Learn the Art of Combat - Halberd Fighting Techniques - Part One

The first six Halberd plays from Joachim Meyers book about the knightly art of swordsmanship - 1570 A.D. The plays can be found on page 33recto (XXXIII) to 34verso (XXXIIII) in the last chapter of the original book found here:

PS: Obviously NOT exclusive for formation fighting. Meyers manuscript shows mostly techniques for a duel! But you can use many of the concepts also for formation battles like thrusting or striking in a tighter way.

[drmartinhalbert]

My last name is Halbert, and I've always wondered what Halberd fighting was like in practice. Thank you for bringing the past to life in this way. The weapon actually seems much more effective to me now that I can see the ways that it combines the reach of a spear with the heavy cutting force of an axe blade.

[CrniWuk]

The pants clearly say, it's Halberd time.

[Luke]

Im writing a novel and I want the combat to be written based off historical treaties. Thank you for the demonstration

[noneofyourbusiness]

I want to see more pole-weapons in movies. Spears, pikes, halberds, bills, pole-axes all were crucial weapons for the longest time in history and sadly get over-shadowed by swords in pop-culture.

[elgostine]

VERY interesting ive seen almost no one cover halbers like this, i cannot wait for more'

[e.m.p.]

Man you know that's love when your GF helps you with your nerdy historical weapons studies.

[pedroivantaveraferreira]

Great to see one of the best weapons there is, "the spear's big bro", receiving more appreciation

[beitophfongfu]

I freaking love halberds :^
They're life

[Esper]

>mfw when I will never have a halberdier waifu
>feelsbadman.jpg

[modernpirate]

You two move so fluidly together and your control is fantastic - I actually felt myself tense at a few of your exchanges! Extremely helpful to see the slow motion repetitions with your explanations. It is one thing to read it in a book and quite another to see it demonstrated ;-) Not sure if you accept visitors, but hope to study with you one day when I visit Europe again.

[alastor]

funnily enough the halbert techniques displayed in both of your videos regarding the halberd have somewhat helped my improve my own footwork using a zweihänder, and some of the attacks even work with a zwei, so thanks very much for making these good sir!

[TalkingAboutGames]

Good technique, precision and control; even when using synthetic heads for the weapons, it's not easy to hold back such a short distance from the partner's face. Also, great composure on her part, she remains steady despite the attack striking so close. So many good things about this video.

If someone is wondering how these strikes could be potentially countered, sidestepping just at the right time and at the correct angle (moving a bit forward), while deflecting the opponent's weapon to the side with your own weapon, is generally a good way to thwart the strikes and immediately counter; easier said than done though! You can usually tell when a combatant is skilled, if you watch how he positions himself, my old instructor used to say: position is the key to victory.

Halberds should never be underestimated as weapons of great historical importance; to a certain extent (no pun intended), they are equalizers on the battlefield, giving the advantage to a decent warrior, when he faces off against a slightly superior opponent that is armed with a shorter range weapon.

[ccurry]

This is the definitely the best trust exercise that I have ever seen!!

[jonasandersson]

It's so nice of Rollo from vikings to show us these things

[alexandrbatora]

On one hand, I love how you demonstrate the techniques with no protective gear at all, on the other hand part of me screams "wear goggles at the very least!"

[brandonbarber]

This gives me anxiety every time you go for a thrust

[Asmusei]

Your two videos have been the only places I've seen anyone explain the use of this weapon. It's been motivating me to take up this sport!

[azureprince]

I just found this channel and while maybe it isn't the intention, it's an excellent art reference for practice drawing or writing weapons. Their stance and posture, the way the wield and hold the weapons and how they move with them... It's all excellent and I'm thankful to have seen it!

[MrThule]

Good that someone takes time to share helpful life skills like this. They really should include this in basic education gym classes.

[GthCrayon]

Your ability to demonstrate and concisely explain the forms and their functions is quite impressive -I dare say underrated. These steps work quite amicably for using a long-but-not-quite-pole hammer.