And yet again Lee Smith shows an exchange from a tournament as an example of "sport fencing", where the hit was not scored by the judges and didn't stop the action at all. The exchange at 0:55 was never counted as a hit. Cherry-picking your examples is a classic example of not having any actual arguments.

I've seen enough broken fingers caused by tipytap undercuts to have 100% certainty that tiptaps are martialy valid

You guys and Shad should colab, both groups have big passive aggressive and "how dare you dosagree witg me" energy.

What I don't like is the aggressive, confrontational tone to this video. Like it's a beef response video or something... like, you guys were sitting around haing some beers and decided to get the swords and mats out... Chill.

Former EMT here. That little knick, on the hands with even a dull weapon causes more than enough pain to override senses and cause a panic in a person. On the hands it can also cause issues with grip, numbing the middle and ring fingers. A little blood getting on the the palm and it causes issue with grip. A little knick like that on the arms can create a bit more blood flow and cause significant pain esp if it on the more sensitive side of the arm. On the face, it creates a lot of blood flow. Of it's above the eye its blinding. Getting it in the eye is obviously a real fight ender. Top of th scalp, less so but still a lot of blood. So a little cut no bigger than an inch and no deeper than 1/8th of an inch is enough to be a fight ender. Ive seen it in real life. Ive experienced low powered taps in full Spes gear as well and decided I am damn glad the swords arent sharp and im wearing full PPE

LMFAO at you guys trying to call out Matt Fuckin Easton on his cutting.

Now Matt - who is a classical fencer, historian and decade long HEMA-instructor, antic arms dealer, curator and advisor to film productions and museums and collection and who works with Windlass et al. to build very good replica and organizes one of Europe's biggest HEMA-events talked about 1. Using these cuts in unamoured fighting and why you wouldn't want to be hit by one (just imaging getting your thumb lobbed off or a cut above or in your eye brow) 2. The bad avaiabilty of tatami mats (among other things) in GB after Brexit 3. Cutting through wood - which he also demonstrates (and thus shows, what might happen to fingers or hands hit like this - asks police forces or ambulance crews, what they see after machete or knife fights) 4. That he hit through often, because he trains like this I think your criticism doesn't give the complete vid by Matt enough credit

I'm curious when the first successful instructors are going to leave again.

Unsubbed. Too much whining

We had the same issues with kendo as opposed to kenjitsu, which utilizes battojitsu (cutting of goza or bamboo targets) as part of their practice. Modern Kendo has gotten away from actually cutting in their strikes.

One of Liechtenauer's first lessons: "Don't shun the tag hits."

Lee, I think you are wrong. Matt and you were talking different things. Matt stated clearly that you need to follow through (aiming pass the intended target) to be able to deliver effective cut. The question was whether you need to have big motion. Number of people demonstrated you don't need big motion. That was the point. Even for tips/taps, as long as it is sharp sword and you aim and hit target properly (like Matt and others demonstrated), you will do enough damage to soft target.

These guys seem like the kind of fencers that aren’t much fun to fight against, because they think every cut needs to be able to cut you in half. Like bro you can get your points without actually killing me in the process.

Hi sir I have a question I often fight with my friends and they make me step backwards while they walk to me and that puts me in a bad position as we don’t have the biggest space and I often have to turn my back to run away so I get some space do you have so tips for this?(i use a katana)

Just like in the gun debate over round caliber, it's about shot placement and how much stopping power (what will finish the fight faster) you are looking for. Tip/flick cuts are valid to specific targets (arguable depending on weapon too so thrust centric baldates may not tip cut as well as a messer or falchion) Remember there is no such thing as a bad weapon just a bad target for that weapon. EDIT: post was too long, if you are really interested in reading the dissertation click in edit history. The TL;DR is fine4

If it doesn't do anything, then do it on a live target.

All I can say is that In the Swedish Hema Scene, Lee Smith is viewed as a bad joke, we laugh and cringe.

Did he cut the piss bottle in his thumbnail from the video?

This was disappointing, didn’t see a single person volunteer to get their hands hit by a tippy tap cut nor their face… same goes for an attack delivered with a flèche.

Ah, what about getting a 'Schmiss' in university fencing?

🤣😅

Matt Easton used wood as well!

xDDD

People are as much tatami matts as sticks are humans. Dynamic tension is weird. Would you spar with sharp swords if the rule was fast flick cuts only. According to you it would do nothing so not dangerous.I dont fully disagree either as people often try to act like swords are lightsabers but come on Lee. What is a tatami mat other than a rolled up Japanese rug.

It's not HEMA but it might be usefull to consider the point of view from someone that actually did cut and slash at an armed opponent : "To cut and to slash are two different things. Cutting, whatever form of cutting it is, is decisive, with a resolute spirit. Slashing is nothing more than touching the enemy. Even if you slash strongly, and even if the enemy dies instantly, it is slashing. When you cut, your spirit is resolved. You must appreciate this. If you first slash the enemy's hands or legs, you must then cut strongly. Slashing is in spirit the same as touching. When you realize this, they become indistinguishable. Learn this well." Musashi _ gorin-no-sho _ water

We forget tournament fighting is based on what royals did. They weren't there to cut eachothers arms off. They wanted small cuts that were supposed to be small scars

just unsubscribed. Tired of this ego bullshit. That's not a surprise seeing Lee is well know for being a passive agressive bully in the tournament scene but well, one could think he would get better with age. I guess not. Bye ^^

Matt Easton criticizing Lee Smith with regards to cutting is the equivalent of a kid who's been doing BJJ for a year criticizing Gordon Ryan. Unless you're one of the many thousands who know nothing about cutting, it is simply hilarious!