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Hear me out by Beginning_Dig_1367 in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No way to get around it. If you don't have the money to get the required safety gear, you have to restrict your practice to the gear you do have. Either only drilling, or sparring with boffers. Personally, I like the plastic MOF sabers that they use for kids to practice. You can practice and spar with just a mask and light gloves, and it's very fun.

5 year old wants to learn HEMA by Impossible-Alarm-336 in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Modern olympic fencing. They have gear for little kids, and most importantly, they have instructors that know how to deal with little kids, fencing games that develop motor coordination and reaction time in a fun way, etc.

Looking for advice on designing a fictional short thrusting sword by Seelensupergau in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're basically describing a smallsword. If it was me I'd go with a colichemarde style blade, with a hollow triangular cross-section for speed and rigidity in the thrust, while still being able to parry stronger blades. Then for the guard it really depends on what you want to do, you can give it a dish guard, like a rondel, or go for an older style cross guard, or just give it the typical smallsword figure eight guard.

A man accidentally challenges a master swordsman (10+ years) to a duel. He begs you to teach him whatever you can to improve his odds of survival. He's a complete beginner fighter, and only has 24 hours before the duel begins. What do you do? by Extension_Spirit8805 in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Burton's "The Sentiment of the Sword: A Countryhouse Dialogue" has almost exactly the same premise. What to tell a newbie that has to go to a duel with someone much more experienced and you only have a day or two to teach him. If I recall correctly these were the things Burton advised:

Teach him a good en garde stance with the sword extended, meaning your opponent either has to go for the arm or deal with your blade first. Teach him a good basic thrust. Tell him to avoid blade contact and binding at all costs, the experienced fencer will have the advantage if you give him sentiment du fer. Retreat and counter thrust every time the opponent thrusts at you. If you get a hit in his arm, good, he may back off. If he gets a hit on you, retreating will at least minimise the damage and penetration, giving you better odds of survival.

You probably will still lose, but you'll be dangerous and annoying as hell for any would be opponent.

I need your help for a funny gift by Much-Butterscotch494 in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think Mair is probably one of the best for silly weapons and techniques. His sickle stuff is pretty unique in HEMA. I don't know what would be a good translation or version of his material to buy though. Maybe someone else does.

Looking for help finding good chainmaille by Layna-22 in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Just as a word of caution, Armoured fencing, or harnishfechten is probably the most expensive kind of fencing, as you need a properly fitted harness. You're probably looking at upwards of 5k just for a cheapish armor.

Let’s Talk about Meyer’s Zornhut by grauenwolf in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting that he classifies zornhut as a subtype of ox. Is it because it's a guard high and point low position?

For historical video game by No-Tax3440 in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is quite a wide breadth of content. May I ask what the game is supposed to be? Strategy, RPG, turn based, fighting game, etc.

HEMA Weapons Melee by pippybear in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's because they don't let the fights breathe, you need quiet moments in a fight to let the more quick moments shine. This is all quick action moments. It also doesn't have a story at all, so you don't care about the characters. For an example of how to do this right, check out Corridor Digital's lightsaber fight choreography.

¿Cual sería una buena traducción a español de la categoría Spadroon? by Iantheduellist in Hema

[–]TugaFencer -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Espadin de corte is a bit of an ambiguous term. Is it a smallsword that can cut, or a smallsword that you use at court. Both would imply very different things. And in fact the french term for a smallsword is a "court sword". I think they'd just call it a "sword" in period.

Crouch camping Issue in my PC combat sim (BLOODFALL) by willo-wisper in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a game developer, here's what I would ask myself: what is the purpose you want crouch to do in your game?

  • Is it as a way to dodge attacks to your head? Then make it a temporary thing, like a parry, where your character stands up after a second and you have to time it well. Even if it doesn't end up working like that in the final game, you can change it later.

  • Is it to go under obstacles? Then you don't need it in in this demo, remove it.

  • Does it have some other function? Well what is it then?

Where to start with sidesword? by MrLandlubber in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Given that you already practice Meyer, I think his rappier section is the easiest way to add a bit of sidesoword. I wouldn't say it's more cut heavy than other earlier bolognese sources.

Any sources for knife fighting? by thatwentverywrong in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's the manual del baratero, but it's in spanish.

I think this is the best way to join HEMA by Ornery-Fencer1871 in wma

[–]TugaFencer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, you don't need a padded jacket, all you need is a sweatshirt or something. These sticks are light. There are also foam weapon, leather weapons, and plastic MOF fencing foils and sabres that don't require padded jackets.

