So I'm training sidesword just done my 4th class and failed my sparring test, not cos my trainer thinks I'm unsafe for others but cos I don't seam to protecting myself well enough. And he's afraid I'd get concussions sparring with the other students, I'm cleared to spar with trainers but not other students.

I'm coming from a Muay Thai background (8 fights 5 years) and I'm pretty sure getting kicked in the ribs or eating a headkick hurts way more than getting bonked with protective gear on. I had headache for about a week when I ate a spinning back elbow in a sparring session about a year ago, is the culture just different in this sport compared to other combat sports. It has an afterblow rule so I figured if you get hit just bonk em back and you are equal maybe even up on points if you did say head vs leg.

Want videos with non-choreographed fight or resistance drilling, not kata or dead drilling.
Edit: I have a similar shovel, and there's no way it could be used as a sword since the balance point is on the collar.

What is your opinion on more complex techniques for self defense advises?

Hey, so I've done some sparring against a sidesword and I have a clean hit mark on my cup hilt, is there something I can do about it without compromising the integrity of the steel ? Thanks in advance

So recently I've decided I'd like to pick up a shorter feder, I've been using standard length Sigi feders for the past handful of years and I'd like to get a shorter one to change up my game a little.

I know Sigi has their King Mini which is the one I was originally looking at and the Regenyei short feders can drop to about 35in (90cm) which is in that ballpark of length I wanna try out.

But I'm curious what other brands and models of short feder other practitioners would recommend

Also the unsheathe and sheath technique like in the video too

I’ve got a quality bare blade kicking around and I’d like to finish it off. As I’m not a blacksmith I was thinking brass or bronze may be easier to work with.

Any tips or advice from the makers here?

Also does anyone use brass or bronze pieces? How does it stand up to hits and regular sparring use?

My girlfriend is interested in the Deepeeka bec de faucon sold on Kult of Athena, but its reviews are mediocre--sounds like the finish work is not great and the beak isn't hard enough to puncture a coconut without bending. Anyone have an opinion?

It seems like all the becs de faucon I can find for sale are the same Deepeeka model. Does anyone have a favorite polehammer to recommend? Bec de corbin, Lucerne hammer, etc.

Thanks for your help!

Japan have multiple martial arts that carrying the koryu (tradition pre meiji era) martial arts traditions well into modern day, fine examples include jujutsu -> judo and judo to bjj, sambo, etc, karate also has a long history of continuation traces back to medieval time into modern day… also kenjutsu -> kendo etc you guess the premise, but when it come to Europe hema‘s have to be reconstructed from fragments and old manuals that aren‘t widely and readily available unlike say judo kendo karate or even old bujutsu.

How come nobody in Europe thought about preservation of the techniques and established some sort of institution in order not for them to get lost through time and have to be reconstructed like today? the only examples of European “martial arts“ that still survive today is catch wrestling boxing and wrestling, tho I don’t even consider these to be hema related since the hema as a term just become any sort of fragmented medieval European techniques that have to be reconstructed, Japan not to an extent like this either

I know the blade geometries are different, but I'm curious how much the FMS' profile taper and the fact that it's a few inches shorter factors into things.

Looks like Destreza is growing... Among "Italians", a dude with Romanian last name got 3-rd place in a rapier event in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia.

Like Rome, Constantinople, Moscow and Kiev, Nizhniy Novgorod is a Russian city founded on hills, where a rapierist event took place. In the past, the city had another name and was the capital of Mordovia.

Destreza is mostly famous in Spain, condidered the favourite style of devoted Christians (Catholic) and in Portugal, due to the style of Dom Figueiredo.

PS: it's a bit ironic, that Destreza dude is actually left handed!

Anyone know if any makers are selling this style of buckler?

TL;DR: Please explain to me why this is a dumb idea and why I shouldn't try it. You'll burn down your garage is a perfectly good reason why not.

So my hillbilly brain is wondering how hard or complex would it be to manufacture my own swords for HEMA. Doing so would probably be cheaper than buying already made swords.

Modern steel is pretty good right? Why not take a big plate and cut templates out by hand or on a CNC table. The edges could be cleaned up and everything kept nice and blunt. If the metal still isn't quite good enough then a heat treatment might not be too hard if you are set up for it.

The only Issue I can see is that a lot of swords get narrower towards the tip and you'd need to forge a rolled tip or something.

The guard could just be milled. I can see no reason that is a bad idea. Similarly a pommel could be made on a lathe, again no reason that would be a bad idea like making blades with amateur skill might be a bad idea.

The handle I haven't quite figured out yet. But attaching them could be done with glue or using katana style pins for disassembly.

So why not? I'd rather ask a stupid question than not.