First-person POV "bear pit" sparring (singlestick, dussack, rapier)

[@LaughingOwlKiller]

My compliments to the instructor. Even to my amateurish eyes I could see he fought everyone on a level they could reach without mollycoddling them. I have seen some instructors who seem to delight in beating their students just to show that they can. Very lucky Skall to have found a competent place in which to train.

[@Skallagrim]

LaughingOwlKiller Yep, Erik is an awesome instructor.

[@MoviMakr]

LaughingOwlKiller That is a good trait for an instructor of anything. Offering a student an amount of challenge which they can handle and which allows for growth.

[@MisterBones2910]

One day Skall has to cut one of these with Call of Duty hitmarkers with the sound effect instead of the red ellipses. No explanation in the description, just cowadoody hitmarkers.

[@Danto-115]

agreed

[@MisterBones2910]

Fenryr 3001 But with the little "you're hitting a shield" icon below it.

[@MatthiasPendragon]

It's really cool to see the variety of people at this place. Men, women, bigger people, smaller people, tall and short and some more physically fit than others. Different levels of skill and experience all over the place, but everyone having fun and learning together. I hope that when I eventually visit my local HEMA group they have as wide a range as this group seems to have, it would make it slightly less intimidating.

[@laskie8361]

***** If they stay there long, they might get fit and win more. It's hard to judge them if we don't know how long they've been there.

[@Theivv]

***** I think it is cool they are doing something. It is a sad thing when people who are overweight do not become active because they scared of being ridiculed for their present state of being. I have seen many people go from being "Whales" and fat guys (as I know Whale is a rude term for overweight women) to not being in my Dojo and practice.

[@Krndancedance]

+Pendragon I took boxing classes, and martial arts in general is for big and small, man and woman, short and tall all learing to together and trying to help each other and whatever the form it's a wonder sport for everyone.

[@Theivv]

Not all martial arts are sport. Additionally the goal of most martial art is to help a smaller opponent defeat a larger one. I appreciate your general description, but I wanted to add those two caveats.

[@FluXxxie]

I think that the whole point is to improve. and if you're the most skilled guy there, it's not much of a point...

[@Judicial78]

I would rock all of them - guy at home

[@h3lblad3]

I couldn't do any of this, having never done it before. But having watched some of them, I'm pretty sure the whole group of learners is really bad about overextending. When the opponent grabs your sword hand, I feel like something has gone wrong.

[@Ryjalon3000]

You couldn't move fast enough.

[@teh_reel_nb5632]

MaatiMovie HEMA Historical European Martial Arts No katanas allowed pls

[@Chroma710]

Sounds kinky

[@liammontgomery7617]

wow batman vs superman wasn't as epic as I thought it would be

[@RoadrunnerMoose]

The swords must've been made of kryptonite :P

[@Krndancedance]

+liam montgomery It was DC what are you going to do...

[@yagoosheart1859]

Wasint lol

[@reedolfkekler7860]

Everybody commenting on the boob armor , but nobody commenting on the severe lack of manboob armor

[@spanishinquisition7623]

It honestly triggers me.

[@reedolfkekler7860]

Spanish Inquisition I know right ?

[@spanishinquisition7623]

***** Funny and original!

[@historicalsignificance4183]

Oh my god xD

[@mcknightsnow]

Boobs must be protected it is a important subject.

[@thatoneguy975]

When i saw that one person go in for a thrust and their sword was grabbed, i just thought "and it was as this moment, he knew. He f**ked up"

[@MofOptics]

for those hit indicators, you should use call of duty hit markers, that would be fucking hilarious.

[@SneekiCubone]

No....just no

[@ProjectLEDls]

pls smally skally

[@kevinbonet7783]

Yeeeees

[@JurassicDavidy]

Full-time Penguin Yes, please!

[@Bluelyre]

***** probably not. Seen smash4 and dark souls players put them in their videos

[@TemenosL]

Awesome video. (: Thank you, Skall. No worries about not being *in* the video itself, I hope you recover quickly. That's far more important. And happy birthday Erik! Long live HEMA!

[@erikbailey2525]

Janas Aurora Thanks!

