When Peasants fight with Long Knives: Bauernwehr/Rugger Sparring

Рет қаралды 4,998

Күн бұрын

Hello everyone! It's been a while, but here's a new full length sparring video for KZfaq. In this one I cross (short) blades with Ulrik from ‪@die.freifechter‬ and MesserMinute. In the visual commentary, I try to compare both the physical and social aspects of historical fights with how we would categorise these exchanges within a modern HEMA setting. I hope you like it. :)
If you'd be interested in supporting the channel or are looking for extra content in general, have a look at Patreon: www.patreon.com/virtualfechts...
0:00 Intro
4:00 Sparring
12:14 Conclusions
Music courtesy of epidemicsound.com
#Messer #fencing #hema #Spear #Sword #HEMA #Historical #European #Martial #Arts #Historical #Fencing #Historical #Fencing #Westernmartialarts #Middleages #medieval #Martial #Arts #Martialartist #Instructor #Athlete #Fitness #Fightingfit #Fighter #warriors #knights #Swordplay #machete #technique #Training #lecküchner, #history #historical #research #swordfighting #sparring #context #greatsword #montante #zweihander #knife #dagger #moustache #messer

Пікірлер: 55

@joadams8022 9 ай бұрын

Judging a hit in terms of probable legal consequences is a great idea, and would work really well with low-kit sparring.

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

I think so. I would add that some areas may require a bit more gear, such as the weapon arm, as these suddenly become prime targets and are really difficult to keep safe with just control and light gear.

@KnjazNazrath 17 сағат бұрын

Reminds me of some folks I knew who used to to re-enactments w/ only helmets and ballcups. They...didn't last long.

@jasonjames9836 9 ай бұрын

I like the context you give at the beginning as well as the touch/hit/death aspect of explanation of the hits. Nice sparring as well.

@VirtualFechtschule 9 ай бұрын

Thanks! :D

@die.freifechter 8 ай бұрын

Hey Oskar, thanks for the extensive commentary on our bout - definitely food for thought. I especially love how you're putting the context in a small story as we were talking about. I really enjoyed those exchanges with you and look forward for the next ones - as always. Cheers, Ulrik

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

Thanks Ulrik! It was as usual an absolute pleasure to fence with you and I hope we really quickly find an opportunity to do a next one indeed! :D

@Scott-qq9jd 9 ай бұрын

Very interesting premise. And I look forward to further messer content.

@VirtualFechtschule 9 ай бұрын

Thank you! :)

@Scott-qq9jd 9 ай бұрын

And I do hope those rugger trainers become regularly available.

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

They are! Both LE and King's Craft have them available like this.

@JesterJahima 9 ай бұрын

"As a YT video is a bit of a monologue, that agreement was reached rather quickly" LOL. Awesome video !

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@dlackovic13 9 ай бұрын

This is so fun. I love these sparring analysis types of videos-- I think they go a long way in helping our club learn to judge and also see movement and footwork and how well they play into the exchanges.

@Druid_Ignacy 9 ай бұрын

Man, I love fencing. Nice exchanges! You can really feel the spirit of Leckuchner! :)

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

Thank you! :D

@elgostine 9 ай бұрын

do you reckon the shorter length made you feel the desire to grapple a lot more? im curious if artowrk, descriptions and other such (maybe even crime reports) would give some insight into how a bunch of fights played out and how peasents fought with these things and what moves they tended to do the most

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

The short blades really incentivise grappling, as it becomes a really good way to stay safe ("the closer we are to danger, the further we are from harm"), and you don't need to cross a lot of distance to do it. I'm pretty sure that artwork and court records give you a decent idea of these things, and I think some limited research has already been done. :)

@elgostine 8 ай бұрын

the big reason i want to investigate records of injuries @@VirtualFechtschule is me remembering matt easton talking abbout the chora i.e 'khyber knife' and that according to british doctors and eyewitneses these seemed to be used almost excusively for cuts and slashes, with almost no use of the point (the doctors were apparently thankful they didnt as they fine points on these knives would leave VERY nasty wounds) the khyber knife and some of the larger baurenwehrs are in a similar size catagory although to be honest most rugger type long knives seem to be only dagger length i.e theyd probably have more in common with things like bowie knives

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

Yeah, there's definitely a category of even shorter originals that would fall into dagger territory rather.

@elgostine 8 ай бұрын

ive said it a few times how much i find the @VirtualFechtschule nagel interesting, some ruggers are just.. a forged cone of sheet steel that has had one end forged into a rough rivet , and seemingly just with a hole bored into the handle scale the blade itself just being a slender single edge with a basic false

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

@@elgostine Yeah. I've seen on rugger that had the edge forged out to one side, and the other side was just a flat blank, so you would only have to grind and file the edge on one side. 😅

@417hemaspringfieldmo 9 ай бұрын

I love this guys

@rawr2u190 2 ай бұрын

Very interesting

@umartdagnir 9 ай бұрын

You're quire disciplined in terms of disengaging after a successful hit because of your HEMA sparring habits, which would probably not be the case in case of a peasant fight (someone could ignore a shallow cut and go into grappling).

