging a weapon (I was trained with staff, but that is the basis of all weapons training), you in a very real sense, use your lesser hand to leaver the weapons over your dominant hand, then follow through. This grants much more force, than forcing the weapon through with brute force, and allows for more nimble movement than would be allowed otherwise..
Another great video :)
Well done!
enjoy and good luck with it.
Oh, nice to see you mention Hungary once :D
Try doing your little surprise stab with the hand that is already down near the pommel. Letting it slip around in your hands like that...hmmm I dunno. Seems like just the action of the blade extending while the grip is sliding through your hand might not have much force behind it.
Those are some jolly good reasons.
I usually tell my students to hold the sword in the right hand as they would hold a kitchen- or cutlery knife, basically just pinching it between your thumb and index finger. That allows for a swift and agile movement that allows you to turn the sword more than 180 degrees at the flick of your fingers.
the light fixture damage made me laugh as I have the same light in my room and damaged it with a wayward swing of an axe
I just figured it out. Lloyd is the Michael Rosen of sword practitioners
Ok part one: this is the most British video I’ve ever seen. And the second: I have done a little training in the Korean style sword techniques, and moving from that, the only thing available in the place I lived, to a spring steel long, farther out POB was very difficult. I’ve noticed that power reduction is the key part of using a longer sword compared to a short stiff katana type weapon. I swing it so hard out of muscle memory sometimes that the sword nearly wobbles out of my hand.
The big problem with those power cuts is that you telegraph your intention so your opponent can void or counter easily. A Zwerchhau will block that cut while simultaneously cutting the side of your head. That big thrust is also easily countered with a Krumphau (with big sidestep) followed by a vertical cut with the short edge to the head.
Hand to god when he was yalking about the cross guard how it "goes out then in then out again" i was like"oh, like EXCALIBER" and felt a little lame.
Then........VINDICATION!!!!!
Love ya' Lindy. Yours truly,
-Just a Yank
Very very true - same basic (!) techniques/thoughts when using a Japanese Katana. Shows how similar both swords actually are. Despite their different focus :)
the second I saw that habitat globe next to you while you were holding that longsword I was expecting you to hit it, and then you mentioned that you already had.
If there was a third person in the area they probably wouldn't hit your hilt. They would probably get a good chop or stab into you while you left yourself completely open.
If they were in the usual position of opponents, their target would likely be my hilt/wrist. If they were in a position to hit me from the side, I'd have been a fool to try the move.
Lindybeige Touché
+Lindybeige are u merley a sword fencer or have i figured out the second half of swordsmanship?
Also, by drawing back with the blade you expose your elbows, wrists, arms, and hands plus your whole bottom half to attack. A good opponent can get a cut in before you can swing forward. Getting good or even semi competent with the longsword is incredibly difficult for most of us. It requires un-learning a huge amount of instinctive movement. There's a focus on minimizing movement, learning measure and footwork and, once in a bind, using "fullen" to instantly respond to your opponent. Once you start getting the hang of it, the longsword becomes sword, spear, club, and wicked leveraging device. It plays a key role in some awesome wrestling moves as well. For example if your opponent tries to dodge out of the first wrestling, you can pitch the sword forward around his neck, grab the other end of it and bind his neck. Or you can use the space between the grip and your forearm as a kind of pincer device around his wrist. If he barrels in like a buffalo you can use your blade to deflect him to the side, and perhaps drive the pommel into his face. Or zip your blade around to his scalp while he's digging into the ground.
I found this video really interesting as I am a fencer.I use an Épée and Foil.
The sword Lindy had is a real sword. Balanced right and handcrafted, I have one too. They are great!
Word of the day - bisect
Thank you Lindy
0:42 scared the shit out of me
I really love you videos Lindy.
I was wondering though if you could at some point talk about unarmed combat vs people with swords? Like, if you lost your sword what kind of techniques would you use to disarm or tackle your opponent?
While I'm sure that there are loads of techniques for this, against a competent opponent I'm also sure that it is very unlikely you will be alive for much longer.
I'm no expert but. Run like hell? When I was still training martial arts, my master always said that you should try to disengage when presented with a blade, 'cause no matter how good you are, you'll get cut somewhere.
The best way to disarm someone is to cut off their arms. But don't give them any warning, forewarned is fourarmed, and you will have more cutting to do. If you are unarmed yourself, it's more difficult. Your best choice then is to use your legs, but be careful, if they have a sword, you may find yourself quickly defeeted.
MrTintin850 that's hilarious! :)
StealthKab Only if the odds are against you. It is impolite to not help someone who is looking for trouble.
0:42 Holy hell, Lindy! Don't scare me like that!
I like swords in general primarily that I'm comfortable with any form of bladed weapon, though I'm not particularly picky I do like swords with a little bit of curvature to the blade.
A point on using full force for a strike: if you haven't done so in the fight yet, do throw one in at some point. As an avid (albeit amateur) modern fencer, I can safely tell you that the enemy doing something weird will throw you off your game. Equally, _you_ doing something weird may well spook _them_ and offer a good chance to slap the appropriate area of their body with your sword, without worrying as much about an expedient counterattack.
Hello mr Beige, would you perhaps do a video on the Ulfberht sword per chance? and perhaps compare it to similar weighted and sized swords?
That would also allow a chance to talk about plagiarism and false brand names in the era. Many of these blades turned out to be markedly inderior (and likely from a quite different region too). I also wonder how many knights at Agincourt died because they bought plate armor with a reputable brand name stamped on it that turned out to be forged (as in faked not as in made from metal). Fake rolex watches are just the newest iteration (and don't buy rifles or AKs from the Khyber area except for room decoration or as gifts for your mortal enemies).
Segalmed That's a good point, i do know many Ulfberht swords turned out to be terrible low grade copy's from the era that were unearthed.
