Like any skill, martial arts require lots of practice, and making all kinds of mistakes to learn from. Which sometimes make for rather painful lessons.
But what if making mistakes in order to progress brings a risk of the progress ending right there? Because you took a sharp sword blade to the face? That's the problem when people point out the limitations of sparring with protective gear and whatnot... it's not the real thing. They aren't wrong. No matter how realistic the training is (either in modern HEMA or back in medieval / renaissance times), it's not entirely the same. But what's the alternative?
The more realistic training is, the more dangerous it is. Let alone the real-life experience of fighting to the death in a duel between swordsmen. Whatever valuable lessons could be learned from it might be taken to the grave.
Sword fighters in a fantasy world where potions, healing magic, and even resurrection exist could be so much more skilled. Imagine the kinds of experience they could gather from perilous situations that mundane humans could not hope to come back from...
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#skallagrim #history #swordfighting
Problem #1: You die when you are killed.
🤯🤯🤯
I hate dying. It happened to me 5 times already. And it's not even noon.
Skill issue. I do not die when im killed.
How to solve: Just don't die. Problem solved.
*Laughs in Auto resurrection*
"Necromancers: Healers with bad timing." This is the first time I've heard that joke, and I'm using it to describe them in the future.
Necromancers are the most powerful healers, as they heal the otherwise unhealable. The classic weapon against necromancers recruiting your dead relatives is a massive stake through their bodies in the cemetery .
Likewise!
hehe that general line has been used before, more so with evolve (if you know the game then your gonna know who i speak of) there is one healer who though weaker sustained heals just powerful frount game with reviving the dead being Lazarus and i think he or one of the others has a line about him being a healer with bad timing or something XD
Or healers are necromancers living a lie. Think about it, you are literally regrowing flesh and creating blood out of thin air.
😂
Problem with any HEMA competition is that you will always even subconsciously be less cautious because it isn’t real. If you’re leading in points, you can even lose a few points to further gauge your opponent. Not possible in real life. Suppose you could make it so that if you “get a fatal wound” you just immediately lose, but that makes for poor sport.
If you don't mind me asking, what would you suggest as to how we can make for a more authentic sword sport without actually maiming people? This reminds me of how many detractors to the idea of women being competent swordsmen argue that the women in HEMA are not proof of such. They reason that it is merely a touch-based sport and imply that a real sword fight would only have the strongest and fittest survive, something that women have a biological disadvantage in. Mind you, I am not judging the OP anything. I think this brings up an interesting thing to discuss about. The question is how do we do a proper test of swordsmenship without actually endangering?
@@cadethumann8605 is not possible
@@cadethumann8605 Use rules that reflect reality. You took a maiming hit, you are out. Like done, no more fights for you. Took a hand hit in the last round that hand is now bound and you cant grip with it. There are ways but they would be overly arbitrarily and really remove the fun.
@@deakonkuster That is _also_ unrealistic. People who got hit with swords for a living wore armour that protected them from sword hits at least to some degree. A hit to the hand is not an automatic "lose use of that hand" injury. To quote Skall, swords are not lightsabers, a mere touch of them will not kill you. Unless we stay at judicial, lightly protected fencing, but that is another story in an of itself.
@@WebertHest HEMA is simulated unarmed swordfighting. So yes, lightly protected fencing.
"The best techniques are passed on by the survivors." Yes this quote still applies when it comes to real fights.
Not necessarily. You could still die from sickness, random arrows, your side losing the battle, etc, even if you were the best individual swordsman in the world.
you wanna survive a battlefield, ask someone who did that. Doesn't necessarily mean they were the best fighter there - it's just that they were smart enough to gang up on the best fighter.
@@MrPiotrV Who brings arrows to a duel?
@@ArifRWinandarever heard of wars? turns out soldiers fight in them! :O
@@ArifRWinandar War is not dueling.
Gorgeous landscape right from the start
Yeah. He looks good with a shorter beard.
Maybe he’s born with it.
This video brought to mind a couple quotes I read. The first is from one of David Gemmell's novels, can't remember which one. But the quote is something like, "Every man with a sword is undefeated in mortal combat." The other is from "The Excalibur Alternative" by David Weber. The context is an English army is stolen fom the Hundred Years' War and recruited to fight on behalf of an advanced alien civilization. In reference to the aliens' highly avanced medical technology and the effect on his soldiers' abilities, the English commander is thinking, "Death was a wonderful teacher when he was not allowed to keep his pupils."
inb4 the Dark Souls approach - go, die, repeat until you git gud
I approve of your Gemmell quote, good sir.
@Skallagrim One of the few authors I've read who seems to truly understand how fighting works...particularly the psychological element.
There is a whole genre of those type of sci Fi novels. H. Beam Piper's 'Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen,' Jerry Pournelle's 'Janisaries' series, David Drake's 'Ranks of Bronze,' and Poul Anderson's, 'High Crusade.'
@jayharper3491 The Excalibur Alternative is actually a sequel to Ranks of Bronze. Not familiar with the others...are they connected or just similar theme?
Very good points Skallagrim. One thing I've read is how ehxaustion was far more impactful than skill. Fighting is one thing, fighting after marching for 14 hours is another one completely. Someone said: "an exhausted skilled swordsman will always be beaten by a well-rested novice".
