Troper Fencing Academy

Anyone know of any good books on spear fighting of any sort? I can find staff and sword out the wazoo but finding something on spears is proving elusive.

I dunno, some of Fiore's stuff maybe? Some sections of Talhoffer's fechtbuch I think focus on spear, but I don't know of any manuals.

Anyone have a good resource on Zulu fighting styles?

I know they have a form of stick fighting, can't recall the name, but like a lot of spear fighting techniques, the information is amazingly scant.

This article seems to have some detailed information.

The 16th-century Ming treatise Jixiao Xinshu has a couple of chapters on spear/pike techniques and tactics, though AFAIK only the chapter on unarmed fighting has been translated (and the prose isn't the easiest to read for modern Chinese speakers anyhow).

The text was written by the general Qi Jiguang as basically an AAR on a decades-long pirate crisis on the southern Chinese coast, making it a fascinating account of what was essentially an early counter-insurgency campaign. On the strategic level, it involved a lot of cleaning house from corrupt government staffers and local strongmen who sheltered, funded or otherwise colluded with the pirates, plus a hefty bit of area/resources denial. On the tactical level, it features innovative small-unit tactics for fighting on urban or coastal terrain (including what's basically a squad-sized tercio).

But anyway, spearwise: Chapter 10 details the use of spears, both in terms of formation and fighting techniques (pages 147-170 on the link), while Chapter 11 lays out the use of a weapon called langxian ("wolf brush"), which was basically a pike with a bunch of bladed branches sticking out, used to hold the front of a formation in advance while sword-and-shield, spear and ranged troops covered the flanks.

If I were a decade younger I might have seriously picked up HEMA, because the battle-shows at viking markets always look like fun. Still, I might start dabbling a little with it, to get a feel for how people likely would have fought during the early Medieval times. Spears were the most common weapon at the time, so I'd like to try them with and without a shield.

Speaking of which, I wonder what kind of sword/weapon fighting did the Vikings use.

Aside from the fact that they used a mix of longswords and axes, my Google search actually isn't turning out much, the results showing more of the Vikings' battle/warfare strategies than individual swordfighting.

We probably gotta start a historical arms/armour threde somewhere. But generally, your early medieval Scandinavian raider would've had a spear and a shield, and a helmet if they could afford it. Some would've carried a one-handed axe with a "bearded" blade to maximise cutting surface; the two-handed "Dane axe" was a product of later periods.

If they were very well-off, they would've worn a mail shirt and carried a sword. The sword would've been short to medium in length and wielded in one hand. European longswords as we know them didn't exist yet at this point. Look up the Petersen typology for an idea of how Viking Age sword looked.

Skallagrim and Scholagladiatoria have some great videos on what we know about combat from that time, including demonstrations with spears.

I had thought about writing to the Gun Porn thread, to see if swords would be appropriate for there, but a separate thread would be more appropriate.

A separate thread would be a better idea.

Bit late on the spear question, but I can link you to a quick and easy summary of some of the historical treatises from the European tradition. Problem is, it's a pdf file, and know that some people are leery of accessing those. I've read it myself and suffered no ill consequences to my computer. Here's the link.

Here's another one, with better illustrations. Warning—pdf file.

Edited by DeMarquis on Dec 14th 2020 at 6:41:08 AM

Right, forgot that Fiore dei Liberi also did a lot of spear stuff in addition to his better-known sword manuals.

Thanks De Marquis.

We're working through the Wallerstein Codex in my fechtschule. Fun actions from the bind.

Found this game today.

A graphic dueling sword fighting game with a good bit of detail and a reasonable amount of realism.

Steam Link below.

Hellish Quart

Edited by TuefelHundenIV on Jan 30th 2021 at 7:58:26 AM

Tod Cutler (Tod's Workshop) and Matt Easton (Schola Gladiatoria) talk about the Swiss sabre, an unusual 16th-century two-handed sword with an unusually complex hilt:

That is the most blinged-out hilt I've seen.

Okay, long story short, want to ask for some swords stuff for writing, some of which might be on the more fantastical end and might not be as germane as others. I was directed here from the random questions thread.

Here goes:

• The most relevant question is asking for online English-language materials on La Verdadera Destreza.
• The query that lead to the suggestion is on if rapiers could be used for slash draws (a la media interpretations of iaijutsu), if not are there similar sabres that could theoretically be used for that end. In either case the question would be how.
  • More fantastically speaking, the question also assumes the swords man could channel magic into the sword. But I bring it up to ask if that is the only way to make the unusual combination of technique and blade "possible"
• For different, Xianxia related reasons I want to ask about Chinese swords if possible.

Sorry about the bump.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Apr 24th 2024 at 8:27:52 AM