Movie sword fighting versus real life fencing (Real vs Reel Longsword)
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- čas přidán 2. 10. 2023
- Swordfighting in movies are some of the coolest action sequences we get to watch on the big screen. But is it realistic? In this episode of Real vs. Reel, I take you into the world of HEMA fencing - historical martial arts that studies actual techniques from the past in modern day sparring. We even copy the exact fight choreography from The Witcher, to see if Henry Cavil's Geralt fights with his two blades in a realistic way.
Let's debunk some movie tropes and fantasies, like:
- Can a beginner survive and win a duel?
- What do actual historical weapons look like?
- Are there different styles or techniques?
- And how long did duels actually last?
Special thanks to the Denver Historical Fencing Academy for making this film possible! If you want to take classes with their amazing instructors, check out the link below.
DHFA: denverhistoricalfencing.com
Thank you Jason Barrons, Brad Smith, Connor Chamberlain, and the many other fencers who helped make this video possible.
Assistant camerawork and beginner fencing by Jesse Gonzalez (@NotJGonzo)
PATREON: / hellosidneyreed
Get the extended cut with longer tournament scenes, more weapons, and the behind-the-scenes of how we shot the Witcher scene.
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#hema #fencing #swords #swordsmanship #fightchoreography #thewitcher #documentary - Zábava
Yes, beginners can win duels. It was one of the warnings masters would give their students because a novice could get lucky or be underestimated.
This is actually a great point! It’s something that was in the original interview but I had to cut for time. The recklessness of beginners is terrifying!
Beginners are fairly likely to make a "double kill" against an experienced fencer, especially if the they don't know each other's skill level.
A fencer who disregards their own safety is very difficult to defend against, and beginners often do this by not recognizing the attack.
It is rare fore a beginner to win a (real) duel without themselves being seriously injured.
Or simply be in better physical shape than the other person, or
whether because the other is distracted or exhausted or otherwise surprised.
@@jonasbarka Still important to recognize the difference between rare and won't. The no true scotsman, ahem duelist, arguement shouldn't be applied, as anything can happen at any given time.
Sure experience gives one side an advantage (often overwhelmingly so). So do other factors.
Real life also wouldn't limit themselves to fair fights, or duel rules either. . . and a beginner wouldn't necessarily limit themselves to only using the sword.
Or let's even go with real life duels (though this time not with beginngers). Miyamoto Musashi would piss off other people that he dueled by showing up late and making them wait for him-- or suddenly use different / longer weapons (or rumored wooden ones )
There is no 'true' duel (duels are ultimately social agreements). Anything can happen IRL, and we should recognize all factors including experience affect the results.
Is it likely a beginner wins often? No. Can they? Yes!
Fun fact, in the witcher books geralt gets stabbed in the back by a skinny guy with a pitchfork. Even a master swordsman with superhuman speed is vulnerable to pure chance by beginners
I've been a stage, film and TV choreographer since 1977 (mostly known for being the swordmaster for the Highlander TV series, seasons 3-6 and the 4th movie Endgame) but I have also been an historical European and Asian sword instructor since the early 80s and an actual fighting practitioner. Fight scenes reflect several realities - the skill of the performer and the available rehearsal time. (on H'LNDR, I often had only 5 hours over several days to teach actors who had never handled a sword the fight scenes) But having extensive background in researching weapons technique in museums around the world from the original manuscripts and studying with incredible masters, I always tried to incorporate as much historical authenticity into the choreography as the script and characters would allow since it's SAFER. You are not trying to force a weapon to do moves for which it was not designed. Generally, it is also much more aesthetically pleasing.
YOU HAVE AN EPIC JOB!!! Great to have you being able to comment!
How did I miss this comment?! It's a great privilege to hear from you here, Sir! Loved your work in Highlander and other projects, especially how "Duncan" would alter his fighting style with the katana to suit the opponent's weapons. I got to attend a Sword Experience with Adrian Paul once as well. I always thought it would be incredibly cool to list "Sword Master" on your resume. 😃
do you know the movie
By the Sword
check it out!
