Brawling in a Party room with Rapier, Smallsword & Sabre

Selected bouts between Nick, Mike, Jake and Dave of the AHF. Dave and Jake have sabre and longsword experience but are beginners to rapier, hence their rapier fights mixing more sabre style in.
Also sxcuse Dave's jeans, he forgot some of his kit! Weapons used are Hanwei Practical 43" rapiers, Hanwei Hutton sabres, Hanwei Fencing Court Sword and Sport 7 French Smallsword.
This training was done to multiple hits where neccessary.

[@thelonerider9693]

"Sir, the banquet room will be ready as soon as one man slays the other..."

[@Ianflaer]

good show guys, this was a lot of fun to watch. I especially liked the bits with the sword grabbing and my favorite sword move known by the medieval masters as "kick a chair at him!" good stuff here thanks for posting it.

[@TemplarKnight65]

Thank you and Dwilson1282 so much for that. ive been doing historical and modern fencing for over a year now and (if you didnt know), here in southern america theres really not much interests in that kind of stuff so its hard to find the proper equipment for it. Thanks again

[@jojitsu5620]

This is the greatest thing I have ever seen. Period....

[@imakez4u]

I love the video.... I especially LOVE ALL THE HACKING AND SLASHING !!!!!!!!!! The music is FUN !! and the obvious fun these two had fencing each other is great too..... MORE Videos please !

[@FoolingWithFuhlen]

my goodness you guys are quick with those smallswords o.0 frightening.

[@Nikos3000]

As Dwilson said, those have been my two recommended suppliers for a while. The Hanwei 43" practical has been a very solid and cheap option for a while, unfortunately the prices have almost doubled recently. For the best value for money I'd get the Darkwood, thw cheapest economy hilt if need be, the Darkwood rapier blades are excellent. We use both the bated and practice blades in the club, I personally love the 45" practice blade and have it on a custom Darkwood recurved quillion hilt.

[@Nikos3000]

@jagerma5ter Rapiers are Hanwei practical 43's, sabres and Hanwei Hutton, Smallswords are Hanwei Scottish courtsword and a Sport 7 smallsword. Essentially these are the entry level training weapons, we also use a lot of Darkwood rapiers which are a lot better, but a lot more expensive, and longer, heavier sabres sourced from Austria.

[@Nikos3000]

@kit40 Thanks a lot. Most if not all of the fighting done with rapiers in this particular clip is done by two of our guys with near to no rapier knowledge. They had just bought their rapiers and wanted to simply have a bash, they are longsword practitioners with some sabre experience. I didn't mind that this presented a ruffians manner of rapier fight because it fitted the scenario quite well. If you want to see some of our typical rapier stuff check out some of my other vids.

[@Nikos3000]

@jagerma5ter Yeh Darkwood are excellent but the Hanwei 43 is a bargain, most of our members use them. I would recommend putting a heaiver pommel on though, we use the Hanwei sidesword pommels. I wouldn't worry about target thrusting, that accuracy is best practiced with an opponent using a blunt. The hanwei model has a nail head as standard, so cannot be fifted with a tip.

[@PandemicalShade]

This was fantastic!!!

[@Nikos3000]

@jagerma5ter They are in Conwy, best thing is to give them a call or email, sure they will have some in stock, they were very cheap, they will only fit non button tipped rapiers of course. Our two clubs are in Caerleon, near Newport, and in Bristol. I have been meaning to get more vids done for a while, I will do my best to get many more done soon.

[@Nikos3000]

@jagerma5ter The Torino is in their collectors range are is therefore a sharp, so you will have to blunt it or buy the blunt blade for it. Trouble is, both the sharp and blunt blades for them are too short and light to accurately represent most original rapiers, hence why I recommend people use either the Hanwei practical 43, or Darkwood with a 42" blade. As for tips, Darkwood sell packs of rubber tips, though they don't last as long as you would like, Knight Shop sell ones which I am testing.

[@levifontaine8186]

The smallsword fight at 2:13 was the best. It even coordinated well with the music.

[@macmac1022]

OH HELL YA, that was a good bout.

[@SawyerFreschi]

shut up

[@Nikos3000]

Thanks, we got some good use out of it, but I think anymore than that would have made us a little unpopular with the organizers, it being freshly set up for a party and all :-)

[@newschoololdschool]

You guys should do this again.

[@Nikos3000]

It's best not to. The rapier weighs three times as much or more than a fencing foil or sabre, as well as being much longer and with a different grip. Foil and sabre are also parry riposte weapons, as opposed to the single time prinicpals of the rapier. The foil/epee more accurately represent the later smallsword.

[@kit40]

Nice fencing guys, looks like fun. First of all let me just say that I'm not one of those armchair swordsmen that loves to criticize others fencing from the safety of his dorito stained rolling chair. I noticed that there were a great many percussive actions in the rapier bouts and was just wondering what texts you used to inspire those actions. PS, loved the fisticuffs coming into the sabre play.

[@Nikos3000]

Rapier is almost always punishing on the wrist due to the extended guards and heavy weight. Foil also use quarta for parrying on both lines when that is often not safe or sensible with a rapier. The manner in how sport sabre cuts made are also not effective with rapier (needing more power and speed through moulinets). And without all the extra flavour of the rapier system it would be a bit pointless. Knowledge of foil is a great foundation for rapier though.

