How to fight single combat with the viking shield | 5 - Defence

Welcome to my new shield combat tutorial for beginners and advanced fighters. In this episode we talk about the fundamentals of defence and how to survive in the Nach. For a more detailed discussion about Vor and Nach have a look here: www.keithfarre....
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How to fight single combat with the viking shield
0 - Get Fit • How to fight single co...
1 - Stance and Posture • How to fight single co...
2 - Of Strikes and Thrusts • How to fight single co...
3 - Footwork • How to fight single co...
4 - Offense • How to fight single co...
5 - Defence • How to fight single co...
6 - Shield Binding • How to fight single co...
If you are a beginner and still struggle to handle the shield, have a look at my recent exercise-video:
• How to fight single co...
If you are interested how sparring in the combat reconstruction system does look like, here you go:
• Viking combat with swo...
For a brief overview on archaeological finds of viking age scandinavian roundshields:
• What did real viking s...

[@oddthearcher7555]

Had our first combat training in about 6 months, the guys who have been working through your videos really noticed the difference, had an excellent combat session. Thank you for these videos and keep the coming!

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

Nice, glad you could get back into training! Great that the videos helped, any constructive feedback?

[@oddthearcher7555]

@@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat nothing massive, just keep them coming! I'm going to incorporate your footwork drill in my session im leading on Saturday , hopefully it will help some of the others in my group.

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

@@oddthearcher7555 I see! At the moment I have to recover from a shoulder injury, might take two weeks to the next video.

[@oddthearcher7555]

@@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat hope its not too serious, take your time and heal properly

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

@@oddthearcher7555 Thanks! I will do, have done the mistake to be to impatient often enough.

[@Tsurukiri]

Historical note: the backhand cut from below to opponent’s sword hand has been used by the Pima indians, with a mace and center grip shield against the same. It is one of the weaknesses of holding the shield held high and open.

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

Thanks for the information. Do you have a link were its shown? Yeah, thats true!

[@Tsurukiri]

Here’s the quote: Then Evanico explained. “A warrior fighting with a knife or club at close quarters would never have struck an overhand blow; it would have been too easy to block with the shield. A man always struck sideways and upward. Such a blow would have come under the enemy’s shield and hit the wrist or arm that carried the knife or club. That is a man’s way of striking.”

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

@@Tsurukiri Thanks!

[@Tsurukiri]

At least some of the Pima mace and shield techniques have been preserved as a living tradition. They could work with Viking sword and shield, except one which would only work with a seax or a short axe. They are all very simple.

[@Tsurukiri]

In found another reference for the rising back edge strike. It’s in I.33, the earliest manual for european sword and shield. It can be found on page 126 of theTower edition. Text: •Note that from the student’s counterbind (note: here both swords are down), a useful blow is delivered, namely by carrying out a separation of the priest’s sword and shield, and also entering, which is no further written of in this book; it is illustrated here.” The illustration clearly shows a back edge strike from below to the hands of the priest, in between the sword and shield arms. The text hints to a follow-up thrust.

[@dutifulanglo6614]

Nothing boring about it, to me! I'm a beginner, so this already seems much cooler/fancier than just whacking each other lol. Thanks very much for these tutorials - they're the best I've seen and are very fun to watch!

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

Thanks a lot! I have the feeling with advanced people they are always bored with the basics but they should drill them nonetheless.

[@mobiboom1663]

Bravo.

[@sithlord.6668]

had watched several videos now. I think think you do a good job. Not really done any viking related stuff.. just Hema longsword. And bought a viking shield and sword, well here comes my question: What parameters do your sword and shield have? My "viking" sword is 1,3kg and the point of mass at 18cm after the guard.. shield is 4,5kg; Had looked up several sides and such, and it doesnt seem to unlike with these weights; although the swords are more often 1kg than 1,3kg, but was found nontheless. From the Hema perspective it all seems to heavy, but seems historical accurate (?) ;) Are you german? the few german words of general fencing was good pronounced and english seems so; i am german myself. Greetings! Keep up the work

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

Hey, thanks a lot! Yes I am german. So most good training swords end up around 1 - 1.2 kg, depending on the dimensions and quality. In general original swords could be lighter with the same dimensions, due to the thinner blade but many were well above 1kg. I think with 1.3 kg and PoB of 18cm you are still in normal limits but for someone untrained with such kind of one-handed weapon its definitely a challenge to fight quickly with it. Regarding the shield: Historical range was most probably 3 -5 kg, with some authentic replicas supporting this hypothesis. Have a look at Vārnas comments under this videos for a similar discussion :). My weighs 3.3 kg at the moment, so maybe a bit too light for "reconstruction" but 3.5 - 4 kg is a realistic range and quite easy to accomplish with plywood and linen. Similar to your sword, 4.5 kg may be a bit heavy for someone not used to fight with heavy weight on one arm.