Not to mention sleepless night before the battle, lack of food, the fear of dying, losing and being taken prisoner, mutilation and slow death, missing limbs (a death sentence in middle ages), the sight and sound of people dying, eating a random unlucky arrow, panic and confusion during the fight, ordered to retreat running whilst enemy chasing, even friendly fire from someone behind you.
even well rested and fed, how many opponents must you face before you can rest again? surviving an actual battle is not bloody likely...
Agreed. Anybody with significant martial arts experience understands this fact. It's one thing to be able to win a 2 minute bout. It's completely another thing to do ten 2 minute bouts in a row without a break. Note: That's "only" 20 minutes of combat.
Ooooh man... ngl imho regarding having not even thought of lile thrist an exhaustion.. thaaaats not how picturing in ones mind works @op
There's a video game where this actually holds true - Dwarf Fortress. Your dwarfs will get tired from fighting and wearing armor. It doesn't matter if that dwarf is a steel-plate clad hammerlord with 300 kills under his belt - if he passes out from exhaustion surrounded by the 100-something giant cave olm men trying to storm the fortress, he's gone.
On Mike Tyson's podcast the WWF wrestler the Undertaker recently told a story that some WWF wrestlers don't practice the really dangerous stunts because the risk of injury is just as high as doing it for real, and training would only double the risk. I can see that same mindset here, if the risk of simulating combat is loosing a limp then you simply don't. You train the basics, you train yourself silly in dealing with circumstances but you leave the high risk situations for the moments that count.
He would know! Dude broke his neck diving off the top rope.
I'm practicing with a tetsubo lately and there's no kind of way to spar with the real thing. You can use foam but you can't get the true weight AND full contact. It's been a tough time for studying the forms of the weapon
That's why many boxers spar with a padded mask. You can't "train" your face to being punched
In Naruto, can you imagine if Rock Lee opened a bunch of the eight gates every time he was training? He'd be in a coma like the whole series.
And that is why everyone back then had Kata even if they had a different name for it.
To avoid miscommunication with a hairstylist always show a picture of what you want and use language like "just an inch shorter here." Never trust that they will just automatically get it because it's their job.
The barber thought he looked like a damned hippy !
lmao took me a few seconds to start chuckling at this
Except no hairstylist can properly eyeball an inch
I tried this once. Took in a picture of myself with about four inches of length on top and walked out with a buzzcut.
For many decades in Southwest Germany between Comercials in TV small cartoon clips with a monkey and a horse appeared. In one Clip the horse was the hairdesser and the monkey the Client. When the hairdesser asked: How shall i cut your hair? The Client answered: 5 cm longer please!
The thing I love most about the Tybalt-Mercutio-Romeo fight in Zefferelli's film version of Romeo and Juliet is that the fight begins as two teenagers showing off with deadly weapons, turns ugly when one of them gets skewered more or less by accident, and devolves into a dusty, brutal brawl and no one wanted and everyone loses. That's one of the most realistic swordfights in film history.
Sounds like a realistic fight between teenagers who are friends too, playing roughhouse that gets out of hand.
It really makes you comprehend how epically talented someone like Miyamoto Musashi was. First kill around 13 years old with no training, he basically picked up a katana and was either going to figure out sword fighting by surviving life and death battles or he was going to die, and instead of dying every battle he survived made him a better swordsman until he was the best in his generation. Such a story sounds unbelievable when you consider how much can go wrong in any given sword fight.
Survivorship bias? Bet he had a big ego thinking it was all about his skill, when in fact he was possibly just lucky. Happens on Wall Street too.
@@raylopez99 idk he killed a lot of guys its safe to say that he was fairly skilled probably one of the best
@@raylopez99 survivorship bias? Funniest thing I read today, thanks.
@@cchavezjr7 You don't believe there's survivorship bias in mortal combat? That's the funniest thing I've read today. The French even have a phrase for it: "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king".
@@raylopez99 I think survivorship bias is definitely not the case with Musashi. He was obviously highly skilled, and you don't face that many fights without being very lucky, but he was very innovative and unorthodox. I agree with Pure Yang's comment, but one thing to point out was he didn't use a katana in that first fight, he used a 6 foot quarterstaff. His opponent was an adult, but equipped with a Wakizashi, which is obviously far shorter. A clever way for a 13 year old boy to approach a duel with a full grown man, as well as surprise attacking the man. Probably his most famous duel, against Sasaki Kojiro, was fought using an unusually long wooden sword (I always believed it had been cut from a wooden oar, but apparently this is disputed, maybe another commenter can clarify for clarity's sake) carved to be just slightly longer than his opponent's unusually long sword. He also kept the sun at his back, and had enraged Kojiro by turning up to the duel hours late (an oft-used tactic by Musashi). He also didn't have a big ego (at least later in life), one of his famous quotes "Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world". I think in his youth there was an arrogance that came from ability, but I'm deriving that from some of his actions, I have no real way of knowing, but later on and from his writings there's humility there.
This puts an interesting perspective on the realistic lightsaber duel that you reviewed. The school taught its students the art of the sword, and they often died repeatedly in their training and testing and thus had to be repaired and revived.
Yes, that would make for excruciating but immensely effective training.
@@Skallagrim As long as it doesn't break you psychologically. Two extremes come to mind for me - the complete disregard for your life when out there in the real world, as dead never mattered in training and the pain becomes almost familiar, its not bothering you long term - in which case you may be very effective at getting both you and your target dead. Or all that pain in the process breaks you first and you just can't face another opponent, the memory of all that trauma is too much.
