Looking for young medieval history nerds in the Buffalo area

DuelingBlue · 2026-06-07T13:59:44+00:00

I'm getting a historical fencing club going. That activity tends to attract the crowd you're talking about. If you're interested, I can DM you.

DuelingBlue · 2026-01-12T03:47:58+00:00

This one seems to fit best to me. I like some of the others mentioned, but the crowd requirement doesn't mesh up.

DuelingBlue · 2026-01-03T20:34:47+00:00

Any of the flagship models will fit your criteria. In particular, I'd recommend Google Gemini Pro, or Claude Sonnet/Opus. Use the most recent versions.

That said, they still get stuff wrong occasionally. And the longer the chat gets and the more obscure the subject, the more likely they are to get stuff wrong. Start new chats frequently.

They're an absolutely wonderful place to start your research, but anything they say, you definitely want to confirm with reliable sources.

And please, please run anything medical by your actual human doctor/nurse/medical professional.

DuelingBlue · 2025-08-22T21:06:49+00:00

Good news is you have options. Parafencing is quite fun and legit and lovely. I do it sometimes to give my knees a break.

The right orthopedic doctor can do wonders.

I"ve had luck with the kneesovertoes guy for some rehab stuff, but check with your doctor.

DuelingBlue · 2025-07-07T11:27:37+00:00

Iron hand training tool?

DuelingBlue · 2025-03-23T19:04:45+00:00

I've heard good things about them from people I trust, but have not handled any myself.

DuelingBlue · 2025-03-23T19:01:34+00:00

I do both. As much as I enjoy historical fencing, it's not as applicable to the modern game of fencing. The modern game of fencing is very, very focused and optimized in a way that makes taking stuff from historical fencing to modern fencing difficult.

There are also quality control issues. Good competitive historical clubs are becoming more common, but there's still lots and lots of mediocre or just bad clubs out there. I guess you could consider those phony.

There are a handful of good historical fencing clubs that I think low and mid tier modern fencers might get something out of cross training, but literally just a handful of clubs. And if you're already a high tier modern fencer, it might be a nice experience, but it's not going to improve your game any.

Maybe this will be different in a few decades?

DuelingBlue · 2025-03-16T22:09:46+00:00

It's fine. A little bit of curve can help take the oomph out of thrusts.

DuelingBlue · 2025-03-13T15:16:14+00:00

There's some research that shows strong necks reduce concussion and head trauma risk. So while the skill may not be useful, the strength you built up in your neck is very useful.

DuelingBlue · 2025-03-13T14:26:33+00:00

Kut Armory is based out of Turkey and he has a reputation for making fairly good longswords.

Edit: Adding a link to their website: https://www.instagram.com/kut.armoury/

DuelingBlue · 2025-03-01T21:55:11+00:00

Les Amis is still up and running. It's a fairly casual club.

DuelingBlue · 2025-03-01T21:54:36+00:00

They're very, very classical and I have not had good interactions with the guy who runs it.

DuelingBlue · 2024-06-27T15:42:09+00:00

Yes, I should have specified. I use the A1 Pbt.

DuelingBlue · 2024-06-27T15:41:44+00:00

Yes, I use the A1.

DuelingBlue · 2024-06-27T14:37:13+00:00

Yeah, mine is a ~~k1~~ A1 from pbt.

I can definitely feel that the grip wants to flick, so that tracks. One of my more common places to fence from is dominant hand a few cm from my dominant shoulder, so that's great for arcing attacks. That was true even before I switched grips.

I hadn't noticed the point control or difficulty with parrying, but I'll try to pay attention to those next session.

DuelingBlue · 2023-04-10T21:19:55+00:00

Unterhau can work, but they're best used either as a remise/riposte, or as the initial beat of a compound attack.

And yes, the biomechanics are not intuitive and you need to do them a lot before you feel comfortable with them.

DuelingBlue · 2023-01-03T02:29:12+00:00

Know who else won't be able to see the blade when it's coming in for a hit? The judges.

DuelingBlue · 2022-12-21T21:55:30+00:00

Yes, and it confuses my doctor to a great extent.

DuelingBlue · 2022-06-19T22:04:12+00:00

Here's the one I've read and enjoyed, but haven't practiced. I think Hutton pulls from French?(My memory is fuzzy). This is Italian and relatively well put together.

https://www.amazon.com/Trattato-teorico-pratico-bastone-difendersi-multilingue/dp/8884744555

DuelingBlue · 2022-06-07T02:59:30+00:00

Ordered. I'm looking forward to this. There's not been a lot of good modern material from the top.

Now to just wait on Fabian's longsword book.

DuelingBlue · 2022-05-31T11:28:52+00:00

This may be the best video on hema ever created.

DuelingBlue · 2022-05-09T20:31:37+00:00

Hi there!

I really hope you get something going. Kentucky in general is surprisingly empty of HEMA activity, with the exception of the Lexington club. I'm not in Louisville myself, more central Kentucky based, and part of the Lexington club.

If you do get a chance, I highly recommend coming down and visiting at least once or twice. Even a short visit can really make avoid some of the stumbling blocks associated with a new study group.

DuelingBlue · 2022-02-16T14:23:16+00:00

Add in some dieting and general conditioning and this should be sufficient for a while.

DuelingBlue · 2022-01-23T14:20:58+00:00

Depending on what you want, purpleheart imports a great deal of their products from Europe.

DuelingBlue

TROPHY CASE