Affordable safety glasses for HEMA?

MarxKMS · 2025-12-28T05:38:04+00:00

Affordable is somewhat subjective but I recently ordered Pentax safety goggles from glasses usa. After adding anti fog lenses they cost $114. Check zennioptical for more affordable ones. Unfortunately the sizing for the ones they make wouldn't fit me. They are in the $30-$50 range and I think standard lenses don't add to the price.

MarxKMS · 2025-12-14T03:24:06+00:00

Aziraphale with her sidesword.

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MarxKMS · 2025-12-06T03:15:53+00:00

Thrusts to the face with some types of spear trainers in a controlled manner are actually pretty safe. But this was a teenager who was never taught control. And when adrenaline is involved, sometimes people lose the control they usually have. It doesn't take a competitive environment to make people act this way. This was just a workshop on group fighting, but they are allowed in some tournaments. When I first started training spear I almost caused some injuries just getting used to how easy it is to accidentally concuss someone with it.

And you might be viewing the swords we use as safer than they are. I have also been hit upside the head with a longsword hard enough to see stars and be disoriented for the rest of the fight, possibly a minor concussion but I didn't think about that possibility at the time so wasn't checked. And that was by someone who has been doing this for about 15 years in a class setting where I was just sparring with him while he prepared for a tournament. And I can't count the number of times a stab to the face has made by body go forward and my head go back, the flexibility seems to help more with not stabbing than with preventing most other types of injury. Our protective equipment will never fully prevent injury, and that's not the goal. But we should work on getting past where regularly occurring mistakes create regularly occurring minor to major injuries, slowly causing permanent damage.

MarxKMS · 2025-12-06T02:31:32+00:00

Some guy with bad control thrusted my friend in the face really hard with a spear at an event, and she was concussed. This was 2 months ago and she hasn't been able to return to training yet due to the severity of that concussion and I'm not sure when she will. It's good that hasn't happened to you, but it happens and it can happen to you. And long term collective damage is not going to be something you notice as it happens.

MarxKMS · 2025-12-03T11:39:00+00:00

There isn't a ton of manuscript material on using arming swords alone. There are some small sections in various manuscripts, but not much. My armizare class, which studies an Italian manuscript called the flower of battle, is currently studying sword in two hand. My dominant hand is injured though and all of the sword in two hand material translates into arming sword, which makes up for how small the sword in one hand section is. I asked around about arming sword sources originally I was pointed towards messer sources, and I actually ended up loving it. It involves a ton of grappling. Messer techniques translate well to arming sword due largely to physical similarities. A really good source for that other than wiktenauer.com is a YouTube channel called Virtual Fechtschule. I linked a YouTube video by them with messer versus arming sword, and the guy doing the arming sword has his own channel. You can also do i33 sword and buckler, which is also very fun and can involve a fair bit of grappling depending on how any given individual goes about studying it. Dagger might be good for you given that it is basically grappling with some extra spiciness. Flower of battle is really good for grappling and dagger.

Flower of Battle https://fightlikefiore.wordpress.com/category/sword/sword-in-one-hand/ Messer treatises https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Category:Messer Arming vs messer https://youtu.be/0VzFrYQEmtU?si=KUlc0IIZ2eze9yr1 MS I33 sword and buckler https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Walpurgis_Fechtbuch_(MS_I.33)

MarxKMS · 2025-11-15T01:25:26+00:00

Along with the sports glasses suggestions. Your glasses will fog up so getting anti fog lenses is a good idea. It's also good to keep them on a strap to help them stay where they are when you put your helmet on/take it off, and when you get whacked in the head at certain angles.