[@sithlord.6668]

@@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat thanks for your insight! bit lighter would be nicer to have more control for not hitting too hard if i want to do some sparring stuff and such probably as well.

[@veav-nl]

Again nice tutorial with some proper basics for the sword and shield fighting.

[@oddthearcher7555]

Excellent can't wait for the next one

[@Minmuaddib]

i love your viking combat videos

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

Thanks mate, makes my day!

[@Smuzical]

Do I see new swords with rolled tips being used in this video?

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

New for the videos yes but its my arming sword for sword buckler fencing. The historicalmarket.com sword was out for repair of the crossguard.

[@Hrafnasson]

What diameter of a shield do you think a 185 cm person would need? Also in your opinion, how heavy should a shield be? Great video.

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

Depends on your fighting style. If you like to be a bit more agile and mobile, I would do it smaller. If you prefer more cover, it will restrain your weapon movement a bit more. From experience it should be at least 75 cm but I would recommend 85 cm. Some people say double the length from ellbow to the middle of the fist (where you grip it).

[@Tsurukiri]

Go as light as possible with your shield weight. Historical ones are about 1 gram per square cm2 or less. Usually no more than 3.5 kg for duelling use. Special shields can be much heavier.

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

@Vārnas Sorry I missed the weight part! @@Tsurukiri I disagree with your statement. Yes, lighter shields are more advantageous, but we should keep an authentic range in mind. The authentic replicas I know are in the range between 3 - 5 kg. If our aim is to reconstruct combat, one should not get them as light as possible with modern materials. My own shield is 3.3 kg at the moment.

[@Tsurukiri]

I don’t think there is a disagreement here. A 75 cm diameter shield would be 4.4 kg, if you go by the rule of 1 gram per cm2 of shield area. As light as possible means start with a smaller shield to build strength for a larger one. It’s the same with sword weight and length, start with a lighter and shorter one.

[@Hrafnasson]

@@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat @Tsurukiri Thanks a lot. I made one previously that weighted 5.5 kg. It felt so clunky. I made it with pine boards and thinned it with a plane, but now I am going to use poplar, since it is lighter.

[@oddthearcher7555]

Any tips for moving from defence to offence, made a video of some duels this week and when reviewing it my opponent presses his advantage, my footwork gets shity. Noticed I had a tendency to retreat a lot too (definitely need to work on my cyclical footwork )

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

That is actually hard to answer via a comment and without seeing you in action. The most important thing against an aggressive opponent is to keep solid posture and footwork (not just cyclical) and it is normal that most people (including myself) fall into bad habits under pressure. I would recommend to make an isolated exercise, not a sparring, where you train the situation in particular. Your opponent rushes into you, at first without striking, just storming into you. You focus to keep proper footwork and posture when retreating 2-3 steps. Afterwards build in a rotational step in the opposite direction of the opponet's pressure. Repeat the exercise until you feel more comfortable under pressure. Than implement attacks from the opponent, now you keep the basics and focus on keeping a good defence (parrying active if possible, keep your legs safe with the help of your sword). If you feel safe here, then its your turn. The opponent rush you and you wait for a nice opening. In my experience the most rushers just win by speed and disregard of their own cover, so its only a matter of time until they make a mistake. Nonetheless, keeping a rusher at bay is one of the most difficult challenges. There are also certain counter techniques, which often involve binding in some way. Some of them are actually part of my next video, hopefully I can do the recordings this weekend or the next. In the meanwhile you can send me your footage and I can have a look at it?