@@user-ih5jr8rt5q YESS!!
Respect sir.
1. It's the same for knife fights. No one wins in a knife fight and you're going to get cut.
2. Liam Neeson is notorious (in a good way) for adding in the real sword combat he learned for Rob Roy into Qui-Gon Jinn for the Star Wars prequels.
3. Fantastic video.
of course ppl win...those how survive and arent dead
pretty solid production value for such a small channel you are putting your education to good use I see
Thank you! It’s refreshing to work on my own projects instead of doing it for clients/other producers. 😁
Holy crap, yeah! I didn't notice the sub count was 2.65K and not 2.65M.
I really loved seeing the comparison of the movie scene vs real life, especially when he breaks it down after and explains what he would actually do in that situation. So cool!
A witcher would be like Spiderman, with heightened senses, and increased speed and strength, he would not fight like a normal human. He would show off, to increase his street cred, literally, because he is a sword for hire.
Hema is everything but real life...
Well shot, edited and narrated! I've been practicing HEMA for about 4 years and this is a pretty succinct and user friendly intro to the world of weapon based martial arts. Really happy to see the community growing and gaining more visibility, thanks in part to people like yourself, very well done!
Bless you, keep the "fight" going.
Two of my favorite silly movie tropes are: 1. The "wind up" where someone pulls their sword back like an axe while the opponent stands there and prepares to block instead of just making a direct stike or thrust to the completely exposed attacker. 2. The idea of someone fighting in multiple duels and not getting a scratch. Even when fighting a complete amatuer, an expert will occasionally get tagged. When two experts are fighting it is extremely rare for either to go multiple rounds without receiving a touch that would be lethal in a real fight. You very nicely demonstrated both of these. 🙂
Now everytime I see a "wind up", I sigh for a wasted chance of epic zornhau-ort.
3. Any spinning that doesn't involve turning in body contact, and most coronades. Why on earth take your eyes off your opponent, even for half a second, or your point away from them, even if they're down on their knees?
@@RichWoods23 Because it looks cool.
@@RichWoods23 Because the Director said so. 😉
@@bodyno3158imagine an ochs thrust from overwinding like zornhut
Really nice video, good job.
Glad to see you here, Matt!
30 years learning, competing in, and coaching historical fencing. Nicely video, good points. One thing about Witcher though is that he was suppose to be tougher, stronger, and -- most importantly -- significantly faster than normal humans. If I could choose just one enhanced trait to give me an edge in any hand to hand fighting it would be quickness. It would be the ultimate combat upgrade. I haven't seen a lot of spinning in HEMA fights I've watched in person. I have seen two guys using longsword in video of HEMA tournaments in Europe who used spins effectively so it's unusual but not impossible in the right circumstances. Add in the enhanced speed of the Witcher and I see how it might work for him. But we don't really know what that would look like since what we see on screen has all the fight choreography limitations your video mentioned. That's all speculation about a fantasy situation anyway.
People don’t appreciate the difference that the risk of mortal injury makes in how people behave. Modern fencing duels are only slightly closer to real combat than watching someone play Call of Duty. The physics are accurate (obviously) but a lot of the things people do when there’s no risk of death they just wouldn’t do…
Yep! I saw this all the time. There’s almost no one alive today who has actually seen or experienced a REAL sword fight.
@4:31 says it all: "…but that instinct to survive is so strong in beginners." In beginners?! Hitting the opponent first while getting killed in the process has nothing to do with "real life fencing", it's sport. Which has its merits, of course, but is not at all qualified to judge "realness" of sword-fighting.
@@zachary4670 well actor who played count dooku had many sword duels with injuries soo he can be counted in but unfortunetly he is in better place now
The other thing is fighting tactics evolve even with the same equipment. Someone holding a 1911 pistol the recommended way today would look weird to someone using the same pistol in house-clearing for World War II.