[@Cysubtor_8vb]

Know this is a few years old now, it's nice to see a POV of rapier sparring! I've seen a few of sabre and longsword, but it's interesting looking down that long blade with the rapid disengagements and maneuvering for control of the center line.

[@6slade]

I had not realized how awesome even watching sparring was until I found this channel, it's making me want to take the years to learn a weapon-based martial art. Keep it up Skallagrim!

[@darththork99]

That friggin knee. I hope for the best sometime soon.

[@Skallagrim]

***** Me too. 4 months and still problems... that's not good.

[@choklatecheeseburger]

***** Skall i tore mr MCL and was out for 8 months. Recovery can take awhile, but I'm sure you'll be fine relatively son enough!

[@anakinsaephanh2134]

***** That'd better not be a sign of a disease. Well, life tends to take down the 'good' people earlier, superstitions will always be superstition, and it'd better not be true.

[@DistendedPerinium]

***** Knee injuries can take quite some time to recover from. The knee is a tough joint and resists injury rather well for what it is, but the trade off is when you do fuck it up, it stays that way for a while.

[@Jesses001]

***** A spring powered hinged brace might help. I mean, I know it might not be fashionable, but hey, maybe you can make a bit of steam-punk look out of it, ha.

[@ProjectLEDls]

So many fine grills with swords, I approve.

[@angolin9352]

Kelly Smith Wanna rephrase that?

[@HamsterPants522]

Angolin I think it's phrased rather nicely.

[@Elitecommander0]

Kelly Smith fat grills

[@Blueswailer]

Kelly Smith Yes, that can be titillating at times. I recently saw a BBQ pit with a halberd. It instantly made me want to roast a whole animal whilst fighting in a pole arm formation.

[@angolin9352]

HamsterPants522 I think we all learned a little too much about you today.

[@Briare0s_]

02:43 i just hear Skall say "get 'em"

[@confucheese]

You can tell he went easy on quite a few of them.

[@erikbailey2525]

Frederick Abel They're all my students, and are of varying levels, but mainly I was trying to conserve as much energy as possible. Fighting 50 fights in a row is hard! :p

[@ScopedNightmare]

I enjoy a lot of the first person videos you put up. The perspective really helps me determine what I would have done in that situation and gives me a better view of what is going on. More first person sparring would be awesome, and thank you for all your videos; You rock!

[@DevanTheRat]

Darn, I finally get to do some sparring and it doesn't end up in the video -_-

[@Bebolife12345]

Cara the Rat did you get stomped?

[@Chroma710]

Devan? When’d you change your channel’s name Cara? Who is this Devan charecter? Perhaps you fursona?

[@mrborn2drink]

really love these indicators, it's so hard to see without. all other sparring video's should take note

[@TatooineWindAndFire]

I do enjoy watching the slightly different styles of rapier fighting you get between different groups.

[@Stangil1]

You should do a video on how plastic arm/shin guards would fair against a sharpened sword.

[@Skallagrim]

Stangil1 That's an interesting idea.

[@peternystrom921]

***** Mad Max Rubber Armor vs Sword and Bullets :)

[@thearmoredidiot4828]

5:06 Superman vs. Batman is looking great.

[@1999Robur]

Happy birthday Erik, must have been quite exhausting! As for Skall, I really hope your knee will fair a bit better in the not-so-distant future! Regardless, thank you for sharing, I think bear-pit is a fantastic name!

[@matteblack5805]

Batman V Superman (5:05) looks like I don't have to watch the movie to see who won.

[@fleimlehner]

A suggestion for the next bear pit. The people facing the one with the birthday should get to choose their favourite weapon so the person with the birthday is always switching weapons.

[@alexanderscape1]

never stop making vids even if u die get a automated sparing future robot to post more vids thx

[@Skallagrim]

alex v Okay. :)

[@Henryairsoft2]

I have no idea what sport exactly this is or how I stumbled upon this channel, but it's fun and satisfying to see.

[@HoundXXII]

hey skall, can you make more sparring videos? they are super awesome, and I haven't found any with the quality and skill you and your class bring to it.