[@oddthearcher7555]

@@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat heres a link kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKTOlatsm5xso6M I'm in the yellow. I can see the points where my footwork goes to shit and I need to work on more of the techniques in this video. Opponent doesn't like to bind which is frustrating and because I'm not controlling his weapon we are getting lots of mutual hits

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

​@@oddthearcher7555 Actually I think your footwok is fine but you only start moving backwards when its your very last escape instead of using it as a way to improve your position, use the footwork activley. In general a lot of the fight is stationary until the time point when one of you is close to get hit. I would recommend to work on two main problems at first: 1. Your mindset. Both of you are very focused to attack and hit your opponent, disregarding what the opponent's weapon is doing. You first priority should be to have the control before you go for the hit. Here both of you try to drill your sword into each other, around the shield. You will make less hits overall, but with the "survival attitude" you prevent a lot of (double) hits and the fencing becomes more beautiful. There is also quite a lot of sword binding (e.g. blades crossed ) but you both rather just press through instead of playing in it. As I said, its hard to explain in a comment and the coming video may explain more. You are still using the shield as a passive barricade but instead try to activley block and bind to his sword with your shield. Its not about strength and pressing him down but to manipulate his attack way and speed. For example if he presses his sword into your right side, give in and swap your shield and put it on weapon arm while doing a step to the left. 2. You use the shield pointing diagonally outward. I prefer this guard but in your system it has certain disadvantages. If you strike with your sword but do not cover it with your shield, its a great entry way to your shoulder/chest. If you watch closely, its your opponent's signature move to bring his sword between your shield and sword from the top, no matter what and then pressing it into your chest very often (Or sometimes just from above if you lower your shield). I would recommend to protect your arm and that entry with your shield, by holding the front edge close to your wrist or by circling away, since it seems he is always stronger than you in that position. It also seems that your opponent moves his shield much more to block your sword and has a better feeling were your blade is. Hope that helps, if not keep asking! :)

[@oddthearcher7555]

@@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat that is excellent and makes sense, I'm planning on starting work on this stuff this weekend. With point 2, so am I continuing to keep the shield angled but keep the front edge close to my weapon wrist to try and close out that gap? I had noticed it was a vulnerable spot but had thought that my stance had become too upright when that opens up

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

@@oddthearcher7555 Especially the mindset part will take some time, so be patient with yourself! Its a bit hard to answer for me, since I have not much experience with your system (only torso). I personally would first try out to keep my shield angled and high but close to my wrist and block the entry way. But here it would be essential that you lean forward with bend knees so your legs are out of reach for the most part. Additionally I would try to circle around the arm and its way of pressure. If this does not work, maybe have a look how your other pals handle that weakpoint and adopt their techniques, which may fit better to your system.

[@kevingibbard4457]

Loving these, you going to experiment with spear and shield in the future?

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

Thanks! I plan to do something on two-handed spear combat. Maybe afterwards but in my opinion/experience the combination of spear and shield is not a good combination for single combat (I would rather drop the shield or drop the spear and draw the sword/axe). But i am not very experienced with that combination beside line fights.

[@maihem1]

@@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat love to see the two handed spear video, it's the weapon that gets the kills in a shield wall fight and learning how to use it against other two handed spears is so very important.

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

@@maihem1 I will try my best. Its just all very time consuming. Next two videos will be for sure still shield tutorial. Its a devastating weapon but you still need protection against javelins and arrows!

[@KnightlyNerd]

Very nice. I really enjoy how you go in depth on the instructions. Please don't take this as dismissive of your hard work, but I would love to see you experiment more with shield and overarm spear combat. Thegnthrand did an excellent series of videos showing the techniques efficacy, and I would love to see more people experimenting with it in serious sparring.

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

Thank you for the feedback! From my very own experience, I do not think the combination spear and shield is a good choice for single combat. It's great for the battle line but if I encounter someone in single combat I would either drop my shield if I have a very long spear or drop the spear and draw my sword. Thereby I have not much experience with that combination you ask for. However, I will do a tutorial for 2-handed spear in the future.

[@KnightlyNerd]

​@@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat Thank you very much for your reply. I am not necessarily disagreeing with you, swords and shield are probably better suited for the close fight, but I do believe we in the modern era are perhaps too hasty to dismiss the spear and shield in a duelling context. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5mznGScprp-qLs kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6GaiYqPrtNmrsk Some of the ideas presented in these videos made me reconsider whether the spear was as hemmed in to the role as a battleline weapon as I had previously believed. Once again, thank you so much for your hard work and timely reply.

[@alexandermartzok_vikingcombat]

​@@KnightlyNerd I think they both have good arguments and some valid points but most of it breaks down in single combat when you have an opponent who knows how to bind properly, as I said in my opinion. I am open to revise my opinion if someone shows me that its actually work (in person, not in a video reply). You are welcome and thanks for the valueable input!