How appliacble is fencing to real sword fighting?

the second one seemed to have the most skill
but i wish they put on headgear and pads so we could see hard contact
 
I would like to say it was in the newspaper a few years back that in Albequerque some drug deal went bad and one of the guys ended up getting killed with a sword.
 
I would like to say it was in the newspaper a few years back that in Albequerque some drug deal went bad and one of the guys ended up getting killed with a sword.

I remeber last year the burglar getting killed with a katanna
 
those guys are very fast but I wish they would fight in a circle like the spainish style sword fighting

They can. The artsy fartsy rules put them on a strip. But they can angle.

Mostly you end up doing a lot of straight on stuff because in the last instant, who ever is attacking is going to have to clear that distance, and they pretty much have to do this straight, (to get to you)

Or to put it another way, they can cirlce all they want, but eventually they'll have to face you, and when they do, you face then straight on. (seemingly straight on) Since the sum total of your offense is the tip of the point, you really don't need a big opening. Just a slightly open gate. An inch of angle can open that gate up quick, and then pow right in the face!
 
Just out of curiosity, has anyone even heard of a real sword fight actually happening in the last 200 years? Didnt think so.
 
Just out of curiosity, has anyone even heard of a real sword fight actually happening in the last 200 years? Didnt think so.

While I was studying fencing from a Frenchman in Houston a Hungarian Businuss dude showed up for a couple months where I trained. He told me he learned fencing in Hungary from a famous Russian Military dude. (Famous because he had dueled some other goons in the Russian Military.) Whatever that means, and of course its not verifiable.

We had it out a couple of times and it was very tiring, because this dude knew two techniques only. 1. A quick lunge and return to gaurd. and 2. a beat lunge return to gaurd. He said that was all his teacher taught him. I had a better skillset, but he was quite good and the two things he did so it negated mine, (for instance trying to catch his blade, and divert it with mine.)

And he did not want to get hit either. He faught like it was a real fight, so we'd size each other up, maneuver, and try to not make the first mistake for like 5 minutes at a time.

He was a seriously competive character, anyways there have probably been some crazy fools out there who have gone at each other with live blades. Aldo Nadi has an account of a duel in his book. There's probably been Some Orientals go at it as well. Here in the US fencing historically never caught on, we just shoot people with swords and knives!
 
those guys are very fast but I wish they would fight in a circle like the spainish style sword fighting

Was just watching that second epee match. Probly I can see how it might appear as bullshit, but there's a lot going on there. Seemingly there aren't any angles but watch their foot position on the strip it goes from one side to the other. The slightest wrong movement and you invite the guy in real quick, (the first point) You can't just rush right in without possibly impaling yourself. What this sport version lacks compared to the old style stuff I learned was amount of blade manipulation. Used too I think the fighters would go to great lengths to make blade contact, because that's the only way you can be sure. When its just the loss of a point that's not so critical so it pays to leap in there with abandon.

I remeber asking my fencing teacher which he thought would have the better chance in a fight, and epee, (straight lunge) type technique or swinging, cutting style. He said it would probly be about equal once both understood they could get killed. Maybe he's right?


This clip is pretty good:
 
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While I was studying fencing from a Frenchman in Houston a Hungarian Businuss dude showed up for a couple months where I trained. He told me he learned fencing in Hungary from a famous Russian Military dude. (Famous because he had dueled some other goons in the Russian Military.) Whatever that means, and of course its not verifiable.

We had it out a couple of times and it was very tiring, because this dude knew two techniques only. 1. A quick lunge and return to gaurd. and 2. a beat lunge return to gaurd. He said that was all his teacher taught him. I had a better skillset, but he was quite good and the two things he did so it negated mine, (for instance trying to catch his blade, and divert it with mine.)

And he did not want to get hit either. He faught like it was a real fight, so we'd size each other up, maneuver, and try to not make the first mistake for like 5 minutes at a time.

He was a seriously competive character, anyways there have probably been some crazy fools out there who have gone at each other with live blades. Aldo Nadi has an account of a duel in his book. There's probably been Some Orientals go at it as well. Here in the US fencing historically never caught on, we just shoot people with swords and knives!

I have spoken to a witness of a few duels. He acted as a second for one of them. happened in the 50s
 
Was just watching that second epee match. Probly I can see how it might appear as bullshit, but there's a lot going on there. Seemingly there aren't any angles but watch their foot position on the strip it goes from one side to the other. The slightest wrong movement and you invite the guy in real quick, (the first point) You can't just rush right in without possibly impaling yourself. What this sport version lacks compared to the old style stuff I learned was amount of blade manipulation. Used too I think the fighters would go to great lengths to make blade contact, because that's the only way you can be sure. When its just the loss of a point that's not so critical so it pays to leap in there with abandon.

I remeber asking my fencing teacher which he thought would have the better chance in a fight, and epee, (straight lunge) type technique or swinging, cutting style. He said it would probly be about equal once both understood they could get killed. Maybe he's right?



This clip is pretty good:


The epee would have a much better chance in a real duel- thats what they were designed for. The best chance a cutting weapon has is attack the hand from a long distance.
 
While I was studying fencing from a Frenchman in Houston a Hungarian Businuss dude showed up for a couple months where I trained. He told me he learned fencing in Hungary from a famous Russian Military dude. (Famous because he had dueled some other goons in the Russian Military.) Whatever that means, and of course its not verifiable.

We had it out a couple of times and it was very tiring, because this dude knew two techniques only. 1. A quick lunge and return to gaurd. and 2. a beat lunge return to gaurd. He said that was all his teacher taught him. I had a better skillset, but he was quite good and the two things he did so it negated mine, (for instance trying to catch his blade, and divert it with mine.)

And he did not want to get hit either. He faught like it was a real fight, so we'd size each other up, maneuver, and try to not make the first mistake for like 5 minutes at a time.

He was a seriously competive character, anyways there have probably been some crazy fools out there who have gone at each other with live blades. Aldo Nadi has an account of a duel in his book. There's probably been Some Orientals go at it as well. Here in the US fencing historically never caught on, we just shoot people with swords and knives!

I know that there are plenty of people getting killed with swords even today, but what I meant was that I have never heard of two guys both armed with swords going at it in modern times. The chances of ever being armed with a sword while being attacked by a guy with a sword is about 1/10000 the chance of having to dodge someone trying to run you down with a car.

Although now that I think of it machette fights seem quite likely in third world countries.
 
I know that there are plenty of people getting killed with swords even today, but what I meant was that I have never heard of two guys both armed with swords going at it in modern times. The chances of ever being armed with a sword while being attacked by a guy with a sword is about 1/10000 the chance of having to dodge someone trying to run you down with a car.

Although now that I think of it machette fights seem quite likely in third world countries.

Italy and france in the 1950s is pretty modern. However the duels were for honor/settlind disputes and not self defence.
 
Bruce Lee had a strong interest in fencing and some of the movements even inspired him when it came to unarmed combat. Weapons training and hand to hand skills are often very similar.
 
Bruce Lee was inspired by fencing and and applied some of the movements to his unarmed combat training. Weapons and hand to hand training stilll have many of the smae movements.

early 19th century boxing was also inspired by fencing
 
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