[@Fidgety_fugu]

2:10 She's damn fast :D (Also happy birthday Erik!)

[@bumpadump6992]

Hello I am a long time watcher of your videos and I must say I completely enjoy every second of them. Also because of your sword fighting videos I learned so much and I actually was appointed by my friends to be their blade trainer I am no master so I teach them what I learn so thank you so much for your videos never stop making them

[@BRAgamer]

The ranks are sure being filled, your HEMA group is looking great.

[@benmasta5814]

this music is so jokes, its like you are in a monster fight in an turn based rpg.

[@MrBloodyBat]

These are awesome! It's amazing to see you guys train in this fashion! Keep 'em coming, Skall, PLEASE :D

[@petertimowreef9085]

Imagine this, you're on the battlefield and suddenly this huge armour clad fat lady starts walking up to you swinging her sword with a speed, accuracy and finesse you never ever expected from something so large. Impressive.

[@Mathignihilcehk]

The rapier cam looked terrorfying. The other sword-fighting looked cool, and fun, but those rapiers... I practically diverted my eyes. I can't imagine the terror of being there, sparring, let alone actually fighting to the death.

[@spacesandshark2418]

Hey Skall, since there's already footage from two different angles, you could show the one from the side in the corner of the screen. The first person camera is awesome, but we can't see how he moves in it.

[@amitabhakusari2304]

A green screen, a cgi background, some edits and this would be the most epic one vs many battle scene in Hollywood.

[@Alistarwormwood]

the music makes it way more glorious

[@noelseno5218]

The rapier fight was much more different than I imagined... I thought it would be more of a back and forth exchange with both parties parrying until one exposes an opening rather than clashing together and breaking off, it definitely wasn't elegant and flowery but the moves were executed with precision and strength as if they were trying to go for the kill as opposed to putting on a show. This is one of the first sword fighting videos I have seen outside of movie territory and it looks awesome.

[@cholericraven3434]

+Noel Seno "you're making corpses not art" Pretty good rule to live by when sparring/dueling

[@noelseno5218]

Sword fighting, along with a variety of other disciplines, has a sense of elegance towards it, in my book it can be considered 'art'. To me the quote is trying to target your motives with your skill in swinging a blade, not the actual practice.

[@Olliepujol]

From what I learned from fencing " Do not look at your opponent, or his blade look through him" Basically it's a memo to remind you to not focus one thing and in aikido they told to not focus at all and feel the energy.

[@mikael8250]

I was digging around in my basement the other day and stumbled across an old rapier from the mid-late 1800s :D I don't know mutch about the origin but I do know that it was the practice sword of my (some amount of greats) grandfather used. He was a captain of the russian Tzars bodyguards. The blade itself was extremely dull but it had the name of the maker on it. Just thought I'd share this :) and I wish I knew more about it, but I am a complete newbie on weapons!

[@MrArchimondde]

Great swordsmanship. Great music choice. Great video.

[@taifu13781]

aw man, I would just LOVE to learn how to rapier fight! Seeing it in POV increases my desire to want to practice it. Excellent technique shown here, I'd love to get to that level

[@miumjou]

Please more of these Videos again:)

[@dianasteel8222]

Man, the technique for fencing foil compared to duelling with a rapier looks much different.

[@vetlevedal8991]

the funniest thing was skalla in the back of the crowd, watching, ALWAYS WATCHING

[@deriznohappehquite]

That clip at the end makes you guy look adorable.

[@CafeDude2097]

There is a pattern to this fights with sabers. Parry sideways then counter swing downward to the head. I know nothing about sword fighting, but I imagine this a fundamental form that must be learned.

[@maskajunior9675]

Wow, Skall is a pro. I am amazed how he moves the blade so fast and sometimes opponent don't even has time to respond.

[@0neiroi915]

It's actually not him fighting, it says at the beginning that the one with the camera is his instructor.

[@llearch]

I note the lady first seen at 0:50 is, I think, somewhat intimidated by Erik and is tensing up, thus slowing herself down a bit. Despite this, I note her foil defence is impressive towards the end (when everyone is slowing down due to being worn out); I counted, I think, three or four blocks of strikes from Erik in mere moments. Certainly -I- wouldn't want to get into the ring with her. ;-] Far too lethal for me.

