I was in front of the sound tower and it was a fair old sight from there. I thought this year from Richard was one of his best.

We were always back from the tower but to the left, haven't been for years as ticket prices shot up drastically, as a kid I used to be up the back playing with the games ect, do they still have all that now?

It's a big thick stick with a spike on the tip. Doesn't look too nice, but you definitely don't wanna be on the business end of one.

A heavy weapon which requires a proper swing to do damage requires a wind up and a telegraph means it's also very easy to avoid in a 1v1 situation. Avoiding a wild swing means the attacker is off balance and easy to counter. Swing wild like you mentioned and you're dead pretty much immediately in a big battle, spears, pikes, pole arms from various angles all able to wound you the second they see you unable to guard against them. Knocking an enemies weapon away and off balance with small hits is a great way to create the opened guard so you can hit them properly as is provoking the enemy to take a proper swing at you, it also allows you to keep your guard ready because your not over committing. What you see here is a bit of that going on.

It probably went the same way but a bit faster back then. The point was never to kill the other guy asap, but to kill him while getting hurt as little as possible.

I imagine to not enjoy the rest of the event with broken bones... The group fights (bohurt) are rather intense.

There was another reason for it to look bulky, especially across the torso. Breastplate was shaped a little like a ships prow to get more stiffness and deflect blows. Also there is padded undergarment under the armour with fixing straps to distribute the weight properly and avoid chafing.

Because the armour they are wearing is bought off the rack, instead of tailored to the wearer. A breastplate needs to bend at the height of the natural waist, so that it (the waist) supports it. What is happening due to the breastplate being so flat (especially with the fighter on the left) is that all the weight is carried by the shoulders, which is very uncomfortable. A historically inaccurate depiction of medieval armour.

Some reenactors are bulky and oversized.

@ringadingding7667 Medieval armour was not as bulky

Muhammad married a 6yo

They aren't real knights, bro! They are just fat dudes who used to play WoW but now make $$$ in the office and decided to blow a paycheck on custom made replicas!

They weren't "properly" fighting, probably had some sort of structure as in a proper fight the visor would be down and thrusting wouldn't be allowed because it's really dangerous even with blunted weapons, so my guess is it was a structured demo of sorts.

There is a spike or sometimes a pommel on the other side.

Sorry to bust ur comment but wouldn't it be swords

YeetusYeezes Mcfly No swords take way more work to produce than let’s say a spear. You could make an argument for club like weapons or projectiles.

@@kasta669 Fair point

@@yeetusyeezesmcfly366 for formation warfare spears and related polearms are the most used weapons since men in formations can support each other, either in front or besides him.

But enthusiasts also have a tendency to hypercorrect, saying things like: "The sword was not a battlefield weapon, especially during the Middle Ages." I am sorry, but the sources from the High Middle Ages talk about the sword being used A LOT by knights. Of course, lances were used at the start of an engagement but almost invariably the knights would switch to swords (and indeed daggers), as their lances became broken, lost or they became too hemmed in to use them. Then further on they might get fresh lances, but before that they would still have to fight with swords for quite a while, generally. So swords were DEFINITELY battlefield weapons. And let me reiterate: this is not idle speculation from my part, but the way the high medieval sources actually describe it. Not just a singular source I just have happened to have read either: I have read quite a few by now, from detailed first hand eyewitness descriptions to more overview-type ones by chroniclers, and I even complemented with the fictional tales of that time, such as the Arthurian legends. They all follow the same pattern in this regard. One thing which does bother me is that depictions of knights fighting on foot during the High Middle Ages almost always show them using swords from the get-go, even fairly realistic medieval video games. But dismounted knights during the High Middle Ages are very often described as fighting in a phalanx formation with their lances, but for some reason the concept of High Medieval knights fighting in a phalanx formation with lances is just too weird for the popular imagination?

Meme Destroyer tailored armour is extremely expensive while munitions armour is cheaper. Most reenactors might not be able to afford a suit of full tailored plate (you’re looking at about 2 grand upwards depending, on if you want English, Italian or Germanic style armour).

TBF, armor that's been properly fitted to your form probably was something only the nobility could afford Most guards and rank-and-file probably wore something like this

Also, even if they could afford to own good armor they probably don't want it to be used, bashed and abused

Then of course the reenactor has to stay consistent with body shape if tailored. So there is that problem as well. I mean where are they going to get a breast plate stretcher from? jk

@@munchinondat4321It’s to help you survive IF that stuff happens. Blocking and dodging is ideal to taking hits if you can help it

Oreally V E R S A T I L E

you can use the back end and even the wood shaft itself.

ADMORTEM

@@aguspuig6615 INIMICUS

that’s the point…. blade , hammer, whatever