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

That's a good point. I think those are quite modern habits, I think, as most fight books from around 1500 don't talk about retreat, but rather finish the fight by running in and grappling. :)

@HikerDood 8 ай бұрын

Great stuff!

@bob8355 Ай бұрын

this video is fantastic

@doctomahawk1993 9 ай бұрын

Great content as always..🙂

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@WGlennNorman 9 ай бұрын

Most outstanding

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@andyedwards9222 9 ай бұрын

Very thought provoking. Meshes with modern laws regarding appropriate levels of violence. Maybe our ancestors weren't so different.

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

Yeah. It's not that weird to be fair. Most modern laws have a pretty direct line towards medieval legislation. Even in places where criminal law was revamped by Napoleon, civil law retains a lot of this stuff.

@TheDutchGame 9 ай бұрын

Fascinating! Really interesting to see how an actual tool was later also used as a weapon by a class of people that were mostly unable to afford "normal" weapons - at least to my knowledge.

@die.freifechter 8 ай бұрын

Hey! Judging by the measure of the devices we're using in the video (and given the fact they are based on historical originals) I seriously doubt their primary use was intended as a tool. :) Cheers, Ulrik

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

Some may have been tools in the same way as a machete is nowadays (pretty useful clearing paths and some sorts of agricultural work, but quite a few of originals seem to rather have had features that indicates these examples were at least primarily meant as a weapon.

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

You could imagine reinforced points, for instance, or really thick spines, or even the presence of a nagel (which indicates violence was at least one of the primary uses).

@salabatallador 9 ай бұрын

Great exchanges!!! Are those the HF armoury gaunlets? It is posible to transition messer grips with them ? For example: handshake to thumb. Keep the good work

@VirtualFechtschule 9 ай бұрын

Thanks! And yes, these are HF gloves. I really like them because the plastic doesn't get in the way too much. The leather inner gloves does allow grip switches relatively easily, compared to other clamshell designs.

@salabatallador 9 ай бұрын

@@VirtualFechtschuleThx for the explanation. Do you think that the dexterity in them is better than iniginity gloves or pro gaunlets?

@VirtualFechtschule 9 ай бұрын

@@salabatallador About similar I think, but where finger gloves really shine is in opening/closing and grabbing things. my preferred setup for one-handed bouts is actually an HF glove for my weapon hand and a PG for the offhand.

@VirtualFechtschule 9 ай бұрын

@@salabatallador The HF gloves have good dexterity on something you're already gripping, but mittens are just a bit too awkward when trying to grab something in the middle of an exchange.

@salabatallador 9 ай бұрын

@@VirtualFechtschule So the five finger in the off hand to allow disarm/ringen more easily? Makes sense! My problem with some gloves is that i cannot change grip from handshake to thumb mid-combo, for example: zornhau true edge, mittelhau true edge on the outside and THEN false edge mittelhau onthe inside, that last false edge mittelhau strikes with the flat a lot of times due to the problem that i said. Anyway, keep the good work !

@brandonjenkins7569 8 ай бұрын

Oooo beautiful fencing! What make of rugger are you using? And what length? They still look very sword/ messer length at a glance

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

Ulrik has one by Landsknecht Emporium and mine is by King's Craft.

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

They're about 60-70 cm I believe.

@hysterical5408 5 ай бұрын

I wonder how much research Hema practioners have done on more folkstyles of wrestling from the region and how that could change these Rugger fights?. I know many study Ringen but that comes from the nobility as far as I'm aware. Do we have any surviving forms of grappling done by common people?

@qedasai 3 ай бұрын

Talked to Kings Craft recently about getting bauernwehr myself. I was curious if the one you used from him in this video was the version he makes with the safety tip and flex, or if it was just the blunt version?

@matarahgad9691 5 ай бұрын

Do you have any books you recommend for learning techniques sword techniques?

@robertbeier5521 3 ай бұрын

Hey hope you respond, I just wanted to ask how you are working messer with HF black knight gloves and how you went along with breaking them in, especially to do things like rotate the grip for zwinger or entrushau.

@stinkymccheese8010 8 ай бұрын

I don’t understand why they aren’t using their free hand.

@VirtualFechtschule 8 ай бұрын

But we actually do this quite a bit? It just isn't something you can do in every exchange, as even with shorter blades it requires a combination of distance management and timing, and setting it up in such a way that it's not easy to counter. Just steamrolling over the other person to grapple is something you only see when there's a significant skill gap.

@allengordon6929 8 ай бұрын

They don't want their hands to be cut off.

@TheGreatAmphibian 6 ай бұрын

What do you think they should use it for..? They don’t have shields and this side-on stance maximises reach.