[@francisaguilar1260]

Hi i just want to share that when using a stick try not to cock back too far. Try punching forward and cut down while doing a full extension of your arm. Step forward as you cut, even a little bit, and twist your hips. it will make for a forceful cut that is not quite so telegraphic and its quite easy to recover from. Love your vids!

[@TheHornedKing]

Great music.

[@Deadator]

The Horned King No. It's just ok music.

[@DazzlingGothblin]

The Horned King "My opinion." Deathstroke "No, my opinion is better."

[@MayhemCause]

Slath ^

[@Deadator]

Slath To clearify. I'm completely aware everyone is allowed their own opinion, I did not mean what I said in a "my opinion is the correct one" sense, and I know him irl and know he will understand that I'm messing with him. :)

[@TheHornedKing]

I can confirm. Though this is pretty funny.

[@falconbuns]

props to the lady with the black shirt that kept on losing, she didn't give up!

[@Gh0s7GaMers]

I like this type of video, i start to practice swordplay (i know is very different type, but is also fun too) and i can learn alot with videos like that. Thank you Skallagrim.

[@counterblast3885]

Looks awesome, I hope to see you in these sparring matches pretty soon, God bless you.

[@Saar0s]

ahhh this looks so fun.. I wish there was a place like this around here u_u

[@o0Guns0o]

I love these videos. This type of combat is way more majestic and skilled compared to shooting.

[@danielbartleson5746]

I find the music to be a bit cheesy, but I enjoyed the video.

[@MunsterBoarders]

It'd be cool to see a pov with the long swords.

[@DarkJDL]

***** Soo, how well does the learning and training by yourself stand in comparison to the teachings of an instructor? Were you doing very good or did you mess things up really bad?

[@Skallagrim]

DarkJDL According to the instructors there were a few things that needed correction, but I got my first rank a lot quicker than normal, due to my prior practice. However, training with competent instructors is like super-charging my learning process... FAR quicker and more efficient.

[@DarkJDL]

***** Hahahaha XD it almost sounds like an anime.

[@Prometheus720]

***** Sadly, that's the way it works with almost all things.

[@de0509]

The second soundtrack sounds awesome. I dont listen to much music but somehow this one sounds awesome imo

[@DevinJuularValentine]

You can tell the lady at 2:10 ish with the red pants is the same bad ass who did the legit cuts in that other video. Fierce

[@feelz_4_dayz885]

rapier looks like so much fun

[@War_Magus]

No wonder he's head instructor, he knows his stuff!

[@golem2154]

This looks so much more awesome than fencing

[@MarcLloydZ]

taking LARPing to a whole new level

[@adrienpiette6746]

So cool. I would be awesome to have traveling tournament from BC to Labrador!

[@NymeriaMeliae]

thanks for another cool video featuring rapiers... just out of curiosity would it be possible to tip the end with some kind of marker such as chalk, paint, or a felt/marker-type pen nib to show where the hits are made?

[@vargrleague]

Would so love to be doing that stuff. Since I do have a club or money to get real gear me and a few of my friends got a bunch of long wooden mop handles and what not and made wooden swords out of them for sparring and what not.

[@NSUBandzmen]

Not bad sparring. This is probally from a while ago, and my proficiency is not with weapons (plus i'm sure this individual has noticed this and improved since then). But just wanted to point out the the need for great footwork. There were a few points during the video were your opponents crossed stepped throwing themselves off balance, and leaving themselves wide open by not being able to control their distance between your weapon and their opened target areas (if you haven't dicussed it withyou! em, just mention to your friends to watch their footwork. Cross stepping does have it's place in hand to hand combat (though it still does leave you open and off balance as well). But from my limited experience, there is very little use for spin attacks and leaves you open even more so (which as you can imagine, is even more dangerous to the user when weapons are involved.) Still, thank for all the first person view. It was very informative. Don't get to spar a lot these days, so love to look up these kinds of videos. Also, wanted to let you know that the hard work you put into your channel is noticed and apperciated by us. (Don't have much experience with armed combat, unfortunately as previously state, so definitely love to get any chance to learn something new about the technique and history behind it. Your channel does just that, so thank you!)Btw, hope your shoulder has been healing up well.

