This was gorgeous fencing. I never imagined the fencing might look cleaner and better in continuous bouts than standard ways. I want to give it a try, now.

Think I like this much better than "point, STOP - point, STOP..." Go for the three or five five minute rounds like MMA. On thing about the traditional format though, is a real sword duel could very well be over after the first blow lands. So this format makes a more entertaining spectator sport, but it is probably less realistic due to the fencers sustaining multiple hits over the course of the match. Probably best to keep and cultivate both formats, to be honest.

I find this a way way better format than the standard start/stop at each point. Much more dynamic. Thanks for the video.

Man, those cuts and exchanges look so damned cool! Movie sword fights feel like two toddlers swinging baseball bats compared to this.

This is really nice and enjoyable. Everything about it: the 50fps, the slowmo with hit indicators, and the continuous format.

this is a huge improvement over the standard format. I would like to see more of this across the board.

this is cool. it looks better --> more attention from people --> more hema practitioner --> bigger market

This is neat. I like the continuous format!

I loved this. I really like watching HEMA fencing but when it just carries on, it's just so much more fun!

Continuous bouts are far superior, it changes the mindset of the fight completely as the fighters are not focused entirely on scoring as quickly and safely as possible, or go for a last ditch counterattack if you do get hit, and allows them to utilize a broader range of techniques. Its also more fun to watch.

That's a lovely format, and comes close to what a knightly duel would actually look like in the past!

This type of fencing is great to watch

That was awesome!! I love the continuous format!! This is much more exciting to watch!

Nice to see I am not the only one making these types of videos. Very nice editing!

"It's like a boxing match". "More like what you would see in an actual sword fight". Eh?

I really wish this had caught on.

Just fantastic, this is what I've wanted for a while

What an excellent format, fight and video. Thanks!

I already like this more than the standard HEMA fight! Thank you for this upload!

Loving this format as a spectator sport much more than typical HEMA longsword. More please!

It's so much more natural to fight continuesly, beautiful idea! ..and beautiful to watch

This looks like a fascinating format, I love it.

Better than MMA !!! The Future of Sword Sport !!! ***cheers*** =)

That was incredibly cool to watch HEMA sparring in continuous mode!

Great fencing and a beautyful video! I like the continuous Format, so much more exiting. I tried it myself in a competition, it is super exausting but great fun.

Much more interesting! The sword submission was amazing.

We use this rules set in our padded saber tournaments since many tournament and the experience was very good. Everybody likes it!

I love this, this is the way it should be.

Wow this is much more like a duel! much more interestingly to look at, and I bet also more exciting to practice.

This is how we train at my school. It really helps us when it comes to larger tournaments with larger pools; we end up having a lot more stamina that a decent chunk of the other fighters.

We need to do this format way more :)

I like this because it reflects what you want to train into a fencer for 'real life combat' (though of course we'll probably never see it), you want them to train to keep fighting even if they're hurt, as a natural reaction. If they get used to stopping when they're touched, in an actual combat with swords it could cost them their life, honour, or whatever is at stake. Fencers should of course always protect themselves though so it doesn't turn into a battle of the nations type battering fest (not that there's anything wrong with that inherently, it's another perspective.)

It is so much better than the stop and go

A sport that combines this with MMA would be fascinating. I mean, I'd *pay* to watch that.

I cant believe they just now thought about making this a thing. This is what I think that most people are expecting when they hear fencing

This is awesome. Continous bouts are much more fun to watch.

Exellent!. THIS IS what should be in the olympics, then again the olympic might screw it up.

I like this format of fighting very much. I find the constant breaks in normal HEMA tournaments make it boring to watch - too much downtime. This is something I would definitely watch. Exciting!

I like this format a lot....