@@SamBrickell that is a fair point
Some interesting studies have been done on the Witcher's fighting style, conducted by people who participate in HEMA, and they found that the fighting style is quite accurate for wat the Witcher is usually fighting, being in the area of large monsters, instead of men. They also touch on how the Witcher seems to be using his shorter blade like a Greatsword, flowing with the momentum of his cuts, instead of just switching between guards to perform an attack, which in some ways is much more useful for fighting multiple, untrained people at once.
Who is Geralt fighting and where? In books, movies, or games? The meaning of the "Witcher" style is one thing - chopping, sweeping blows, rotation of the whole body are clearly visible on the screen, therefore such movements are shown to the viewer in films. Direct sword jabs are much more invisible to the eyes, but that's why they are more dangerous and effective.
Btw, the most reliable medieval account of monster-fighting in the historical record is Beowulf, and it describes a man ripping the monster apart with his bare hands (he owned a sword, he just chose not to use it since he was such a badass). Some party poopers have denied the historical reliability of this manuscript, but it's accurate on so many other things, down to the most minute details of 5th century Scandinavian politics - why assume it's wrong about Grendel? So I say, if men ever fought epic battles with giant monsters, they did it by ripping them apart with their bare hands, not by doing dainty little acrobatic maneuvers and 360 spins with 2 pound swords.
@@ToxicallyMasculinelol
Otherwise choose a warpick or mace
"Studies"
Yeah sorry, combat in the witcher show sucks.
I would like to see where you saw that information. Movie witcher choreography is entertaining but not very realistic.
Game witcher (tw3) has some good sword animations that are somewhat reminiscent of real greatsword technique, as in he flows along with the blade's momentum and, considering he has superhuman strenght, I'm willing to consider it a plausible fighting style for what is worth.
This is a fantastic video, one of the best I've seen on the topic of HEMA. It shows your skill in cinematography and your knowledge and love for HEMA. This video and this channel in general deserve a lot more views. Keep up the good work!
Super cool love how much effort and creativity you put into this!
One of the best videos for introducing HEMA.
Very nice video, you explained a lot of things very well! With regards to Henry Cavill's the Witcher fight, you are correct in assuming that he used a cut length sword, CGI and camera angles. But the actual sword was in of itself a shorter bladed sword anyhow, this was due to the system used to carry and draw it from his back. Tod's Workshop (who was one of the people used in manufacturing the props for this) actual has a video covering this in detail.
Lovely video! The efficient translation of the Witcher movie fight into proper HEMA techniques was a joy to watch ❤
Love it! Always wished I had gotten into fencing when I was younger. Loved seeing the side-by-side comparison of the film vs. real life.
What's stopping you learning now? A rapier can be a great equaliser. Having a few grey hairs should not be an excuse .
A cool video! I really love the differences and connections the HEMA instructor, Jason Barrons pointed out between the fencing traditions in Europe and movie sword fighting. Besides this, the action scene in The Witcher has been well rebuilt on the lawn in the real life.🤩
An amazing composition, great homage to HEMA and gentle comparison of HEMA and film and screen. GREAT JOB SIDNEY!
very cool!! looking forward to seeing more of this series!
Nice video! editing is solid and its informative on many ways that movie sword fights are different than real sword fights. I knew they were unrealistic but this really breaks it down as to why! Thanks :D
3:11 I was totally expecting him to hit you with the "'Tis but a scratch; I've had worse," strategy in order to win. 😂
I did take a stage combat class just for fun and learning experience. There is one things that I remember too well is the safety of actors is the utmost important to keep in mind when doing the choreographing the stage fight. Also the safety of the audience include since accidents do occur. The stage combat only focus on the illusion of telling story, not on sport where contests are created. That is a big different between two of them.
Very cool video with great production value! It's really interesting to see just how unrealistic sword fighting is in films. It makes me wonder which fights in which films are actually realistic. Also congrats Brad!
Good video! very well made and great interviews, nice camera work! nice to see people show casing hema!
Very cool and informative. Great job!
Wait i know these fencers...
Fun video! I was in the SCA for a couple of years, fought both light and heavy weapon. Love watching the HEMA videos!
Me too, in Rapier Combat. My favourite form was two daggers. You rarely see that in movies because it's too fast and the audience can't follow it. No big windups that telegraph what you're going to do next.
@@orthicon9 In the SCA I fought an opponent once who had 2 daggers and small bucklers on his forearms. I had a "katana." He beat the **** out of me! LOL!
I didn't know fencing can be so calculated and precise. Here I thought it was just individuals in beekeeping-like outfits swinging poles at each other. I officially learned something new today, so thank you!
Cool video, I've only just started HEMA in Singapore for about more than a year and this really caught my interest. Kudos to you :D
I like HEMA better. I saber fenced for years and I prefer being able to strike with my pommel. You can see how often these fencers end up close where a pommel strike would be devastating, but fencing is more “gentlemanly.” Keep at it! Wishing you luck.
The content of this VDO reminds me of the comparison between the real street fights and the self defense training courses (mostly relying on those of the stunt action scenes) given in many schools. In a real street fight, people fight to survive without using any beautiful technique with targeting to kill; whereas people in a self defense sparring still pursue the rules and the power they use is not so strong as what they are going to face in a real street fight.
Short and brutal. Real fights are ugly and cause a lot of injury; I love watching choreographed fights (which most self defense classes are) for their beauty, but that is not effective.
Excellent and informative video!
Nice overview of typical HEMA classes and tournaments.
Btw, "this is real swordfighting" while some crazy dude jumps into the opponent is more than hilarious, is kind of touching
This is Awesome! I've always wanted to learn sword fighting :D
I'm a (not especially good) foil fencer, and yeah, beginners do a lot of weird stuff and sometimes it actually works, but mostly our coach says you don't beat beginning fencers (that is, you don't out-skill them); you just defeat them. But I love your videos because you clearly have a lot of respect for HEMA and sport (Olympic) fencing, or at least you communicate a lot of respect. And you show the most important part of all these sports: to have fun! My coach says the most important thing about someone's first lesson is to make sure they have fun.
Cool video!!! I am a fencer my self and I love that you are promoting our sport! I also love to see how it is done in other countries!
Sidney, Sidney, Sidney, I love this. Absolutely fascinating...
I really enjoyed watching this especially watching different sword fighting styles. Also fighting in real life is different from the movies !
I know the Witcher game was crazy on purpose. The bad guys actually use sound fighting principles while the Witcher does not because he is supposed to be inhuman. Nothing translates well to film. The first lesson I taught my children is “strike your opponent, not the sword.”
Absolutely adore this video! Although I don't do HEMA I love it, I do Western style Viking re-enactment. We've started to dabble in masked fighting essentially HEMA but with our equipment etc. It makes you think into how people would have fought.
Super cool and interesting video!
That looks like so much fun
I enjoy watching movies that have swording scenes and being able to see in this video the comparison of what movies show us and real-life fencing serve what their unique characteristics and purposes are.
Very Nice movie about our favorit sport. Liked the documentry vibe in co-herrent with the goofing of. Made it more realistic. Tumbs up from an other HEMA dude 😉
The cutting edge of sword commentary.
As much as I love the intensity and ferocity of Hollywood sword fighting, there's just a tension and anticipation to realistic sword fighting that puts me on the edge of my seat! Like watching a Texas holdem where you don't see any of the cards, but you see all the bets that are being made. Then at the end, the cards are shown.
superb stuff
People always expect duels to be fluent ongoing strikes, when in reality it is two people moving around, waiting to attack or be attacked, then a couple of strikes resulting in a finish or breaking appart waiting for the next opportunity. All that solo swordplay we train is there to make us better at moving the sword around, but you will rarely get the opportunity to use that nice new disarm you learned, simply because your enemy probably knows what your doing, or maybe even worse frantically tries to avoid whatever you are planning at all cost with unpredictable attacks.
Well-made video! I love HEMA!
This makes me want to find the nearest fencing dojo and start learning!
Loved the live comparison to the Witcher scene! 🔥
Well done!