[@julianbushelli1331]

What in the world are these people doing with their smallswords!?!?!

[@kit40]

@Nikos3000 Thanks, I'll have to scope out some of those other videos. As to the jeans, that happens at times. I've fought a few bouts in wranglers myself! haha.

[@Nikos3000]

@jagerma5ter Not sure they are on their website, I bought them in person, best to email and ask them. They are red rubber rapier tips. The reason I stopped doing continuous high speed stuff is that whilst entertaining, a lot of people complained it was hard to see what was going on, hence why I now use slow mo replays with descriptions.

[@Nikos3000]

@jagerma5ter No worries. I already have the tips from the Knightshop, but only time will tell how they hold up, seem good so far though.

[@oliverknight7981]

What small swords are being used? I'd like to get into small sword fencing, and I'd acquire my own sword but I'm having a hard time finding a small sword suitable for sparring that won't put a hole through my wallet.

[@michaelroth8459]

I now zenwarrior actually has some good court sounds.

[@jagerma5ter]

@Nikos3000 Cool thanks, I know about darkwood they are nice but out if my price range. Can you get protective caps to fit on the end of a live blade?I think Ive seen them, that way you can use one rapier for fencing and target thrusting, buy just taking the cap off instead of using two rapiers, or replacing the blade with a practical and vise versa all the time. Ive seen people use corks but I'd want something a bit..... better....

[@stepover12]

Damn! Holywood fights need to be like this. still too much slashing with smallswords though :p

[@jagerma5ter]

@Nikos3000 I had a quick look for them and couldn't find them on knightshop, have you got a link? by the way you should do more vids like this, just long bouts of high speed sparring is very fun to watch. good vid!

[@jagerma5ter]

@Nikos3000 ah thanks very much, you've been very helpful, can you let me know what they're like when you find out? cheers!

[@jagerma5ter]

@Nikos3000 Is that how you learned? I'll have a look for that DVD. can you recommend any books, you seem to like capo ferro, any others? do you know anything about destreza? spanish fencing?

[@TemplarKnight65]

Awesome sword fighting from everyone in the video! i want a usable rapier so freaking bad but its too hard to find any where i come from, theyre all just for display which is very STUPID!!!! D:

[@jagerma5ter]

@Nikos3000 HEMA? sorry I don't know what that is. I don't have the funds or the know how to start a group yet I'm afraid. I have't seen all of your vids yet, do you do instructional videos for the longsword stuff? If you do where do you recommend I start? If you don't, are you going to? Would be cool!

[@jagerma5ter]

@Nikos3000 thanks for the advise, its actually for a friend of mine who want's a hanwei torino rapier, I'll let him know, but do you know about the caps? or where to get them? cheers.

[@MichaelGThomas]

It would be nice to be let back for further training :-)

[@Nikos3000]

@jagerma5ter Ok. The hanwei hand and a half is a damn good sword for the money, not by any means perfect, but nothing comes close to it for value. I honestly cannot think of any clubs near you accept the Aisle'o'var backswording club, but that doesn't seem to fit what your after. Ultimately it is often the case that when you cannot find a HEMA group you merely have to start your own, and develop and learn in a study group.

[@Alemag_]

nikos, can you tell me the name of the song? thanks. also, waiting for a new great video.

[@Nikos3000]

@jagerma5ter Historical European martial arts. Money can certainly be an obstacle, but know how isn't, there are no living traditions, every HEMA practitioner has to start from a foundation of research from manuals, unless they have somone experienced in this way to teach them. No longsword training vids, probably won't do any, simply don't have the time, get the agilitas longsword DVD, their stuff it excellent.

[@epic0wnag]

quick question. How would a rapier match up against a small sword? does the reach of the rapier effectively counter the speed of the small sword?

[@Nikos3000]

Though I have never filmed this scenario, I have tried it against a range of good smallsword fencers in both tournament and friendly sparring scenarios. I have also watched plenty of others try the same thing. The rapier has always had a substantial advantage. It is much like facing a spear with a sword, the only chance the smallsword has is to rush/close, and providing the rapier user knows to not offer the point, they have a major advantage. Several good smallsword fencers have debated this with me and put it to the test, and rapier has always won.

[@jagerma5ter]

Hi what models are used here for each type?

[@jagerma5ter]

@Nikos3000 ok I'll let my friend know, I haven't got a rapier yet. I have a hanwei practical hand and a half sword, but there are no decent sword clubs near me, at least not that I know of, I'm in luton. There's a fencing club near, but it's just sport fencing using foils epees and sabres. Nothing to do with rapiers or daggers or more typical medieval style swords.... It's annoying!!! Do you happen to know of any in bedfordshire or nearby?...............I can't drive yet though........

[@londiniumarmoury7037]

What Anime is this.

[@jagerma5ter]

@Nikos3000 where are they based? are you in bristol? I figured that was the reason for the other vids, still you should do some anyway HINT HINT! I mean there's plenty to learn from in your other vids anyway.

[@Dwilson1282]

darkwood armory . com, my friend. or Hanwei.