This is better then fencing. 2D arena, continous and long swords. This would be national sport in my country if I ware in charge

very good idea with the continuous fencing and regular fencing alike, could see both being very popular

olympic fencing is all about scoring points as fast as fucking possible, but this is about the artistry of the duel much better than olympics

this does look good because both practitioners have a respect for the fight rather then only caring about winning, but having done both continuous and with stoppage (Foil, Epee, Saber, H.E.M.A., Kung Fu, Kali, Etc.) with stops it does break the flow of the fight and can lower the use of combinations which is bad, but with continuous if you have fighters that only care about winning and not the art it often degenerates into people going for as many hits as possible with no defense, I've seen fights where they just stand and trade blows back and forth and whoever can hit the most times in the round wins, or I've been in ones where the opponent just charges forward not caring if they take cuts and thrusts to their head to try to land their own combinations hoping that in the end they can win on volume of hits even though all of theirs are landing after killing blows were already struck against them if it had been a real fight.

simply beautiful

very interesting way to fence! i want to see more of this!

I've played the start stop format for six years with a foil and this video makes me wanna drop everything and start continuous fencing with a saber

This is much better than most other scoring systems i think

I love this! Much more realistic.

1:05 “...and the fight unfolds, presumably, like you would see in an actual sword fight...” minus the cutting and stabbing and blood and death... small difference 😉 I do like this continuous style fight *_way_* more tho, he is right that it unfolds more naturally and honestly the _‘normal’_ constantly stopping fights are rather dull. I really appreciate the high frame rate btw, it’s absolutely needed for such a quick sport, thanks for the great video !!!

This was very interesting as a spectator. Also, I kinda want to give this continuous style a try.

I enjoy this format far more than the start stop of point fighting. I would enjoy it even more If they did multiple rounds. Even so, I love longer exchanges and the higher pace.

Allow kicks and punches too. Submissions and more. Like wrist lock disarm to finishing blow with the sword and things.

The true gentlemans sport

All I know is that if the referee is going to be expected to untangled two guys who are belligerently grappling with metal sticks going forward, the ref is going to need protection, or have a "goon" on standby who's padded up to send in at a moment's notice

1:52 That's kinda interesting was it an impromptu response or a carried over dagger principle. I think there was this kendo disarming technique really similar. In HEMA, when you bind, you can hook under between the opponents hands to pommel him in the chin or hook his left wrist then lock it with your left hand. In kendo I think they do it with one hand? Idk. I must be spouting nonsense.

This is great

Continuous fencing comparable to MMA, HEMA is like point karate competitions and olympic fencing is like taekwondo competitions. We all know which one is superior in terms of effectiveness. The swordfighting community should focus on continuous fencing.

I think both format are really intertaining, but this is just more appreciable from a regular, uninformed audience, 'cause it looks cooler you know. Could be a great way to publicise HEMA

Is this the only continuous duel? Or will there be more?

1:50 what is that take down ??that looks cool

Very nice!

As a lifelong martial artists, this is the only way. Point-stop fighting is point-less.

I like it!

Who are the announcers?

Continuous is a lot more pleasing to watch and realistic for battle. I wonder why blue won, they seemed pretty balanced. Blue did a nice takedown, but took a lot more hits.

What about DEATH blows?

I strongly recommend continuous training! On weekends, I'll train as many as ten hours, broken up into three and four hour sets. On weekdays, I can only usually manage two sets. Train every day, and make sure to find a qualified instructor.

An interresting exhibition match.

I don't want the other ruleset to vanish but I want to see more of this

Ouch, that hit rung out, I hope the fencer is okay xD

Hellish Quart sent me here.

What are the rules on grappling? Could one fighter throw their sword as a distraction, shoot a double leg, and ground and pound their opponent?

That rocked

Has this format been tried out with different weapons as well? I might imagine a sabre fight in a continuous format would be quite great to watch!

the hug was so cute

Is it forbidden to attack the legs in this modality?

The practioners are better in this match than normal. But really we need to see the slow mos and highlights. its impossible to tell, i watch a lot of kendo and its like a flash, cant tell who hit when and where and which block. Thats why they have the electric sensor thing in fencing.

This was a ton of fun to watch. The flashing swords really are beautiful. I wonder if it would be best to call a spade a spade: to keep things honest with scoring, actually describe the type of damage that would have been caused and attribute values to it Mortal Wound, Maim, Knock Down. This was beautiful but I could also see people point-fighting in ways where it might be rediculous to equate it to actual combat. IDK open to feedback.