I think many people who are not trained with the use of any kind of weaponry forget: The point of combat is not to kill opponent, but make sure he doesn't kill you. If he cant fight back, alive or dead, you are free to continue to take your objective.
According to psychologist: People don't really want to kill other people.
So they either are trained to kill or convinced that killing in this case is justified. I don't believe that this mentality has ever been different.
If someone has sources to correct me: Please do share. I would be interested to learn more about this.
I remember hearing about a book on the subject, but I can't recall the name. It made a lot of sense though.
Well from a practical standpoint an the battlefield, you don't want to take too long focusing on one opponent since while your distracted..his buddy could easily put a blade through your head. They would seek to wound enough to take the fight out of them. Look at some archeological finds of battlefields, the skeletons have multiple nicks in the bones indicating many wounds..and one skull I remember seeing had been cleaved in two. Going by the angle they deduced he was lying on the ground when the killing blow was dealt.
At what point are we considering one being trained in killing? When his mums chopped off the 40th hens head? When wolves get into the goat pen? When a pigs young comes out stillborn and they eat their own young? Todays world has gotten really good at conditioning people to not be used to death; formerly it was just a fact of life.
I started HEMA a few months ago and I was taught the opposite in terms of hands, the main hand (right for me) generates the power of the blow and the offhand is for control. Having the power come from the offhand gives a lot more rotation, which I have found to be uncomfortable on my right wrist. I also find that using your method, I grip my sword more lightly, which makes a disarm more likely (had that happen to me last HEMA session).
Not in general... ? In 99% situations proper way how to use the longsword is main hand for control and left on pommel to generate power and speed. You can't be succesful without it. It is superimportant to know this, if you want to use longsword properly and be able to understand majority of longsword techniques.
the problem with the "8-inch"-thrust, that you showed, is that your opponent can sidestep it and hit the weak of the blade, which will cause you to lose complete control of the blade (because it will it either move towards the ground while you hold it or you will not be able to grip it any longer and it falls to the ground)
Which is why you wouldn't use it often. It's like an extended jab in boxing. If your opponent gets used to the range of your regular jab, extending it might just catch him off.
muu106 He does misrepresent the technique slightly too.
For a thrust, the entirety of the power comes from the ground, through your body and thus through your hand.
That means that the 'sliding' action he shows here isn't going to give you a thrust that's any good (plus the extension of the arm comes before the step, but that's a different if related story).
When you do one-handed thrusts in longsword you can do them with either hand to gain more reach (though your off hand will gain you more reach, obviously), but the hands don't slide along the hilt.
Regardless, yes, one-handed thrusts are easy to turn aside - despite this, the popularity of rapier should tell you that historically this wasn't considered as that big of an issue.
Daniel,
I agree. You'd need to change your grip before you start the motion,
FYI, any reference to the long sword being two-handed is merely from translations of the German terminology and not derived from Silver (1599) or Swetnam (1617). Sir Alfred Hutton, a Victorian, might have been the 1st person to use the term for a two-handed sword in English.
Swetnam’s long sword is not a two-handed sword (a common misconception on the Internet b/c of the modern classification of what is a longsword) but the same as Silver’s long sword, ie. a sword that is longer than the ideal length (at least ideal in Silver’s mind, Swetnam begged to differ). This is evident b/c Silver groups the long sword with the long rapier, and Swetnam refers to the long sword simply as sword. Swetnam says that the ideal length of the sword is four feet (much too long for Silver’s liking). To further support that the long sword in Swetnam’s (1617) and Silver’s (1599) treatises is not a two-handed sword, look no further than the French treatises : De Gaya’s Traité des Armes, 1678, p.20; Alain Manesson-Mallet, Travaux de Mars - Tome III, 1684, p.31; Père Daniel, Histoire de la Milice Françoise, 1724, plate 22, p.300 - all of which include illstrations of swords and the long sword is clearly not a two-handed sword (those are labelled espadon (Gaya p.17) and double épée (Manesson-Mallet p.30). The long sword in these French treatises match Silver’s and Swetnam’s long sword, i.e. a sword that is longer than a normal sword, four feet in length - which we are told that the long sword is also known as an estoc or estocade i.e. a tuck - NOT A TWO-HANDED SWORD! Cotgrave (1611) tells us that the tuck is a sword or rapier.
So historically in English and French, the long sword is a sword that is longer than the ideal length and similar to the Spanish sword (rapier).
Isn't that a zweihander?
Kidding mate, good video once again.
*Zweihänder
Hehuhehuhehu
At 0:28, a Monty Python quote came to mind: "GET ON WITH IT!"
Nice job on the commentary. Perhaps you can one day re-create the scene in James Burke's original Connections, 03 - Distant Voices, where they take a longsword and start carving up a pig? carcass. James Burke did hold the sword with his right hand up high, but unfortunately the blows were the maniacal type you showed was not likely. Although according to Burke's account, at Hastings the sides did stop fighting in the middle of the battle to have a bite to eat and rest before resuming.
The first 30 seconds of this vid had me rolling.
The Princess Bride reference at the end though.
when he poped up closer to the screen i fell out of my chair i had it full screen lol
I liked that little aside that you had.
Greetings from Hungary, the birthplace of your longsword :)
Are you expecting me to attack with Capo Ferro?
beat me to it lol
No, not really, as the poster quite clearly has studied the works of Gérard Thibault d’Anvers. :P
Im impressed you didnt smack the door behind you.
oooo, is that a Regenyei? I've been wanting one for years!
Though just a brief response to the thrusting bit... if you want to thrust one-handed, and get that extra reach from the handle, just thrust with the left hand, that way you won't necessarily get disarmed if you're parried. Plus it's going to be more stable since you haven't really released your grip ;)