@@Skallagrim we might be reaching the point where brain-computer interfaces allow that kind of practice to happen with no consequences; so we might be closer than we think to reaching new levels of combat readiness. Being able to practice fighting after getting shot in a safe environment will create some scary soldiers.
@@stamythezombieHow would brain-computer interfaces work in the face of opponents that aim specifically for the brain or computer?
@@johndododoe1411 I was mentioning how you could use the brain-computer interface to practice, not talking about using it in battle; that's a whole difference story. But if you really want to know the answer to your question then you don't have to look much further than what we've been doing for ages in combat. We aim for the head because it controls the body, we protect our head because the opponent also knows this. It wouldn't be that different.
Just the fact that you realize that you're actually fighting for your life puts combat on a whole different plane than any kind of training. Training may make you a swordfighter, only combat makes you a warrior. Great video.
That's good advice for any situation in which you cannot "send back" what you are buying
I would even say that lack of training makes you weaker and more likely to lose your life in combat. That would apply to any kind of combat whether it is sword fight or fighting on modern battlefield within aircraft or other vehicles.
Exactly, trying to fight your opponent by some rules is so much different than fighting your enemy for high stake. It real changes the sparring to war
Hi skalla, there are some direct and indirect references to fencing protection. Rapiers with ballpoints are mentioned by some masters, fencing masks from the 17th and 18th century seem to have survived. Pagano writes in his narration of two people fighting with two handed swords that they had hats that had steel protection underneath them and a spring device that would when being hit release an iron mask to protect the face. There are other more indirect refernces to fencing jackets, some kinds of protections one seem to imply some skullcap as protection underneath a normal hat. Regarding realism, the masters back then knew about the problem, manciolino iirc suggests a tournament system that is more realistic, where being hit punishes you much harder and the hit person is allowed to do one action in form of a ripost. Imo there should be different styles of tournaments with different goals. Another thing would be trying out accurate historical fencingswords and actually only fight with eye protection maybe throat protection and historical rules. So no thrusts and only hits to the head. Interestling enough that changes the whole dynamic of fencing and usage of techniques also it seems the injuries are quite harmless. Some did experiment with that. Should be however noted that with accurate fencing swords many seem to mix up parat swords and real fencing swords. Spinning is only really vialable when being surrounded no matter if rapier or great sword, there are however some smaller late rapier devices that have spinning moves in them. Anyways great topic.
I'm not familiar with fencing masks from the 17th and 18th century, but I do know that, at least in the 17th century where it became fashionable for men to sometimes wear (fabulous) hats in combat, it seems to have been very common for them to wear a skullcap of some kind under the hat, and that's one of those things that can easily be missed when we look back at art because it's basically invisible armour - very similar in fact to how it seems to be the case that mail coifs were almost never worn without a skullcap under the mail, but it's easily missed when looking at art
Yeah there is also something called a head casket iirc that soldiers often wore. Assume thats similar to what we mean. Overall thats a big problem with art. There are often invisible layers of weapons or armor that we can't see but did definitely exist. one example would be the morningstar or types of landsknecht armor that is almost never shown in pictures. The fencing masks i remember were from italy i think they look kinda weird like real masks but with the mouth and the eyes having small protective bars. I also remember an accident where a prince killed another prince by mistake or anger and it was specifically pointed out that it was tragic that they fought without protection unlike they usually did. Was early or high middle age but been a while when i read about that subject. The problem is we wont have many sources about those types of weapons, armor and protective gear simply because it was not worthy to talk about.
@@superrobotmonkeyhyperteamf3194 I cant find the head casket iirc anywhere
I was going to say something dumb. Then I saw your name and you win
@@lfbp7051 There aren't many examples online, it was called Casquet, or in german eisernes Hutkreuz or just Hutkreuz. Sometimes equalled with the Skull cap with the difference that it has iron bars instead of being fully closed. So here and sometimes in old english it seemed to be called casquet or Hutkreuz but in modern english its often called skull cap as well which is imo bit confusing.
Barber might just have trimmed up ol' Skall a century or two. From 950's Shieldzerker to about 1150's Housekarl.
In Malaysia, Indonesia and the Phillipines. It is common for martial art train with weapon. There are some case of fatalities when accident happens. Injuries like cut, losing or damaged a finger is quite common amongst practitioners especially in a traditional training
In the Philippines, we train with sticks. Deadly sticks but just sticks.
@@MarcusConstantine_Cavalida21 yeah i have seen the escrima and kali fighting. We usually use stick that we call “rotan” too. There are multiple variants u can choose which size and length do you want to train with, it give the rough idea of the weapon handling, usually we train with that for regular training but switch it with dummy weapon for hard training because each weapon have different grip and balance that we dont get in simple rotan stick
You get this in the unarmed martial arts as well. Point sparring is the first to come to mind. This can lead to a false conception of ones actual skill level. This is because the "point" can be won with little to no power used in the strike as long as it made some sort of contact with the opponent. I enjoy this topic. Keep'em coming.
It's a little different with swords though. You don't need much power at all to destroy an unarmed target. "Weak" cuts to the hand, neck, head, forearm, wrist, etc are much more martial and valid than you think. What we sometimes consider a "decent" cut is actually enough to completely cleave through someone, which is a good thing, but also not entirely necessary in order to kill or incapacitate someone. And thrusts just work, there's no escaping those.
