I.33 Sword & Buckler Sparring with Sharps

Our training sessions last about four hours, one of which is devoted to various forms of free play. This is with sharps, but we also regularly use blunts and masks.
Sharp swords are actual weapons, so handle them with utmost care. Do not even pick them up without careful supervision by a competent instructor. Also mind legal restrictions in your country.

Music: "Blank Holes" by Jingle Punks, YouTube Audio Library

[ValendianCrafts]

I couldn't agree more with the fact that, training without protective gear while handling sharps greatly increases your combat/danger awareness, which I believe is an essential trait in order to develop body control and response timing, giving you much more survivability in the contest of a fight. I'm starting to feel it myself when I spar with my friend, although we use blunts. I was lightly wounded on a hand, and that made it very hard for me to continue the fight because I couldn't hold the sword properly. That happened because I felt confident, from some years of armoured sparring. It was a lesson; from that time onward, I would approach the bind with a more focused eye, more calm and patient. That's a great thing to develop, because it somehow feels close to what a real context could've looked like.
You're getting very impressive results from the constant training; just continue, ever forward!

[Houston]

What are those high waist pants called?

[juliocesarcaye]

I have just found this channel this week, it is AWESOME!
I have a question, tho: it would seem to me that the "half shield" stance is rather ineffectual against trained opposition. I believe, in an earlier video, it was shown that the idea of the stance is to begin already with a strike to the unguarded side of the enemy. This seems to me to be an opportunity that a trained fighter would never allow, and thus, as we see in the many videos of sparring, there is the formation of a bind regardless of the initial stance. So, to sum it up: is the half-shield stance a "trickster" kind of approach, useful only against ill trained foes?

[RKcousins]

Hey there Roland, could you make a video or help me understand why it is that most of the guards from I.33 (at least directly from the images) are only used by you as starting positions? Would appreciate very much for clarification, thank you!

[wtfwhoisthisguy]

the thumbnail is interesting on account of the fact the mirror image doesn't add up.

[dudeofvalor]

Do you or others use feints with sword and buckler? At 31 seconds in you have a great chance to attack your opponents mid-drift. He is totally fixated on your buckler and getting ready to block your sword.

Would a change in direction totally undo him at this point?

Excellent fight none the less. You are really good at keeping the pressure on your opponent.

[Shirogarasu]

what kind of pants do you wear in this video/for training?

[aguslezana]

Love your work and dedication Roland.
A quick question, in what consists the rest of the time you put into training?

[Hedning]

Are there any videos where they actually try to hit each other?

[zenhydra]

How much 'stickiness' are you actually noticing with edge to edge contact? Clearly, genuine intent is not present in this session, but what do you notice as the biggest difference in application of technique when using sharps versus blunts? Is there anything that surprised you the first time you experimented with using 'live' blades in sparring?

[gombuk]

I have a question, and a comment---I am a lifelong fan of sword and sorcery tales, as well as historical adventures of sword wielding heroes, and I am an artist who likes to draw battle scenes and warriors and such. I have zero experience in actual sword and buckler fighting, so I thought I'd take a look and see if people were still doing that sort of thing and sure enough, you're doing it! I only have interest in it as far as my art goes, to get a sense of what a sword fight really looks like, not to really do it myself, but, who knows? Now, my question is this; Does what you guys are doing differ much from guys actually trying to kill/hurt their opponent? I am in no way denigrating your fighting here, but I would submit that the techniques and skills you develop now are different than those of say, a 10th century Viking fighting Saxons in Mercia. You are simply NOT trying to kill your opponent, while anyone fighting back then would be trying every trick in the book to do anything they could to hurt or maim you, including going berzerk. I would say that what you guys are doing, while indeed skillful and dangerous, is practicing to practice sword fighting, not to actually sword fight, to kill. Of course, if things get apocalyptic and we get reduced to an Iron-Age level of technology, you will definitely have a leg up on everyone else! And of course, I could be dead wrong, having never swung a sword at a sword wielding opponent!

[sivirys]

Roland, as we are on the topic of sword and buckler play, I'm very intersted in your expert opinion on those guys: