The Limitations of #HEMA and #Fencing! #sword #shorts

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[mixstardust]

Truly we should all aim for accuracy and have at least a couple hundred fatalities per tournament.

[JustAnotherVatsal]

Nothing beats 4 year old me swinging a stick around pretending it's a sword

[charleshurst]

What makes it even more complicated is trying to account for something what would stop one person cold but somebody else would just shrug it off.

It's why I really like the ruleset which neutralizes scoring if the struck fighter lands a counter-blow within .25 seconds of being struck (Double-kill).

In theory, it really forces the fighters to emphasize protecting themselves over everything else if they actually want to win.

[Emily_Huang]

This video shows that no one should mess with this guy 😂

[unfortunatesun]

An interesting angle to this is how sharps behave differently in the bind than a blunt replica or a feder.

[josephercanbrack]

Boxing also used to have significantly less head trauma injuries for a long time, because pugilists were restricted to hitting the torso and stomach to prevent massive injuries for working men. The boxing glove changed that, and much like with football helmets, ended enabling dangerous moves and injuries

[lukelcs]

Tldr, combat where you try to kill eachother is necessarily different than combat where you don't ever want to kill each other.

[thiccburger]

This is why all combat related activities should be held in a gladiatorial ring. No more “not in the streets” no more “martial arts X is better than Y”: you win or you die, but at least it’ll be accurate

[Frogo]

this is why i fight the kids in my basement, it's the most realistic way

[Goshin]

Not to mention the mental aspect of facing a sharp sword... people would tend to be more cautious.

[SomnathRoyGrimfangs]

Just going on a tangent, gloves changed the sport of boxing drastically to the point that the sport now has a variety of punches that you can throw at great frequencies because you're no longer afraid of breaking your own hands.

Before boxing gloves, it used to look much more like wrestling with occasional, calculated hits every now and then. They even started twisting the glove after contact to tear the skin and that in turn give birth to punches like hooks and uppercuts, most of which people would've never dared try in order to save their fists.

Given the modern emulation of damage in HEMA through points, I'd say that it's far more accurate historically than something like modern boxing when compared to before the Marquess of Queensbury.

[Taudstein]

I’m glad you’re doing these vids cause I am joining a HEMA group tomorrow and I want to know what I’m getting myself into

[bootime]

so what if a couple hundred professionals die, we must have historical accuracy!

[Deridus]

I have learned one thing over the years in regards to fighting people with melee weapons: They usually aren't willing to take a hit for victory.

[farkasmactavish]

I mean that's an argument for why we assess hits to determine if the fight is over, rather than doing continuance fencing.

Also, you made some very good arguments for why cuts are better in most situations. You can keep your weapon moving, defending yourself from a double or afterblow, and even back in the day, those who saw military combat said cuts were better, because on the battlefield, if you had your sword out, it was because your formation was falling apart, and you needed to be able to engage multiple opponents at once.
It's also why bodyguards favored big slashing weapons like the create a big area of denial by constantly cutting.

[notesmaker]

These are the questions I have asked myself as a writer.

[bennyb.]

Seeing how common doubles were after i got into Hema made the very idea of a medieval battle even more sobering. You should do a 10v10 Hema bout for the channel and see if ANYONE is left untouched.

[chun_]

Some extra food for thought: in a lot of Asian martial arts there are cultural/traditional limitations as well. Take kendo for example - there's no fighting in the bind, and you can only strike in the designated four targets.

[Isometrix]

I think it will be interesting to see how VR technology changes the face of sports like HEMA. If we get to a point where it feels real, we could have full contact, sharp blade fights without actually hurting anyone.

[x.m.a.]

Great analysis and the humility you have about the limitations of the training you do is a great way to improve it! I have never done swordfighting, but i have been doing muay thai for over 10 years now. All your points were very relatable. Great great video