In other words, we are extremely lucky Musashi died just shorly after (matter of days) after writing his Treatise, although, not quite, as the final parts might have been longer and deeper, but he rushed cuz he knew he was short on life expectancy. Also lucky the manuscriot survived rather wholly - that he wrote while serving someone who happened to be in the end one of the rare lords that managed to keep his Castle, Lands ans Title after the civil war, instead of it burning down to arson/fire or purely being dismantled by order lf the central govt. And also with few alterations or parts whose originality we actually might question.
Off-topic: It's so lovely seeing you walking around in that landscape. I went there on holiday six years ago. Such an amazing place ❤
The landscape is incredible. May I ask which country/region this is?
I haven't got to watching your content in a while and I'm glad im getting into it now, it's nice to see you describe combat scenarios objectively while also giving your opinions on the matter and understand where certain things can be used for exaggerated scenes for fun as well as understanding where the lines can be crossed between practicality and impracticality. You're a fun and insightful man.
Heh, loved the "Fatality!" edit.
I feel like I’m lucky to still be battling, after a poke in the face, gout issues, a hernia, cracked fingers, cracked foot from hacky sacking a steel blade, and growing older, to the most recent issue - a ganglion cyst on the bottom of my foot right under my big toe where the gout flares up… 🤦🏻🤷😂 …and that just from training, health, and age. No where have I suffered actual combat damage. Who knows how far I’d have made it in 1585 without modern surgery and medications on top of actual combat damage, because my bold, beginner charges would likely have left me crippled pretty early! 🤔
I mean, your name is literally Chad my man
@@nahuelmat Mwahahaha!
At 49 I am getting a bit crusty as well. However, my wisdom and Kamae keep getting sharper and more precise
@@arsenelupiniii8040 Wisdom is definitely necessary to keep up with the youth! 😂
Does that necromancer joke qualify as Dead Pan Humor?
Quite the dilemma! Compare Olympic fencing vs. classical fencing vs. actual duels. Likewise in Budo. Kendo is a shadow of Japanese fencing; pre-WWII Kendo (still practiced by Japanese police, and which includes tripping, grappling and disarming) is somewhat closer to Japanese combat reality, but still using shinai (light-weight mock swords made of bamboo slats - early use of wooden swords was tried & quickly abandoned as too injury-prone). We can get close with kenjutsu kata with bokuto (wooden swords) or even metal swords (unsharpenable alloy metal blades, or even shape steel for the more advanced practitioners) are more edgy, but those are just pre-formed forms and not free-form. (And forget the foam boffers of Sports Chambara - quite the joke from the demos that I have seen, but can be somewhat helpful given the proper conditions as supplemental training). The bottom line is that, generally, the safer you make sparring, the further away from actual reality you are. Likewise, we do want our playmates to return to class for the next session.
When things are games/hobbies then they really are not fights. This is a blessing! We live in an age where friends hit eachother with swords! Much better than your enemies hitting you with swords!
There are only 2 people in war. Survivors and the dead.
Sword fighting isn’t war, edgelord
I see the same issue with gunfighting, though at least we can measure our accuracy and time with paper targets and a shot timer. Though force on force training does require simunations and all that.
Gunfighting? like in Equilibrium?
@@Effect-Without-Cause ...it's not necessarily about the fictional gun kata. Literally about any combat with guns.
I recall when I was in the Marines we used that crappy Halo system to shoot lasers and all that but it never really did a good job simulating
And blanks/ simu-nition is a thing.
I like this style of video by the way. Walking through the woods speaking into a mic, perfect way to keep the viewer engaged! I found the surroundings beautiful!
It was indeed stimulating ! I like this kind of content, you rambling while taking a walk in a cool place
One of the best quotes ever in martial arts (and it applies great to weapon fighting as well) cam from (oh, well) Bruce Lee: " I don't fear the man who practiced 10.000 techniques for 1 day. I fear the man who practice 1 technique for 10.000 days".
I really enjoy these rambly videos. They're short but on point and I can do stuff while listening. Also hits home with the saying "fear the old man in a profession where men die young".
Well said. I was trained several years ago, for real sword fighting. You fight to maim or kill, not to make points. There were seldom any predictable movements. Most of the time you were trained to duck and get in that first slice. It wasn't fencing, it was brutality. In exchange, I instructed in the skill of rifles. A long distance form of inflicting pain.
I really like these videos where you are out in nature. Such beautiful scenery.
Another interesting aspect is that HEMA practitioners today also may have fought more opponents and for longer than many of the authors of the original treatises. The safety of equipment today means people can keep doing HEMA for longer than what some of these old masters even lived. Sure, HEMA isn't going to be a good simulation for real life combat, but it's still an interesting point.
My man is hiking through rough terrain and casually talks about sword fighting, gotta love it
dude i absolutely love this new walkabout format you've got going on, your country is super beautiful, hearing about swordy stuff while getting to go on a beautiful walk is next level :)
Just want to say Skall that I like these styles of videos with the ocean background mixed in with video of you test cutting and stuff. Really makes the video more interesting to watch imo
ngl the beard looks quite good in that style. cant wait to see what it looks like when it grows again and maybe get the same trim, but less short haha
"A necromancer is just a healer with poor timing." Now _that's_ a quote for the ages.
