Things Learned in Longsword Class (for Fantasy RPs)
May 17, 2015 17:35:27 GMT
Post by tenebrian on May 17, 2015 17:35:27 GMT
I'm taking a HEMA German Longsword Class. My instructor is one of those fountains of esoteric knowledge. But here are a few things that have come up that seem useful for role playing or writing fantasy. Every time I learn something useful, I can post it here.
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1) Dagger combat: Stab, don't cut. Stabs kill, cuts just make them bleed. This also assumes you're holding the knife correctly. Also, very few people die from throwing knife attacks. They are better for annoying, startling, and gaining the upper hand.
2) This is the best way to hold a knife for German HEMA (Historcal European Martial Arts)
3) Honey can be used to cover a wound to prevent infection. It chokes the bacteria by over feeding it until it dies in it's own waste. It creates an air tight seal, and it keeps the area from drying out.
4) Wine can also be used to clean a wound and keep it from getting infected.
5) If someone is in full armor with a long sword and you have no armor and a long sword, run away. While there are tactics to deal with full armor, if you're not very proficient with the sword he who has the armor wins.
6) If you do face someone in full armor as such, chances are you're going to have to get close enough to wrestle them to the ground or to stab them in the weak parts of the armor. This may involved closing the distance, getting really up close, grabbing your blade, and stabbing them with both hands on your blade, under their helmet or into their neck or head.
Forget trying to stab or cut through the breastplate when you have access to the weak bits where the armor is cobbled together.
7) Hands.... In longsword fighting, besides the blade the hands are the closest things in reach. Cut a few fingers off and they can't do anything. Same thing goes with slicing an arm open if you can't kill them, although every attack should be an attack to kill (or at least wound)
8) Take your blade in your hands and beating them with the hilt & pommel is a valid technique
9) Weaker steel can't hold two edges like a longsword. German steel was stronger than Japanese steel, so that's why you see more two edged weapons in the Germanic area. Also, weak steel, tends to have a natural curve when folded and forged. Thus, the curve in many single edged blades is actually natural. Weak steel is stronger when it is a single edged blade, where one side his thick and the other is the thin edge.
10) In combat your blade is going to get damaged. No ifs, ands or buts. That neat sharp edge you have is going to get riddled with dings. It's normal. It's so normal that getting a blade fixed after a battle is like needing to shop for groceries for dinner when there's nothing in the fridge.
11) Two sharp edges, when they meet in a bind, tend to stick to each other. In the German Longsword HEMA, you have to twist (called winding) the blade to get them to unlock/ un-stick sometimes.
12) Btw, in the practice of this HEMA there is wrestling people to the ground because you get to close to use your swords. The distance between two people for adequate sword use is usually a little longer than you expect. You should have to take a half step forward to hit your opponent otherwise your opponent can likely hit you too ... AND THERE GO YOUR HANDS... OOPS!
13) Usually the go-to weapon isn't a sword. The sword is a back up weapon. The spear is the go-to weapon. This is because you can kill someone before they can get close enough to kill you. Range is really, really important.
Hope this helps! Btw, this is a fantasy world so F--- the advice if it doesn't suit yah, lol. Creativity for the win!
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1) Dagger combat: Stab, don't cut. Stabs kill, cuts just make them bleed. This also assumes you're holding the knife correctly. Also, very few people die from throwing knife attacks. They are better for annoying, startling, and gaining the upper hand.
2) This is the best way to hold a knife for German HEMA (Historcal European Martial Arts)
3) Honey can be used to cover a wound to prevent infection. It chokes the bacteria by over feeding it until it dies in it's own waste. It creates an air tight seal, and it keeps the area from drying out.
4) Wine can also be used to clean a wound and keep it from getting infected.
5) If someone is in full armor with a long sword and you have no armor and a long sword, run away. While there are tactics to deal with full armor, if you're not very proficient with the sword he who has the armor wins.
6) If you do face someone in full armor as such, chances are you're going to have to get close enough to wrestle them to the ground or to stab them in the weak parts of the armor. This may involved closing the distance, getting really up close, grabbing your blade, and stabbing them with both hands on your blade, under their helmet or into their neck or head.
Forget trying to stab or cut through the breastplate when you have access to the weak bits where the armor is cobbled together.
7) Hands.... In longsword fighting, besides the blade the hands are the closest things in reach. Cut a few fingers off and they can't do anything. Same thing goes with slicing an arm open if you can't kill them, although every attack should be an attack to kill (or at least wound)
8) Take your blade in your hands and beating them with the hilt & pommel is a valid technique
9) Weaker steel can't hold two edges like a longsword. German steel was stronger than Japanese steel, so that's why you see more two edged weapons in the Germanic area. Also, weak steel, tends to have a natural curve when folded and forged. Thus, the curve in many single edged blades is actually natural. Weak steel is stronger when it is a single edged blade, where one side his thick and the other is the thin edge.
10) In combat your blade is going to get damaged. No ifs, ands or buts. That neat sharp edge you have is going to get riddled with dings. It's normal. It's so normal that getting a blade fixed after a battle is like needing to shop for groceries for dinner when there's nothing in the fridge.
11) Two sharp edges, when they meet in a bind, tend to stick to each other. In the German Longsword HEMA, you have to twist (called winding) the blade to get them to unlock/ un-stick sometimes.
12) Btw, in the practice of this HEMA there is wrestling people to the ground because you get to close to use your swords. The distance between two people for adequate sword use is usually a little longer than you expect. You should have to take a half step forward to hit your opponent otherwise your opponent can likely hit you too ... AND THERE GO YOUR HANDS... OOPS!
13) Usually the go-to weapon isn't a sword. The sword is a back up weapon. The spear is the go-to weapon. This is because you can kill someone before they can get close enough to kill you. Range is really, really important.
Hope this helps! Btw, this is a fantasy world so F--- the advice if it doesn't suit yah, lol. Creativity for the win!