Very cool video. I had to laugh a little with the last scratched "Dueling is about violence". Someone better tell those stabbed guys that were buried.
Curiously enough, the dueling law was only abolished in my country in 1992, 3 years before I was born (I'm from Uruguay btw)😰 Some duels were "to first blood", so no one was supposed to die (people died anyway) but if the duel was with guns then they were usually deadly. I know from my grandmother that her father and uncles practiced fencing in case they, or the news paper owned by the family, were to be challenged. We even had an ex-president shoot dead a journalist he didn't like in a duel. All this is just interesting, it doesn't make me proud or ashamed.
This was a great video! I love The Witcher and it was cool to see it done in real life. This makes me want to try sword fighting
Wow funny finding this video on my random searches :) Now I have to see if I’m in your video (unlikely as I think this is filmed after I wasn’t a regular at DHFA. I miss you guys
Idea for HEMA tournaments: if you're going to assign colors (like red vs. blue), have the fencers wear "Knightly Favours" in their assigned color. A blue ribbon or scarf tied around one arm will make it easier for everyone to know who's who, and will fit the vibe of knightly combat.
There's an old Fiore group that does stuff like this--St. George IIRC. But most of the more recent groups have tried hard to distance themselves from anything that seems like LARP or SCA.
Or maybe a coloured cloth hanging from the back of their belt.
This is typical in europe and Australia, also the line judges who in this video do hand singles, would also have red sticks and blue sticks, that way their call is clear to the audience. I believe this was done in America before at longpoint a no longer running tornament. Surpised it wasn't done here also, but perhaps they did not have any on hand, or misplaced them on the day.
A knightly duel with favours would be done in armour. This tournaments arent about armoured fencing.
Looks fun!
I remember this show Conquest and one of their episodes delt with musketeer fencing. They first showed the methods used in the movies, the sort you'd see Errol Flynn do. Then they showed how real musketeers fought and the presenter stated to the stunt people regarding their movie moves "Everything you just learned is useless..." The rapiers were designed for stabbing, lunging, and thrusting. I looked through a copy of an fencing manual with it's etchings, and it was pretty violent and graphic where the blades were supposed to stab. I don't think any movie truly shows how violent real fencing could be.
There are a lot of slashes, which film well. Real swords thrusted which is very deadly and not great on film. While a knife slash might cause a lot of bleeding but not be fatal, a long sword slash might remove bits.
Great video. Very well done and reality is ALWAYS much more interesting than fantasy.
Well done, Sid! Awesome work.
Aye I know that dude he’s going places forsure
me 2
@@zaklyons228miss you dude! ❤
@@NotJGonzo gotta let Angel and myself know when you plan on coming back for a bit!
You as well, my sith apprentice in training. 😎
Do you have any links to the swords and daggers that were shown in the video? Specifically asking for that beautiful dagger
as a larper, when i switched from longswords to daggers i became almost unbeatable. rather than trying to use a sword to attack, using daggers for defense blows people away. having the option to step back and toss a knife to their chest has won every single duel ive been in, no one can stop it. having two small blades that can block like a shield, cut just as good as a sword, and benefit from requiring the enemy to step in to avoid the dagger throw means i am always commanding the fight. daggers have no blade arc, no wind up, and never interfere with positioning in other words i can always block in the same way i would while doing hand to hand because i AM doing hand to hand. just like two swords, all of my attacks are covered, and i can fight in the same stances as hand to hand like south paw (with the added length of the blade, the leg is fully defended as well). any attack style my opponents do i can counter since i have no blade length to weigh down my swing, and the sacrifice of range is not a factor when you can throw (coreless daggers designed for throwing of course) and when it happens live, that throw is practically invisible due to the angle coming from the blind spot every time and due to the speed, and the speed in which you can aim such a throw with absolutely no downtime for windups etc. im also a trained MA so my footwork is what makes this possible, thoughts on daggers vs longsword dueling? if actual grappling was allowed i think this would be 10x more powerful, i have to stop myself from going into that mode for the sake of the rules, but i feel like that is fair as it would be insanely unbalanced if i was allowed to simply throw a knife, free up a hand, disarm or sweep someone and pull another knife on them.