[@ajuicywaffle9037]

Wow it's my birthday today also! I hope he had a good one, I know I did :D

[@packratpyro3771]

Also thank you Skallagrim for posting!

[@jamesforgie6594]

Ok, now I’m reconsidering my choice of what my favourite sword probably would be. Rapier sparring seems a bit... nerve wracking. It’s long and stabby, which suits my preferences, but I’m not sure I would be good at all the preliminary positioning they do with the blades. I’d fuck up and cop it in the throat in seconds.

[@theashennamedjerry3203]

Seems like the guy in the superman shirt could realy hold his own against the instructor. Cheers to him.

[@Gnomerable]

Looks like Erik gets a lot of hits to the legs. Pretty hard to protect them.

[@PheonixLeFey]

If I was lucky...I probably.... mabey...on a good day...and after 13 fights...could get a draw with him. That is some amazing saber...single stick skill. If only I was good with those with a sword and shield.

[@Peteruspl]

By chance I've been watching it with Queen - Another One Bites the Dust in the background.

[@Dracocanust]

I wonder if you're able to participate this year's "bear pit" Skall....if not maybe do another one?

[@Zappygunshot]

Not sure who the lady in the red trousers and white top was, but her motions while fighting reminded me very much of a spider.

[@NicholasChris1]

So the whole hand behind the back thing, is that so that there's one less piece of you they can cut or some form of chivalry?

[@NicholasChris1]

Dylan Hecker Dude, i think you commented on the wrong thread.

[@valravn5039]

This was great.Seems like you have a lot of fun.

[@darkbeetlebot]

Hey skall, think you could see about trying out a Shinai in sparring? It's a bit of strange weapon but is good for full contact and simulates a katana's weight fairly well.

[@ColArana]

I'm not sure a shinai would be durable enough to withstand repeated impacts from a synthetic or steel long sword, unfortunately, though it might be interesting to see if that's actually the case.

[@gungriffen]

8:25 I feel was the best (looking at least) counter.

[@middlehearth6723]

Good mix of aggression and control

[@WoodDoge]

Really awesome music in this particular video. Loved it as usual. Btw, happy birthday Erik! (Was that Cara in at least one of the duels?)

[@erikbailey2525]

MrFugassa Thanks! I grappled with her, but the grappling wasn't included in the videos.

[@TheGoodSirKnight]

Awesome! Wish there was something more like it out here...

[@migmindy]

yo, erik my guy. i kno this is 2015 but that rapier was rad stuff. probably crazier now. fuckin nice nice

[@vladdracula2643]

Skall do you intend to work with or get more stuff from Zombie Tools. I just got my Vakra kukri and it is easily my favorite knife. I also suggest the Reaper it is awesome.

[@gasfrommyanusi0i594]

this was a friggin' good vidieo Skal

[@hirux2659]

This is so interesting... I need to start looking around to see if there is some place near me to start up :D

[@Cafferssss]

I love watching This style of sword fight its awesome!

[@hermeshamblok5701]

quick question: Do you have any sort of tatoo skall? And if so or not, wat is your opinion on them?

[@counterblast3885]

Happy to see the rapier in this video.

[@packratpyro3771]

Looks like a few people ended up with some serious welts as combat trophies.

[@ganryu415]

I wish we had something like this here. Closest I have is my buddies and I with our bokken in our back yards. No pads, no masks, all guts...

[@stevennixon6467]

As an epee fencer, I wonder how I would fare in a rapier bout. I didn't see any wrist shots, blade taking, or opposition. using the other hand seems appealing.

[@Eric4bz]

I learned quite a few things from this, nice job skal :D

[@TokyoBossTV]

Beautiful score!

[@Eden-nf5pm]

This looks like a ton of fun

[@blackpowderkun]

any tips for fencing in all terrain, staircases, roofs, narrow places, rocky ground, mud, streams, etc.

[@criticalkaiju9892]

great video! this looks fun.