Those are some deep, well consideres, and provocative thoughts. This is the first of your videos that I’ve seen and I’m subscribing.👍
Would absolutely love a video about the use of spinning in sword fights and other armed combat (spears, knifes, blunt impact weapons etc)! Great content Skall!
the point about learning from mistakes and real vs practise fighting is immensely important. the value of veteran troops was high, just look at the end of the Roman Republic or post Stalin Russia. a trained and blooded man joining your ranks is usually more valuable than a total amateur and will get a signing bonus or easier promotion as a result.
Emotion has a tendency to make a combatant lose their focus. Be like water and keep the showmanship to a minimum!
for a moment there i was taken aback by skall actually saying "fatality" since i half expect that this video will be demonitized because of it but nah, this is skallagrim.
It's strange to me that KZheadrs feel that they have to be more cautious in what they say than what they put on the screen. I've seen many KZheadrs that will write a word on the screen, but won't say it. I guess KZhead's ability to use AI to review what someone says is more advanced than its ability to read what is on screen.
it's good to see you out hiking, that is a really beautiful landscape friend
Love the walk and talk! Not sure of this is a new format, would appreciate more.
Skall, the stylist was right, you look fucking great like this man!
There is one argument about the historical fighting experience I found out recently that completely flipped my view of how "experienced" those medieval duelists may be. At the very end of the 16th century, Prague had ~60k citizens. Yet in Old Town (one of three city districts), there was a law introduced, allowing fencing tournaments to be held "only on Sundays or Holidays" which means, roughly 110-130 tournaments PER YEAR. The law has many more interesting details but the fact that they had to restrict the tournaments to be "only" every 3rd day or so is insane if you think about it from today's HEMA perspective. If you realize it was one of the most popular free-time activities overall, there were 2 major schools in the town (Marxbrüders and Federfechters) that were attended by many (most?) adult citizens plus traveling professional swordfighters making a living out of prize money... The raw talent pool and skill transfer options were unimaginable from our modern perspective. I think it was more like soccer which every Western kid knows how to play than anything else. And we are still talking about one city of the time only, not a small one but also not a large one by any means.
I haven't seen your videos for a while. I am glad you are back
I just want to say I love your outdoor filming locations.
Not by any means a sword person, just watched by accident! Yeah that was fascinating, a good dose of reality, thank you 👍
I can't remember exactly who it was off the top of my head unfortunately (they might have been a member of the Shinsnegumi) but there was a Japanese swordsman who had been in many real duels and was undefeated and feared. But in duels with practice swords was okay (not bad but not super amazing either). And he had a quote about how fighting with practice swords was just play. Which always struck me as how many factors make fighting with real swords with your life on the line different from practicing
Musashi?
@@Captain_Insano_nomercy definitely sounds like 5 rings
Hey Skall, interesting insights. I like these kind of toned down chill but informative and still fun videos. Very pleasant to watch and listen too. Cool Castlevania merch btw. I really love the Netflix adaptation.
I just want to let you know I really enjoy the hike you went on also. What a nice place. It's the nature of combat, a great fighter can lose to circumstance. Albeit far less likely.
About spinning attacks, it's simple, the back muscles are pretty dense to absorv unarmed blows. However, when weapons are involved, you can be stabbed (or hitten any other way) pretty faster and deadlier than any unarmed blow powerful enough to cause damage or consequences to the fight.
What about a strike to the liver?
@@Nicenigel14 It's not so easy to hit against a spinning target neither faster than a weapon stab. Also, a stab would be pretty deadly, or incapacitating, against any point of the back except for the scapulas.
@@leonardobueno8456 Can only go from what little (4 years) experience I have with primarily unarmed martial arts, but we're always taught that on the more sportive side of things (ie. when we're training/fighting for the sport of it with a set of rules and no real stakes) then some spins and spun kicks are ok and can be useful in certain situations. However, for self-defense or when fighting outside of a controlled environment, kicks and especially spins (at least when not surrounded) are basically a no-go as it leaves one out of balance and exposed to things like being pushed, tripped over by being kicked/taking a knee in the back of the knees/legs or grappling.
I am writing a fantasy story set in the times of the early roman empire revolving around a young germanic warrior noble, who rises to great prominence and power due to his devilish skill with the sword and shield. While writing the very topic of the video popped up in my head. At some point the protagonist contemplates on why he managed to get to that point while so many others didn't, ultimately coming to the conclusion that a lot of it has to do with circumstance and sheer luck, and less with his own outlandish talent, as he was told from early on in life. Being born to a chieftain, therefore having access to both better gear and better training than the vast majority of people. Not to mention actually having the time and energy to train daily under a skilled mentor, without having to work on a field or anything like that. Being lucky enough to survive his first few real battles until his skills properly developed is another thing. He witnessed some of the other boys of his age, close friends to him, being severely injured and/or killed long before they could ever realize their potential. He also trained like a madman of course, but that again is a privilege that comes with being a noble.
Nice! Exercise and chatting about swords! Best of both worlds!
Looking very sharp there man, really like the haircut/trim.
