From a German fightbook:

http://mdz1.bib-bvb.de/~db/bsb00001840/i....&no=50&seite=51
http://mdz1.bib-bvb.de/~db/bsb00001840/i....&no=58&seite=59
http://mdz1.bib-bvb.de/~db/bsb00001840/i....&no=59&seite=60


Either swords weren't as sharp as we think, or gloves did a badass job of keeping you from slicing your hands open back then.

If I had to take a wild stab at it... ::) (yeah...a lame pun)
... I would guess that these swords were likely used for either stabbing through sections of armour (like little cracks), or these things were heavy enough to deliver some crushing/chopping blows.

...or it could be that they never actually did this, but drew pics of it and let their enemies THINK that this was a tactic. So, if the enemy tried it, they would either cut their hand open or just do something silly.

OK...let me in on it for real.

My only guess is that by this time swords were really more pointy and meant for stabbing than really sharp for cleaving. If you look through the rest of the book, you don't actually see anyone dying from the longsword - eventually one of the guys gets disarmed and is finished off by a stab to the neck or to the armpit.

After which the victor promptly kneels and prays to the Virgin and child in thanks.

It's interesting to see this book portray close quarter, armored combat. There are lots of moves that involve binding your opponents sword in the crook of your arm or between your arm and body that would surely result in injury were you unarmored.

Some ARMA armored longsword techniques (halfswording) that may answer some of our questions:

http://www.thearma.org/essays/armoredlongsword.html

Very informative excerpt there. I would like to see us being able to engage in close quarters grappling instead of the punch-punch combos. The grappling and arm-bars are much more effective when used properly.

The article also confirmed the thrusting use as the weapon's main use.

What you are talking about is called "Half-swording", that means choking up on the blade or otherwise holding the blade while fighting.

Actually you can do a lot of things when half swording. A hard thrust is the most common use, and thats where you see half-swording used a lot in "harnischfechten" i.e. fighting in full plate armor which is considered a seperate discipline from the "blossfechten" which we practice down in New Orleans and what ARMA actually does as well most of the time.

There are numerous gambits you can do from the half-sword. It is actually quite handy in defense especially when closing in to close range, or when facing longer weapons like spears. There are a variety of attacks one can do besides thrusting, including striking with the pommel, using the pommel to disarm, hook people behind the neck, behind the knee, or to lock their arm for various types of takedowns. There is even something called a "murder stroke"...



Where you grab the blade in reverse and strike with the quillions.

Half-swording is most prominent in harnischfechten, where one might be expected to use gauntlets or at least gloves, but it's also done in blossfechten (as in the above image) and if your technique is right, trust me you can grasp the blade without hurting yourself. I have a an Albion Constable which you can see is quite sharp by looking at the video clip (which I'll repost again here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTjPkpE-0Wg

I have half-sworded with my sharp, including thrusting through an old car door, without hurting my hands in the least. Of course, if you make a mistake you could seriously injure yourself, I don't reccomend trying half-swording with a sharp until you have a lot of practice with blunts.

For Ordo, as an outsider I think (have long thought) that some of the grappling techniques in WMA would look really good in your fights and add a whole new dimension to them.

Jean

Here is a great little clip from a German WMA group which demonstrates several basic longsword techniques using live steel, including a few half-sword gambits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3DhjFUOG6Y

Regarding the half-swording specifically, its really effective stuff, would lend itself well to the way you guys fight and like to quickly move into close range alot, and IMO it looks cool as hell to me and would be a crowd pleaser.

if you slow down the vid and watch it a few times you can suss out what they are doing, it's actually quite simple. if you practice a few times you will be ready to try it in your next bout, and it's cool as hell when you pull it off.

Maybe I'm prejudiced or Euoro-centric or something but to me well executed Renaissance WMA, particularly the halfswording, locks, disarms etc., look so much cooler than any equivalent Eastern martial arts I usually see, especially the kind of Kung-Fu amalgum you see in Hollywood so often. WMA well done (and I'm sorry to say, my own group is not quite up this standard yet) looks so much more brutal, efficient and deadly to me anyway...

I think your audience would dig it as well

BD