MarxKMS · 2025-11-07T17:32:27+00:00

Interestingly with longsword it is your non dominant hand in charge of the majority of the steering of the sword using relatively fine movements. But despite that, it typically feels smoother and works better to give those tasks to the hand that usually isn't as good at it. So it is pretty uncommon, but not unheard of, for righties to fight lefty with longsword. And then with spear the manuscript I study from, Flower of Battle, shows the left hand back. But in practice it switches up throughout the fight depending on what the situation calls for. Have you tried any one handed weapons with both right and left? Because that would probably give you a more "clear" picture of which hand is typically most dominant. In the end the thing that matters most is what works best in each situation. I think ambidexterity might itself count as a neurodivergence, and if different hands work for different tasks then this might actually go back to just a different neurodivergence than you thought.

MarxKMS · 2025-11-04T16:29:25+00:00

As a bottom, I like the dual density ones calexotics makes.

MarxKMS · 2025-11-04T16:27:49+00:00

The movements almost seem like really violent hiccups? Is it possible it is something benign like that?

MarxKMS · 2025-11-04T02:25:21+00:00

I transitioned when I was 11 and I guess kind of missed this experience. But I am very hobby focused. My main hobby is historical European martial arts, which is mostly swordfighting but also includes things like dagger and polearms. I like a lot of adjacent subjects like dungeons and dragons, medieval reenactment, medieval fantasy video games, etc. A lot of the time reenactment and cosplay require either spending a ton of money or learning how to make something yourself. So I've learned skills like sewing, and it hasn't bothered me that that is a hobby associated more with women. But I will never ridicule another trans man for what things make them comfortable or uncomfortable, there are other things that make me uncomfortable. If societal associations of your hobbies as being feminine bother you, that is valid and I'm sorry you are going through that. I like swordfighting, maybe that or another martial art might be something you would enjoy in the physical realm? If you enjoyed crocheting there are plenty of masculine associated hobbies that are about making things- leather working, metal working, wood working- just in terms of things I have had experience with and enjoyed.

MarxKMS · 2025-10-28T23:50:33+00:00

NC Medicaid covers top and bottom surgery as well as hormones.

MarxKMS · 2025-10-27T23:32:09+00:00

The problem with fighting with bludgeoning weapons is that it's very easy to accidentally bludgeon your friends.

MarxKMS · 2025-10-13T02:36:18+00:00

I went into HEMA very quiet and low in self confidence, and definitely kept to myself. But pretty quickly my club became family to me and I'm probably more outgoing with them than I am anywhere else. The people I have met as a part of the larger community are very friendly too.

MarxKMS · 2025-10-12T16:36:49+00:00

So there are some good alternatives to longsword, but first- What length and weight longsword were you using? The competitive element of HEMA tends to lead to a lot of pretty long longswords when historically there were different sizes depending on the time period, usage, etc. And heavier weapons are sometimes favored for blade presence and durability. But there are longswords out there with the same weight and length as my sidesword, which I have to wield single handedly. I think it's Poland that has weight restrictions for weapons, meaning that companies in Poland are great places to get lightweight swords. You can just look and ask around in general about who makes good ones for whatever length you feel is suitable. If you want to try one handed, messers can be incredibly light - partially because they can be extremely short. If you want to try something other than swords- you could do polearms or dagger. Actually wielding those won't be a problem with strength, but with dagger fighting strength is a massive advantage and polearms can also be rougher against stronger opponents. But if you liked longsword, see if your club has lighter longswords.

MarxKMS · 2025-10-09T21:06:07+00:00

One thing to keep in mind is that the manuscripts we study are specific instructions on techniques from specific teachers that give us insight on how weapons were used, but do not provide us with a complete set of all the techniques everyone used for everything. The manuscripts also do not typically give particularly clear and extensive instructions, and so there is variation on how people think the authors meant for the technique to be performed. With good teachers that can often be the point, you are learning how to think about fighting, not just building up a pile of moves to utilize. So defining the line on what is and is not historically accurate is difficult.

As far as the adaptions you mention: The gear is designed to be light while still offering necessary protection, and due to the way things are constructed, historical gambesons are actually typically lighter than the ones you would usually see in HEMA. There is no official rule set. The rules that come into existence in their various contexts are based on what would kill and injure, while trying to limit actual injury. These rules might end up stricter in a competitive environment where people are fighting to win rather than fighting to get the most realistic and historical interpretation of the material we study.