Sorta related to this - I used to play a *lot* of combat flight sims. WW2 era in particular. I have *way* more trigger time (with pretty realistic ballistic models these days) on maneuvering targets than anyone who ever actually flew in combat. I can compare my shooting with actual ww2 gun camera footage and straight up see that I'm just a better shot than the vast majority of those guys where. Any historical person that's got better aim is just a freak of nature (and those do exist). Here's the thing though. I'm not even really all that good compared to a whole lot of the guys out there flying sims right now. Wouldn't be even if I wasn't a bit rusty these days. Just food for thought. Not any kind of criticism of the guys that actually flew those planes. They just didn't have anything even close to a realistic simulator. The closest thing they had was the occasional highly choreographed pass on a towed training target. They definitely didn't get the ability to learn from a fatal mistake either.
My father was a fighter pilot instructor, WW2, Korea, Vietnam. He always said the best training was by doing. In the 1970s and 80s, the best trained pilots in the world were the Israelis. In order to graduate from flight school, their pilots had to engage an enemy aircraft in actual combat and survive. Until they did so, they remained students.
As an infantry combat vet.....i can safely say there is a difference between practice and real combat lol. Unfortunately there is no save scumming or continues....😅
Great video, Skall. Love the nature walks.
I appreciate the whole walking-through-the-woods-while-tirading vibe. You are very reasonably articulate and easy to understand.
Keep the content coming brother
I've been dealing with the same problem in my latest book. A knightly order of sorts who have been patrolling the countryside, keeping the roads safe, but that's pretty much the extent of their combat experience. In order to become proper warriors, people have to go to war. And a proper fighter needs to be in fights. You can train all you want, but the safety net of blunt weapons and controlled environment only gets you so far. If the danger isn't real, how will you react when it finally does become real?
Those are two, or rather three, different things. One is individual combat skill or prowess. This can actually be trained, hence humanities long, long, long history of organised warfare. The second is individual morale. Will you, personally, crap your pants and cry, or keep in the fight. While this is _less_ trainable, it is trainable, and it has been trained by humanity for as long as we have been at war. The third is group cohesion. How likely is your group of fighters to shatter into a collection of individual fighters. This again, is trainable, see any army training manual ever written. The whole "unbloodied troops are unreliable" thing is a bit of a trope, that mostly falls apart under slightly below surface reading. It is untrained troops that are unreliable, but states have found ways around that. Wether any individual warrior performs as well on the battlefield as they do under training conditions is mostly a rounding error on actual battlefield performance. A coherent group of mediocre fighters will beat an incoherent group of individual Rambos almost all the time.
@WebertHest I didn't say they fall apart, please give me some credit. They're OK enough, but if the leadership is inexperienced, things do turn ugly, even for a well-trained unit. The legions ambushed during the Gallic Wars, Valens's disastrous, and final, encounter with the Goths. History is full of such stories.
@@ulfflehmann3759 History is remembered for the exemptions, not the rule, at least by those who only have a diffuse knowledge of it. Rome won the Gallic Wars, because pound-for-pound, its armies were better even if its warriors may not have been. Rome kept the germanic people on the other side of the Limes. We remember when unit cohesion failed, when the enemy, or our forces, routed, because that is the interesting bit. "Troop X advanced in good order, kept their cohesion and won the battle" is less told. And to circle back, your first comment was about *proper warriors*, but your examples are all about *bad leadership*. One is not like the other. Example: Everyone's favourite "proper warriors" are the Spartan hoplites, and the actual war record of Sparta is no better than that of any other big polis, because Spartan leadership (tactical, logistical and strategic) war abjectly terrible.
@@WebertHest in the history of warfare it is well documented that well trained men abandon or forget their training under duress
War with swords would have been feast or famine. If your side won, then you could upgrade to better armor and such, if you lose, then the other side gets all the goodies!
I liked the rambling with the walking in nature, it is a very nice combination! 😊
Nice video, that is something nice to consider when it comes to fencing and its evolution through the years. It also got me thinking about a misconception (largely thanks to movies/games/pop culture in general) and how complete enemy forces annihilation wasnt nearly as common as we have been led to believe. A loss of as "little" as 1/3 of one's forces (for example) is catastrophic, but we're very used to seeing armies obliterated with no hint of survivors, which *did* happen but in few instances throughout history. Would that be video-worthy? I figured it has lots of similarities to what you said about fencing, except in a larger scale, about how unforgiving fights were and how injury, death, and ability to fight is nothing to scoff at. *YOU* have a good one, love your videos
I've heard that in the Middle Ages, the majority of the killings weren't in the battle, but rather in the victors chasing down and killing the people running from the fight.
It amazed me in fencing how many "double hits" happened in epee (rapier). Incredibly more than foil and sabre. In other words, you're both mortally wounded. Interesting technique difference of parry and riposte, versus allowing an attack, hoping you're faster (and being wrong).
Foil or rapier is arguably the sword with the most wins. I love my katana, as long as my opponent is not wielding a foil or rapier. Cutlass seem slow and cumbersome.
Have you ever covered Mensur / Academic fencing? Made me curious due to the topic in this video where they actually are slashing each other in the face.
My condolences to your beard. Great scenery, wish i was there. yeas old warrior syndrom is real. going on 52 now and I am simply broken all over. Thanks for a lovely vid.
Amazing landscape! And reasonable thoughts, too.
many of the same things apply to modern combat. we can get closer to simulating a firefight with the tools we have, but it will never be the same as the real thing
I will say running a shoothouse is probably more practically adjacent for the skills you need and more measurable than wacking a bag or sparring with someone Especially with all the wacky setups in modern matches
Many times it wasn't the best swordsman who won, it was the luckiest. Nobody, regardless of skill, is ever more than one lucky punch or one lucky thrust away from being slain. I heard a martial arts master say once that all it takes is 1/10th of a second to completely undo decades of training and discipline.