Talented brilliant incredible amazing show stopping spectacular never the same totally unique never been done before unafraid to reference and or not reference Will never be the same again
The best movie sword fight in my opinion is easily the duel between Kmicic and Wołodyjowski in The Deluge
Check out a movie called Revenger (2018)
Enjoyed your video. I fenced with foil and sabre when I was younger. It would have been great if HEMA had been around then.
Hey! An Albion Talhoffer!
I have the Fiore, I prefer disk pommels, but they’re the same blade. Great choice for a sharp!
mam could you please give me advice? Im need your guidance . it's not in this video but there is Witcher Silver Sword that has V shaped handle. V shape handle is useful like hook? or is it only increase high risk that opponent might cut my hand? A lot of people telling different answers but you are true expert. Which handle would you prefer to use?
This is fire
That 2D General Grievous mask is so cool
AM NEW TO THE CHANNEL AND L FREAKIN LOVE IT
LOVE FROM KENYA
the last 15 seconds is a great S1E1 opener of *something*
Anyone know what elbow/ forearm protection brad (17:56) and jason (6:52) use? I've seen them a few times and havent been able to pinpoint where to get a set.
Nice!
As far as duels go and just apologizing, I would add that during the era, entire livelihoods were dependent upon reputation. Which adds a ton of motivation to defending your or another's honor.
That battle at the end... 2 masked men stand before you. Brad, and Alex... but we won't tell you which one is which. One is designated Red, the other Blue - there are no marking on either to help you know which is which, and we won't tell you. THIS is the way.
I really enjoyed the video, well paced, well filmed and filled with information. As a disabled Veteran of the Marine Corps, I collect Knives, Swords, and make knives as a hobby. I taught firearms in the Corps and for LE and am interested in all weapons.
So, who won the tournament? I couldn't hear the announcement. I backed up the video and I turned on Closed Captioning and they just left that part out at the end. I was of course rooting for the gal's friend and it looked like he was way ahead and then the scores changed. You guys did a great job all the way up to that point, but then the narrator got bored or was at lunch and forgot to tell us WHY points are deducted, why points were awarded when they were and help the uniformed track the tournament....
Man, leaving us hanging was just plain cruel... but I still enjoyed it. Guess winning doesn't matter, except to the loser.
(Yup, I shot competitively for a decade... ) LOL.
dang. i REALLY need to to get into HEMA. been wanting to for a very long time.
IN America it goes by Blade length. So it just depends on what state you are in and how legal length blade you can have. Some states have no laws as to the length.
Fun to see Jesse in there! :D
Hola friend 🫡
From the brief time i did fencing, a factor as well that doesn't get mentioned is some ones physicality, size, and confidence, some of the matches I won in competition were due to me just being bigger and stronger than my opponents, even though they were more skilled, If you're a foot and a half taller than your opponent, that makes a large difference.
Wonderful, and thank you for this. Olympic fencing, a truism, with foil is faster, almost too fast to follow with the untrained eye.
The best cinematic sword fights were from "The Duelists," "Rob Roy," and "Potop" ("The Deluge") -- not only for the cinematography and complete lack of music or cutting shots, but because the actors genuinely did realistic moves and had an element of real danger.
I think you can use what you called the secret techniques if you are experienced. Maybe not at a tournament but just for fun while sparring.
Reminds me of the SCA events I used to attend. Large scale battles were never a bunch of individual duels. Mostly just a bunch of men screaming and swinging wildly in close quarters
We had a thing in my club... years ago now, where if you kept getting doubles during sparing or in club tournaments you would have to do 10 pushups each for every double :D
Ah. This was nice.
"This is REAL sword fighting!" No, it's modern LARPing. I have a pair of boots older than it, and most of it's competitors.
epic video
you MUST check out the movie
By the Sword
if you can find it
it's focused around fencing
The Witcher scene is so awesome good job
Out of curiosity, how would rate the difficulty of moving from fencing (foil, epee, sabre) to longsword fencing?
