The Worlds most DEADLY Sword...The RAPIER!

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#rapier #sword

[skiveman]

I felt the pain when Tyranth made the joke "From a more civilised time" and both Nate and Shad just ignored him. I felt for him there. It was a decent joke and his face when they just carried

[nicolaspeigne]

Not a lot of people understand how many young men killed each other in duels throughout the late Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Just talking about France and they kept banning duels nationwide every hundred years because young and excitable nobles kept getting offed in a alleyway or a nearby hill

[robertoprestigiacomo]

Rapier fencer here! Long comment to touch several of the points:

Swinging a rapier alone won't tire your arm quicker. It's the combination of cutting and point-play that will. It is actually more tiring doing the pointy play because doing minimal movements require a lot of control, engaging mostly your forearm and hand (I have fenced with rapiers for 7 hours in a single day at an event and my index and middle fingers were destroyed and was difficult to control the sword only for that) so you have fewer muscles operating the same weight. When you start swinging, your arm will be tired from point-play making it more difficult. In general, swinging a rapier is just a bit weird because it's too long.

The point Shad made about the stances and strenght is true (especially in Spanish Destreza) but it's also part of the rapier training to adjust your posture so that you engage your back muscles to reduce the stress on arm and shoulder (by sacrificing a few cm of reach), and you alternate resting and extended positions all the time (even in Destreza) to avoid draining yourself.

From a roleplay point of view, all swords should be dexterity-based, but I met lots of people with little dexterity or finesse doing good in longsword while the same cannot be said for rapier (or sabre) for the most part. So, if I had to choose only 1 sword to be dexterity-based, that would be the rapier.

It's actually easy to stab through a swept hilt rapier (especially one that minimalistic) and that's nasty. A swept hilt rapier generally only defend well against "well behaved" cuts. Though I'm not a Spanish Destreza fanboy, I think cup hilt rapiers are objectively superior in design (and I only use those in HEMA... I like my fingers to stay unbroken).

I would do a very stretched thrust with a rapier only against another rapierist who doesn't cut too much. It breaks your posture too much and makes you exposed from cuts from many directions if you miss.

[kathrynck]

Blackbeard the pirate carried 8 (eight) single-shot pistols, and a rapier, and a dagger.
At that point in history, that was pretty much the pinnacle of gear choices for "...and I'm all out of bubblegum"

[manuelbarreto]

Rapier stems from the Spanish word "Ropera". It's firstly mentioned in Spain in 1445, in "Las Coplas de la Panadera". It's meant for civil use in duels, Ropera stems from Ropa, clothes, because this sword wasn't meant to be use in conjuction with any kind of armor but civil cloths. 😊

[Kiljaedenas]

I've personally trained in these. I was ASTOUNDED at how different the combat style is compared to everything you see in media, with all the elaborate slashes, cuts, blocks etc...

You train, for HOURS, to be able to deflect your opponent's weapon and kill the enemy in one, single, move. You wait until they're in range, BAM, dead, from one super long-range lunge where you've drilled for hours to hit a fingertip. And the lunge distance is completely nuts; your baseline stance is a "back stance", where 60-70% of your weight is on your back leg with your front leg a bit forward. Then, when you're ready to attack (and you also drill for hours to be able to tell the exact split second when your opponent is within range), your front foot goes slightly forward and you completely extend in almost a kind of hyper-lunge. The distance the tip of the sword travels in this one attack is huge; only long spears can surpass it.

[rachdarastrix]

In Dungeons And Dragons I once had a DM who would not let me throw a rapier because
"That's too over powered. I can't think of anything the enemy can do about it. Nirhehur!"

In honor of him rapier + javelin = my next homebrew weapon.




The Pilum!

[GUS]

Reach is such an advantage in any combat. I train in Muay Thai and had a few fights in my time too, sparred for countless hours. Reach is not to be underestimated. Even an opponent with just an inch or two on you makes things more difficult than many realise and takes some skill to counter or overcome the disadvantage it puts you at.

[craydev]

We goin true dex build with this one boys

[rayceeya]

It really is. It was the ultimate evolution of the longsword. They were still using rapiers after the development of firearms they were so good.

[darthplagueis]

Interestingly, there were two very distinct approaches to rapier fencing in the early modern period. If you've played the game Hellish Quart, you'll actually know them, as the two ladies using rapiers in that game, Marta and Marie, each make use of one of these approaches.

Namely, the italian and the spanish style.

The italian style is what Marie uses, it's basically about staying out of reach, making yourself as small of a target as you can get, generally avoiding binds and instead trying to catch the opponent off-guard with a quick lunge forward.

The spanish style is that of Marta, and where the italian style seeks to avoid binds in order to not give away information, the spanish style seeks binds in hopes of being able to read what the opponent is about to do. You generally stand straight, with your arm often at more of an angle rather than being stretched (allowing you to quickly extend your reach in a thrust), and instead of a far lunge, you try to knock the enemy blade aside, so you have an opening to step in and extend your arm into a thrust, blowing through the enemies cover.

They both have their up-and downsides, for example in the italian style, there is a higher risk of a double hit, as both combattants lunged forward at the same time and not being able to react in time to deflect the opponents thrust. The spanish style on the other hand makes you a bit more vulnerable as you're fencing at a closer range, plus if the opponent doesn't also want to bind, things can get rather troubling.

[macrendilysmir]

I remember hearing how in movies where the people are using rapiers (f.e. Mask of Zorro), the actors are actually taught sabre techniques because it's flashier. More blade-glinting cuts and slashes instead of some quick pokies.

[NoBSSurvival]

I'd love a triple edged estoc. It seems like an estoc is to a long sword what a rapier is to an arming sword.

[tony_h_ddd]

Rapiers go straight to the point. No messing around.

[OptimusJedi]

Rapiers are the favorite of every woman I’ve ever known who is into RennFaire and Fantasy. Movies and games of course push them being light and agile. You always see a woman or a waif-y dude wielding one. Always nice to get some real info on them.

[mikkohernborg]

I think one of the reasons for people thinking rapiers are light is because of so many three musketeers movies and similar, where they use fencing foils… And many people actually think of foils when saying 'rapier'. Again, we must blame Hollywood.

[AnimaVox_]

Hellish Quart's gameplay is remarkably sobering and made me really think about how brutal real-world duels must've been. Not a perfect game since it's unfinished, but I think it truly nails the grim reality of duelling.

[GothicSoldier]

Hopefully you can do a follow-up talking about the estoc (or tuck).

It's effectively a simplified rapier PURELY made for thrusting and defeating armor, while also having a two-handed grip and oftentimes a unique crossguard with side-bent quillons. Being that it weighs upwards of 4 pounds (~2 kg), it also makes a decent bludgeon in a pinch. By far my personal favorite design.

Edit: almost forgot that there was also a version specifically made for hunting. The tip is turned into a leaf-shaped blade with perpendicular "fins" which give it a very distinctive look.

[ewokk]

Interesting point: famous Polish winged Hussars used to carry 2 swords into battle: the usual, famous Polish saber as standard "sidearm", but also extemely long (5 feet plus!) piercing sword called "koncerz" that was used as kind of ersatz lance after the lance was broken in the charge. It was used only from hoseback, and attached to saddle instead of belt.

[michaeljay]

Surprised I missed this video. My favorite sword. Entertaining analysis. Thank you. Definitely going to watch the linked video now.