Nah usually the better swordsman would win, of course there might be a few cases of absolute noobs beating pros
@@Mcbignuts Yes, in a duel, 95 times out of 100 the better swordsman will win. But remember, you're never more than one lucky thrust away from being buzzard chow. Lefty Gomez said, "It is better to be lucky than good." But always remember that luck is fickle, and can and will change faster than anyone can respond. Also keep in mind Murphy's Law.
This are my favorite kind of videos, a well thought rant while you walk through the wilds. I wish I could go walking into nature like that near home
Cool shot video Skall!!!
Some really good points. I am member of a school teaching german long sword and Joachim Meyer in particular. We train without protection - like they did in the medieval times. For the first year, you are only learning footwork, control, the principal hews and some basic counters. We train this every week until we exactly know how to stand and walk properly and how to dose our speed and force. Controlling the blade and body is the no. 1 priority, because it's the foundation to not hurt each other. And in addition, it build up trust. But it takes a lot of time, dedication, effort and a certain mindset. The payoff is awe inspiring when you see the members, who are close to becoming masters fencing at full speed without protection and the worst injury is a splinter in a foot from the wooden floor.
the same as with every martial art if you were actually fighting for your life you'd fight very differently.
There are some martial arts designed for real self defense, but most are just dance classes with the dangerous premise of acting like they will actually work in self defense.
Yes. Even in tournaments (first to 5 hits so very little room to move around), even the best fencers use a combo of 2, or at most 3 moves. More than that and it becomes super risky.
Like to see you out getting that exercise, my man. 💪 Beautiful scenery.
This video helped me understand something about kenjutsu which has always puzzled me. My understanding is that many (most?) kenjutsu schools place a heavy emphasis on two-person kata drills but little emphasis on free sparring. Given what we now know about developing skill in combatives, this always struck me as odd. Perhaps the answer is this: two person kata were the most effective method of training that didn't bring with it a corresponding high risk of horrific injury or death. Free sparring, even with wooden implements, would have maimed and injured individuals before it developed enough skills. The kata approach may have been much less effective at developing competency, but it allowed people to train consistently and some level of skill before the rest was honed on the battlefield.
It's something I've been lamenting about the "meta" of swordfighting. All that mostly seem to exist are historical martial arts either from the east or the west. The thing is, theres no reason to think those historical martial arts are truly the peak of swordfighting technique and it just can't really be advanced anymore. Looking at MMA especially is really interesting because we can see styles collide and improvements being made and the entire dynamic of what works now is not the same as what worked even 20 years ago, even though historically there was probably more unarmed fighting than armed fighting. Even now, it probably hasn't reached it's peak. Swordfighting just can't go through the same thing because swordfighting is just TOO unsafe to actually practice. The damage and fear are crucial to understanding real swordfighting and it just can't be matched in a sparring setting. My best hope for an eventual swordfighting development is full dive VR, but who knows how far we are from that.
Well... The thing is, that techniques are developed based on the weapons. Since new swords aren't being developed and instead we're getting reproductions of historical designs, there is only so much that can be done technique-wise due to the properties of weapons themselves. (I.e. You're not going to be trying out false edge techniques with a katana because it's a single edged blade...) This is why machete fighting is one of the more modern styles developed due to the how much more prevalent the machete has become in modern day (What with being one of the most practical sword-like items for modern use)
swordfighting probably wont reach any peak because its already obsolete as far as its actual applications. sure tournament fighting will definetly come further than what is today but even that is dubious as best.
I mean, the meta is *thrust*. And that will never change unless your sword is incapable of doing so (so none of the commonly trained weapons). Learning how to nail that aspect in the safest fastest and most recoverable way will carry you.
A thing that you didnt really touch on fully was also even if you were the better swordsman its very possible your opponent could just get lucky and land a fatal strike or you anticipated incorrectly and were punished. So with how reality is for us 1 solid hit makes the whole thing even harder to get truly experienced
A superior boxer most likely can't be hit by a significantly less skilled one. Lucky hits are possible but not likely when you really want to avoid them. I think a skilled sword fighter could easily kill dozens of untrained opponents without a scratch. Otherwise training and technique wouldn't make any sense if the chaos factor was that decisive.
@@SxSxG666 No. When I first started HEMA, I doubled much better fencers a lot because I had no regard for my own safety. The result was usually I got wacked on the head, they took a body hit. If it was a real duel, I was surely dead, but the much better fencer would still be seriously injured and still dead soon.
@@dxq3647 Okay interesting. But I think that you generally fight a lot more risky in sports then in a real combat situation.
@@SxSxG666 Well, no. If you were cornered and had to use a sword you didnt know to defend yourself, would you play a fencing game you don't even know how to start or go for random attacks and hope you take down the enemy with you?
At least your beard still looks good this way. You make an excellent and very important point about the likelihood of being taken out of the game before you can even get good at it, and about it not being a certainty. I would love to see a video (or series of videos) about techniques for fighting multiple opponents as successfully as possible; I know the subject has been touched on in several videos, like the one about the dual-wielded spears in Wheel of Time, but I'd love to learn more about viable tactics.
Obviously the best technique for multiple opponents is fast legs.