I'm not trying to tell real-deal Eastern European fencers who train hard how to fence, but one thing I noticed reviewing the bout, is that there still seems to be too much emphasis on scoring a hit. What I mean by this is they often go right from a parry into a strike without fully controlling the opponent's blade. That feels risky. I have to wonder if concentrating on definitive parries, and **only then** attempting a strike, would be a better mindset. I feel like there could be even more emphasis on the envelopments that comprise the successful parries, because what happens is they seem ofen to lock up and get tight after the parry. In some sense what I'm suggesting is think fully about the parry, because he counterstrike will come naturally on it's own if the parry is definitive-that's what the successful parry is setting up. Attacking the opponent's sword to control it is a good strategy, but I'm not seeing a sufficient level of control. It looks like "hit the opponent's sword, strike at the body", regardless of how effective was the parry, as opposed to "control the sword. Then and only then strike the body." Who knows? It could result in cleaner bouts. Try to experiment with putting extra momentum into the opponent's blade **after** the moment of contact, instead of **hoping** the strike into their blade is successful. That said, when you make a beat correctly into the sweet spot between strong and weak, there's no doubt about being able to strike cleanly. Anyway, that's how I was taught to do it, but my teacher trained "Full time, whole life" and was very uncompromising about the art. My understanding is that it's 99% pris de fer. Good stuff, nevertheless. I can tell these fencers have trained hard!

I heard that swordfish was abysmal but this looks incredible. This looks like how it's supposed to be. We just need to properly train judges, now.

The question is wether this is the way the guys want to fence and the rules do not prevent them or if this is the optimal way to fence under these rules. Rules cause artifacts and the question is what prevents fencers from just charging in with a continuous maximum speed twercopter until the time runs out.

well shit this is a billion times more entertaining

Gorgeous referee

ive always wanted to get into some sort of sword sport, its always seemed boring and stuck up (fencing like you see on olympic). i would give this a go for sure

This would be great with headgear and body gear that also detects hits like in TKO.

I wish they would talk about the fight instead of everything else.

Could need some fixing as, anyone could just hard swing and win big. . . or grab the other player arm or kick the other player in the abdomen. . . From what I saw in the video. . . is this sword fencing or. . . sword blocking? To me, it more sword blocking as there seem to be no point for each sword that made contact like in real fencing.

I believe they should have both point bouts and continuous bouts. It shouldn't be just one.

I quite like this. Seems to discourage a lot of the gamier techniques and put the focus on good fundamentals

Olympia 2024 in Paris? !

Why is the ref not wearing a mask?

This is what I do in sparring

Judges and cameras should be near the mat and spread all around. Otherwise, there will be a lot of bias on scoring.

damn, not so many views i see :/ .

who gave that one dislike

Everything about this is cool, but, it is not realistic: HEMA is mostly simulating unarmored duels, where the first hit would usually win, if guarding well against the retaliation. The tournament-formats are strange enough, allowing for doubles. Imagine if both duelists get 'maimed,' then no-one would proceed? That would be 'realistic.' So, continuous fencing looks cool, is fun to watch, but it has less to do with HEMA than one might think, hehe. I guess there is room for both styles, but I would love to see a third style 'hardcore-tournament' as well, with doubles meaning both are out

I cant do this. I rely on fast picks so I dont burn out haha

here also if the blades aren't thick, at the same time aren't too flexible like a lot of other sword of the same types that I saw. So, good quality mean's good realistic mechanical phisichs of the blade and that's traducted in a REALISTIC duels... wonderful.

So - without a ref shouting STOP every hit - swordfighting actually kinda does look like it does in the movies...

Some problems with this format are: #1 Hardly any accountability of judges' calls #2 Judges being on their own while judging, and as they have only one perspective, it's almost impossible to make accurate calls #3 Audience has no clue who is winning at the moment (because judges might score points different from what they see) #4 Connected to the previous point, you don't have the strategic element of managing a lead or falling behind #5 No deciding last exchanges #6 No coaching during the fight. These are just from the top of my head. I think there are many reasons why this format has never been popular. Though I will give it that it is more realistic, and you need better cardio to prevail :)