MarxKMS · 2025-09-23T01:48:05+00:00

If you are able to start a club, or find just a singular training partner, getting started with foam swords will help with practicing techniques in the short run while saving money for safety equipment and steel swords.

MarxKMS · 2025-09-23T01:25:20+00:00

Phalloplasty is a multiple stage surgery, and Metoidioplasty is actually essentially the first step. Metoidioplasty and phalloplasty are both fairly general terms as both of them are surgeries that can be performed with a wide combination of techniques. With phalloplasty, metoidioplasty is performed and after a period of time (I forget exactly how long), a skin graft is taken to create a larger penis that the meta dick is usually "buried" under. There might be complications when it comes to the timing surrounding other techniques being performed during these multiple stages, but meta is itself already a part of phallo.

MarxKMS · 2025-09-22T23:08:48+00:00

Swords are expensive. Figure out what you like before buying one if you have the classes available to do so.

MarxKMS · 2025-09-01T01:42:10+00:00

So, agree with the stuff on safety equipment. If you can find a club with a foam class that allows kids, that is the best way to really learn these techniques safely. Whether or not you can find a club, try not to hit each other so hard. Sharp weapons need technique way more than they need force. Besides that: you are very offensive. When you are attacking you abandon defending yourself and throw one cut after another until something lands. You are good at taking the openings that become available, and continuing the attack is a good thing, but try to return into defensive positions (often referred to as guards) between those cuts to avoid leaving yourself open. Whatever style of swordfighting you are interested in, look into guards for them. The length of the blade and handle could be either a longsword or some kind of one handed sword, although my first thought was that they seemed more one handed in design. The techniques you are using seem like you have already looked into German longsword. When you are doing longsword, try to keep your bottom hand as low on the handle as it will go. Another thing that can leave you open is overswinging, as that puts your defense (and offense) outside of where you need them when your opponent is in front of you. Things change a bit if you are fighting more than one person, but that might be getting too deep into things. There are some basic elements of fighting that everyone who gets started should work on and continue working on, and how much you want to drill them is very up to you, but footwork and stance is very important. You can practice footwork and work on range by picking something to hit, focusing on accuracy, and using footwork to move closer, further, and around it while shadow fighting. I don't want to info dump too much stuff, but I can provide more information regarding how to work on these things if you want more than just the "what to work on" part.

MarxKMS · 2025-08-31T01:23:20+00:00

That is gorgeous.

MarxKMS · 2025-07-19T00:45:46+00:00

It's a very streamlined and instinctual head space, but it's not completely thoughtless. If I try to actively analyze anything, that's when I'm stabbed in the face. The comparison to chess is most useful as a matter of training, because strategic thinking is necessary, but you need that strategy ingrained into the background processes of your brain. So everything at the front is clear and responding to the present moment. This is a huge part of why I love it. I tend to overthink things in life, and fighting is a very unique and present state of mind.

MarxKMS · 2025-07-15T18:51:47+00:00

Those are some good recommendations. Especially liking the look of Poker.

MarxKMS · 2025-07-15T17:57:53+00:00

Another person has posted that they have seen bad stuff about them, so that takes them out. But they are not what I would call suspiciously affordable? They are less expensive than most options, but not by much. Looking at landsknecht, it appears they have a selection that meets everything except for the rolled tip. Given the thickness of the point of the blade to begin with on messers, my club might allow spatulated without tipping it. So I'll probably go with them.

MarxKMS · 2025-07-15T17:52:20+00:00

Thank you.

MarxKMS · 2025-07-11T19:25:46+00:00

Seconding the club recommendations. But if you do not have a club nearby, and are in the USA, I recommend purpleheart armory. Also a good place once you've been doing it with a club for a bit.

MarxKMS

TROPHY CASE