Love the backdrop. Beautiful area. It really doesn't matter what you pontificate about, or for how long. If you're out there, I'm watching it.
Playing chivalry I think the same thing. I'm truly a force of nature now but it took me 20,000 deaths to get there. How do people get good at this when you can only die 1 time?
A little bit survival of fittest, but mostly survival of the luckiest.
Oof 😂
Loved this style of video!
Nice talk, nice view and the landscabe is also nice in this video
Don't cha love it when a guy who's never been in a fight tries to lecture you about fighting.. lol
haha true
he'd murder you, he weighs like 250 lbs or something
@@RealRonThousand shut up skall would have a panic attack as soon as voices are raised
@@Bearkronischsmellsbad1982 no it's not a point it's a fallacy. I did not go into space to see if the earth is round, yet I know it is. By the logic of clever boy neon peon, I shouldn't believe the earth is round because Ive never experienced it, like Skall never experienced combat
@@tenhayz1889 haha nice pseudo scientific theory, the roundness of the earth is easily observable without going into space, even the Romans knew that. anyway because Skall's never fought anyone in anger we have to rely on observations about his person, look at his temperament, physicality and experience.. all severely lacking, defiantly not someone who should be listened to regarding self defence.
Skall's backrounds are always top tier, Canada is a beautiful place
The background to this video is really pretty, those shots of the sea (or lake, i don't know) look beautiful
That's quite a relaxing scenery you are walking around.
The fatality was good editing lol two thumbs up!
Very stimulating video!
@Skallagrim I like the idea of a video discussing when *spin* attacks work in swordfighting, but I actually think it'd be a good idea to go a step *further* than that and make a video talking about when *lots* of different flashy techniques actually work in swordfighting and armed combat in *general* . I can think of *two* more scenarios in which a spin attack would be advantageous; one you mentioned in an *older* video, doing it as a sidestepping dodge and counter technique, or using it as a means for a short weapon and shield fighter or a duel wielder to close in on an opponent with a *longer* weapon. In the *latter* case, they'd go into the spin using their offhand implement to knock their opponents weapon outta the way and then quickly spin in too close for them to swing their bigger weapon; and in *both* cases, they'd attack with their weapon while they were *still* spinning to add the spins momentum to that of their attack, allowing it to hit even *harder* . *Another* flashy technique I can see working is the *jump* attack; if your opponent went for your *legs* , you could *jump* over the attack to *dodge* it, drawing your lower legs up underneath you to make absolutely *sure* they didn't get hit, and bring your *own* weapon down onto your now open opponent while you're falling, adding the momentum of the fall to the momentum of the attack to compensate for your lack of a kinetic chain due to being in the air instead of on the ground. And finally, there's *kicks* ; it might not seem like a good idea to kick in an armed fight, but there's some times where it'd actually give you an advantage; on Hurstwick, I read about a scene in the Sagas in which one Norsemen kicked the bottom of his opponents *shield* to knock the *top* of his shield into his *jaw* . In most cases, it probably *wouldn't* do the kind of damage it's described as doing in the Saga in question; what it *would* do however, is *stun* your opponent for a split second, which in a life or death armed fight, can make all the difference. And let's not forget, if there's a decently high *ledge* or decently deep *water* , you can potentially end the fight by kicking them *over* the edge, or *ringing them out* to put it in terms Soulcalibur players will understand. When it comes to life or death fights of *any* kind, but especially *armed* ones, people are gonna do whatever they think will help them *win* , and if that happens to be some flashy technique, then that's what they're gonna do; that's why I honestly believe *real* historical combat was somewhere *in between* the two extremes of the extreme down to Earthedness of Hellish Quart, and the flashy anime spectacle fighting of Soulcalibur. I hope you find that interesting, and consider my suggestion.
Damn, I didn't manage to listen you properly, due to absolutely fantastic landscape on the background. I had to leave my homecountry, so such beautifull northern-sea-like landscapes of stones, heathers, moss, pines, spruces and of course the majestic sea are (I hope just for a while, but still not sure) unavailable to me. I miss them, so I was absolutely mezmerized with the view. Maybe I will be able to listen your talk on the second watching, but I'm not quite sure...
I just peruse your vids from time to time. You're hair looks good at that length bro. Is your approach anthropological? I love the perspective, compare and contrast between now and history. Keep going!
I like this. Getting to see the scenery and quite an interesting point
Wow that ocean view was breathtaking. You where talking about some serious stuff but i was just lost watching the nature and the sea.
Short beard looks good bro! I bet it's feeling nice and cool, just in time for the summer.
I thought this was an interesting topic that I never considered. I do appreciate the ramble videos personally. Like having a conversation.
A nice dose of reality i would say it came at a good time i was thinking how would someone become a master duelist ? Does he fight in an actual war ? How does one train ? How does one spar ? And why would someone be willing to risk so much for such a little chance if success ? Are they fools or are they desperate ? And how well were ancient warriors at fighting say Achilles was he just a great duelist and soldier or was he someone who just lived long enough to be respected ? I read something along the lines of myamoto musahi's advice that being a great swordsman is not focusing about killing your opponet but about not forcing it i believe It really makes you think and ask questions that you are sure will not be answered I really hope to see longer videos like this i enjoy this random videos of rambling i could watch it for hours at a time hope you make more of these
Very beautiful scenery
Whoa! :O Your good at those swings!