It seems like distance keeping/strategizing is similar, so would it be easier for someone used to olympic-style fencing to switch to longsword, or would it be harder with concepts to unlearn?
I've done longword for 8 years, in short doing olympic fencing will be a advantage for doing longword. Your right you will already understanding distance control, centerline engagement and already understanding some openings. Biggest difference will be the foot work and the mechanics, typically in olympic fencing you would keep the same front foot forward, and fight somewhat linear. But in longsword the most reaching and most powerful longsword attacks require passing steps, that is switching the lead leg like normal walking. These also allow fencers to move more to the side and fencers circiling each other is not uncommon. You might have to unlearn going for openings or attacks that leave you in a bad postion for your foe's afterblows, in Hema you foe gets one tempo/action to try to hit you back after you hit him, you will need to parry this or be out of range. Hence stabing someone in the stomach when their sword is above your head is a bad idea and vicea versa. The longsword is also much heavier than olympic fencing weapons but you will build the strength in a few months at the longest.
@@ericnesbitt1734 thanks for the tips!
Lets do swords in class
When the woman draws the real sword and says it's terrifying, I really felt that. I've done kendo and some Japanese sword technique training and I even have a proper, although unsharpened, steel katana to practise with, but when I hold an almost identical sword that is sharpened I get a sense of dread and enormity. It's a weapon designed to kill that's huge and you could so easily cut yourself or someone around you really bad if your attention wavers-I really don't like holding a live sword. It feels different to holding a gun, although equally as bad, because the problem with a gun is that such an innocuous looking thing could kill a person several metres away in a split second before they even had a chance to react.
Against an experienced opponent, a beginner doesn't stand a chance because the experienced person understands the fundamentals and understands the body mechanics of a beginner but the beginner doesn't understand the body mechanics of the experienced fighter. I found it interesting how Jesse displays mirroring when Jason starts doing things he can't possibly understand which makes Jesse more predictable in his hesitancy.
I mean there are systems where you do utilise spinning but it tends to be the long weapons like the Spadone, where you are attempting to either travel down the length of a blade or disengage. I mean duels were lethal. Even a simple cut or sometimes a scratch could lead to loss of limb or death. There were systems of dueling to first blood because the nobles didn't want to lose their children in honour duels. Polish sabre is designed pretty explicitly around that basis.
If you want one of the most realistic sword fights put to film, Zrodzeni Do Szabli/Born for the Sabre is a movie that demonstrates Polish sabre dueling so well. The final fight fight is so well done.
If I want to try something like this, should I look for a fencing club or a HEMA club?
@14:05 I recognize the Albion Talhoffer!
I didn’t realise such swordfighting organisations, let along tournaments existed! Fantastic!!! I used to train olympic fencing (epee) for a couple of years as a teenager and as we moved up at the skill ladder I remember being disappointed and frustrated how unimpressive the actual tournament duels turned out to be. I always regretted not having selected sabre as the guys on the sabre team at least had some cutting done 😅… Now I see that in the actual swordfight (reenacted, but still) the impression is very similar - just two humans trying to avoid the blade at all cost 😅 And the higher you go up the skill ladder, the more a duel looks like a chess match - a lot of circling around and calculating interrupted by sudden, rapid bursts of very refined and economical action. Goes to show how much real violence is boring and nothing more but lethal. BTW, hence the gladiator fights were so crazy and unrealistic - including the fighters being rather on the fatty side - to be more spectacular (bloody) and a bit less lethal.
It's very interesting from another point of view - what would actually happen if someone challenged to a fight with no protection or helmets, just a shinai or a bokken, and everyone had to throw one punch, but a very real punch! My point is that sport is sport and combat is combat - there are 3 components to this situation - mind, body and your weapon. Real combat changes the mind drastically. If a person's mind is not ready for real combat, then everything else is useless.
I recognize those tod cutler daggers