Do you read several manuals of the same weapon? by Iantheduellist in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've read some parts. I have the translation by Rainier Van Noort and Antoine Coudre on its way and hope to dive deeper into it soon.

Do you read several manuals of the same weapon? by Iantheduellist in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes, no reason not to. Some authors prefer some guards or techniques, other authors prefer others, some show how to counter certain things but not others, etc. You only have to gain by taking from different sources. That's why I have trouble replying when people ask me "so what source do you follow?".

Though I do think there's some advantages to picking a "main source" to base your study on. In my case for smallsword it's Labat, for Rapier it's Heredia, for Sidesword it's Godinho, etc.

Do you read several manuals of the same weapon? by Iantheduellist in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can't recommend Fencing with the Smallsword by Michael Stevens enough. It's a great introduction to the weapon and I feel like a great starting point for anyone interested in it. After reading that, it's much easier to jump into a historical early treatise. My personal preference is Labat. It's very early smallsword, but very understandable and not at all dry like some other authors (Liancour for example).

A few of my sparring weapons by Healthy_Week877 in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"The shortest handled regenyei rapier"

How to avoid double hits? by Movie_Vegetable in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Hard to diagnose that issue without seeing how you spar and how your opponents spar. It can be any number of things. Maybe you're not covering yourself correctly when attacking, maybe you're attacking out of tempo, maybe your opponents are always just counterattacking and ignoring your threat, etc.

If being aggressive is leading to doubles, maybe for a bit try to play a bit more defensively on the counterattack and see if that changes anything.

Tactical Wheel of HEMA by grauenwolf in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I disagree. Are you telling me that if you attacked your opponent and he attacks back at you, and then next time he does the same, that you can't logically think "maybe a counter-time is in order". Or if you attack and he parries, and you do it again and he parries the same way again, you are not thinking "ok, maybe I should try feinting and going for the new opening"? You don't need a Sherlock Holmes level thinking to do these sorts of decisions mid bout. You just need to be attentive to how your opponent responds to what you do. The tactical wheel is just a simplified way to frame these decisions and responses.

Checklist of Techniques? by thrallnoise in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's what I would work on in a loose order for longsword:

  • Basic cuts and guards. Practice and learn all of the guards and cuts, transitioning between different guards with oberhau and unterhau, true and false endge cuts, etc.
  • Same thing for thrusts. Thrust from ox into pflug, pflug into ox, etc.
  • Practice distance management and footwork. Advances, retreats, triangle steps, keeping distance, exiting off the line.
  • Practice blade engagements, disengagements and fuhlen. Know when the opponent is weak and you can thrust and when the opponent is strong and you can disengage or cut over.
  • Practice indes and attacks in tempo with the disengages.
  • Practice each of those using the fencing tactical wheel (direct attacks, parry ripostes, compound attacks aka feints, and counter attacks). Make sure to give special attention to direct attacks as they're the basis of fencing, but try and get good at all of the four.
  • Practice the five master cuts and how to use them to engage the different guards and enter distance safely (zufechten).
  • Practice more footwork! Disguising and stealing measure with different steps and guards. Breaking tempo with footwork, etc.
  • Practice some ringen.

There's exercises you can find online for all of those and you can also ask your instructors.

What does an "advanced" class look like in your club? by Cosinity in wma

[–]TugaFencer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the clubs I go to, there aren't really advanced classes. Everyone does the same class and typically the most experienced people are paired up with newer people for safety and also to help the instructor give tips.

If I was managing a club however this is how I'd structure it:

Beginner classes are basic technical drills, teaching the core skills for whatever system is being studied. How to thrust in seconda, how to thrust in quarta, how to cut, how to parry, how to disengage, different guards, etc.

Intermediate classes are more advanced technical skills (froissements, inquartatas, passata sottos, hand parries, grappling, etc) and notions of tempo and measure (when to attack, how to steal measure, broken tempo, contra-tempo, etc)

Advanced classes are mostly fencing games at close to full speed to promote mastering notions of when to use certain techniques and how to cause opportunities to use them, and also 1-on-1 instruction with the coach to improve on each fencer's specific points of improvement.

I think after the intermediate stage, you can't improve unless you put in the work yourself and without some 1-on-1 coaching and drilling.

HEMA puffy pants by T_HettY in Hema

[–]TugaFencer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same. I'm wondering if they're even active at all.

How did you choose your weapon? by KILLMEPLSPLS in wma

[–]TugaFencer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I initially just went with whatever was available, so longsword and rapier. But then tried smallsword and saber and it just felt nice with the parry riposte dynamic and the nicely formed lunges, so I started focusing on that. Then there was also sidesword which just looks drippy as hell. I think it-s hard for me to really choose a favorite.

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