Langes Messer (and Longsword) beginner's guide: a workshop on interpreting Fight Books.

Hey everyone! I'm currently in Switzerland to teach workshops alongside Daniel Jacquet, Robert Brooks and Martin Enzi (major fan moment being in that line-up). This video will be the handout for my workshop, but I felt the point it makes is so important it should be shared further afield as well: how do you go about working with Lecküchner's fight book? It's great in the sense that it offers a complete and closed system, but it's also huge. This video offers some guidance on interpretatie to help you through your PhD in Messer.
If you'd be interested in supporting the channel or are looking for extra content in general, have a look at Patreon: www.patreon.com/virtualfechts...
Fencers:
Leon, Tijmen, Christiaan and Oskar
0:00 intro
0:55 Lecküchner's fight book
3:56 Stück 1: Niederstossen
5:58 Stück 2: Überlauffen
6:52 Stück 3: Überfaren
7:37 Stück 4: Against a hand grab
9:32 Stück 5: Durchlauffen
10:05 Drilling the Stücke
11:33 Conclusions.
Music courtesy of epidemicsound.com
#Spear #Sword #HEMA #Historical #European #Martial #Arts #Historical #Fencing #Historical #Fencing #Westernmartialarts #Middleages #medieval #Martial #Arts #Martialartist #Instructor #Athlete #Fitness #Fightingfit #Fighter #warriors #knights #Swordplay #machete #technique #Training #lecküchner, #history #historical #research #swordfighting #sparring #context #greatsword #montante #zweihander #knife #dagger #moustache #messer

[@erikvarela2045]

What a great video! The rundown of early modern teaching styles vs current-day ones was just as interesting as the demonstrations of the actual Stuecke!

[@VirtualFechtschule]

I know right? So much of the manuscript makes sense when viewed through this lens! :D

[@jacobhowson5501]

My father, and I live 2 hours away from the nearest hema club, so going up there is nearly an impossibility. We now spar, and train with Nerf swords while watching your videos. Thank you

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Excellent, that's really cool. Enjoy your training! :D

[@GeekMAXX]

Great job Oskar! Said it before and will say it again, your channel is HIGHLY underrated. Your content is phenomenal and I appreciate the work you have been putting into your videos, especially as of late. I share your videos as often as I can and encourage people to subscribe :). Thanks for what you do

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Thanks so much! It's always nice to hear such encouraging words! :D

[@Druid_Ignacy]

Another thing - adding realisting movement - positioning (like here when you added rapidly retreating opponent) - makes hema interpretations much more believable and good looking, even before realizing that it works better this way as well :D

[@VirtualFechtschule]

It does! And I think adding this element of movement is the key to making things from fight books actually work.

[@Druid_Ignacy]

This video is awesome! Your commentary, interpretation and video pieces come together so clean! Good points! :)

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Thanks!

[@miguelarocazarco5744]

Wow! I have to see this lesson several times, maybe i will take notes too. Thanks for sharing!!

[@XZwanzigX]

Thank you so much for making this video! I'm coming to Leküchner's Messer after studying Fiore, and knowing the detail about the educational style Leküchner used in writing the book helped it make so much more sense!

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Happy to hear it helped you. :D

[@historyandsabre]

I loved the video and techniques - the clarity with which you are able to convey the contents is impressive!

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Thanks, I'm happy to hear it reads well! :D

[@jaysagmyr7298]

Thanks, that was an insightful and well balanced analysis. Much appreciated!

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Thanks!

[@coryjordan2874]

Thank you for the video and the lesson

[@kurtschmidt5005]

Love these videos! Thanks for making them!

[@VirtualFechtschule]

You're welcome!

[@superiorhema]

Fantastic video! Thanks for sharing!

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Thank you!

[@thescholar-general5975]

Do most grapples in messer start with the messer hand? either hooking the opponent with the base of the handle or dropping the messer? I assume that there are techniques that initiate with the off hand, but are these in the minority?

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Good question. Almos all grapples are initiated with the Messer hand, because you need to gain control of the opponent's weapon first, before starting to grapple. Even if you perform the grapple with the empty hand, you still need to use the knife hand to keep you safe from the opponent's weapon at first.

[@thescholar-general5975]

@@VirtualFechtschule Interesting! It makes total sense that you want to occupy the opponents saber before initiating any grappling. This is a notable difference between the messer and the chinese dao systems. Most chinese systems train to keep the off hand resting on the chest. In this position it is a little exposed to being hit but the purpose is so that you can reach out and grab the opponents sword arm when you occupy their sword either with a deflection or a strike.

[@desdicadodog8452]

Great video

[@rkschell4122]

Great video!

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Thanks!

[@blarpus]

Hi oskar, great video as always! I was wondering if you would ever consider doing content for paurenfeyndt’s longsword given that you’ve done some of his messer and polearm stuff. I ask because because doesn’t seem to be a lot of interpretations of his material floating around aside from the flugelhau

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Hi Evelyn! Thanks! I'll probably be tackling Paurenfeyndt's longsword at some point, but I feel it goes a bit deeper than both staff and Messer. As long as I don't really understand it yet, I'll hold off on posting interpretations. That said, in the long run I'll find some time to dive into it and do some more in depth work on it, because the snippets that I feel confident about are super cool! :D

[@StuartMcDermid]

Someone else does "pommel to pocket". :)

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Nice! It's such a useful cue.

[@shotgunridersweden]

Doesnt he have his left foot on the inside of the opponents right foot, not the outside? I mean in the one where he traps the opponents messer under his arm. The reason i ask is that in part it looks to me that its what he is showing and secondly it opens for legtrapping, which might solve the running away issue

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Yeah, he does. It might have a small benefit, but I'm not sure if it's intended as such here. I personally just try to plant my feet in a stable position and see where they land. 😅

[@shotgunridersweden]

I dont think its something that will work all the time, and ithe question is if training to pull it off is worth the effort. Im gonna try a bit

[@ironoakhistoricalcombatguild]

You promised a follow up video! Don't be a Nicoletto Giganti....

[@VirtualFechtschule]

Hahahaha, nice one! I'm planning a more comprehensive beginner's guide, meaning I'll start working on a series of videos on how to get started with Messer this summer. Sometimes my topics tend to be a bit all over the place, but that's also how I stay sane while doing this next to my day job. 😅