Learn the Art of Combat - Halberd Fighting Techniques - Part One

The first six Halberd plays from Joachim Meyers book about the knightly art of swordsmanship - 1570 A.D. The plays can be found on page 33recto (XXXIII) to 34verso (XXXIIII) in the last chapter of the original book found here:
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PS: Obviously NOT exclusive for formation fighting. Meyers manuscript shows mostly techniques for a duel! But you can use many of the concepts also for formation battles like thrusting or striking in a tighter way.

[@CrniWuk]

The pants clearly say, it's Halberd time.

[@moonman559]

Halt! Halberd time!

[@exumbra1399]

Just break the wrist, and then walk away. Break the wrist; walk away.

[@drmartinhalbert]

My last name is Halbert, and I've always wondered what Halberd fighting was like in practice. Thank you for bringing the past to life in this way. The weapon actually seems much more effective to me now that I can see the ways that it combines the reach of a spear with the heavy cutting force of an axe blade.

[@Psiberzerker]

Not quite the reach of a spear. It can be the same length as a spear, but a trade-off of that heavy multipurpose head is that you have to use more of the haft for leverage to control it. If you have a Halberd and a Spear of equal length, the spear is going to be able to use that length more effectively. You can use a halberd like a spear, but not as well.

[@arcticharecommand]

Halbert fighting

[@mod5278]

Fighting with halberts

[@bruh10246]

If you mastered the halberd technique, you shall be the ultimate halrberdt

[@waffielz3106]

Jim?

[@Luke41461]

Im writing a novel and I want the combat to be written based off historical treaties. Thank you for the demonstration

[@kenya-jaidejohnson899]

Same! Even though the protagonist will mainly be using a mace, a hailbred would be her secondary weapon

[@unpanconlentes3750]

Dónde publicarás tu historia

[@elgostine]

VERY interesting ive seen almost no one cover halbers like this, i cannot wait for more'

[@Spider-Too-Too]

too dangerous

[@Kydino]

Seems to be the only one outside of schola gladiatora and maybe lindybeige.

[@jakemocci3953]

It’s an incredibly effective weapon, good for protestors too

[@gabem3251]

Sparring at full tempo is dangerous even with rubber heads, and with steel you'll break bones.

[@elgostine]

@@gabem3251 who said anything about sparring... ? noone even does much about the movements strikes and footwork

[@noneofyourbusiness3288]

I want to see more pole-weapons in movies. Spears, pikes, halberds, bills, pole-axes all were crucial weapons for the longest time in history and sadly get over-shadowed by swords in pop-culture.

[@dimitristripakis7364]

I would like that too, but they will probably spoil it by fancy kung fu swirling of the weapon.

[@e.m.p.3394]

Man you know that's love when your GF helps you with your nerdy historical weapons studies.

[@e.m.p.3394]

@@tatumergo3931 I suppose. Not many girls like this where I live in the states. Not too many actually interested me.

[@e.m.p.3394]

@@tatumergo3931 Well.....uhhh. I'm kinda from Florida. Plus what kind of traditions? Minnesota isn't anything special? Plus isn't that one of the more liberal states? If I'm mistaken please correct me.

[@e.m.p.3394]

@@tatumergo3931 Actually being liberal or not doesn't really matter.

[@e.m.p.3394]

@@tatumergo3931 Not kinda in that manner. Just said kinda for no reason. I am a proud floridian. And Texas doesn't beat us in SHIT. They got oil but that doesn't make them special.

[@e.m.p.3394]

@@tatumergo3931 And we have the most beautiful women in all the states and nobody can tell me otherwise.

[@pedroivantaveraferreira3037]

Great to see one of the best weapons there is, "the spear's big bro", receiving more appreciation

[@kylestanley7843]

The spear's big brother is the pike. This is their uncle lmao

[@beitophfongfu]

I freaking love halberds :^ They're life

[@frdrsch]

Not to be too literal, but i think they're rather death aren't they?

[@beitophfongfu]

@@frdrsch Yeah, I think they're more too

[@modernpirate]

You two move so fluidly together and your control is fantastic - I actually felt myself tense at a few of your exchanges! Extremely helpful to see the slow motion repetitions with your explanations. It is one thing to read it in a book and quite another to see it demonstrated ;-) Not sure if you accept visitors, but hope to study with you one day when I visit Europe again.

[@jakemocci3953]

Based Nipponese

[@ccurry555]

This is the definitely the best trust exercise that I have ever seen!!

[@alastor1052]

funnily enough the halbert techniques displayed in both of your videos regarding the halberd have somewhat helped my improve my own footwork using a zweihänder, and some of the attacks even work with a zwei, so thanks very much for making these good sir!

[@TalkingAboutGames]

Good technique, precision and control; even when using synthetic heads for the weapons, it's not easy to hold back such a short distance from the partner's face. Also, great composure on her part, she remains steady despite the attack striking so close. So many good things about this video. If someone is wondering how these strikes could be potentially countered, sidestepping just at the right time and at the correct angle (moving a bit forward), while deflecting the opponent's weapon to the side with your own weapon, is generally a good way to thwart the strikes and immediately counter; easier said than done though! You can usually tell when a combatant is skilled, if you watch how he positions himself, my old instructor used to say: position is the key to victory. Halberds should never be underestimated as weapons of great historical importance; to a certain extent (no pun intended), they are equalizers on the battlefield, giving the advantage to a decent warrior, when he faces off against a slightly superior opponent that is armed with a shorter range weapon.

[@Psiberzerker]

Halbards are longarms. There's a lot of focus on Swords, the sidearms. Likewise, modern movies, and games focus on the Pistol more than whatever longarm (Varies, Carbine, rifle...) when historically, battles were won with Spears. For the most part, even the other polarms at least had a spear point, for the most part. However, that's not heroic, standing in line with a bunch of spears, behind shield bearers. Or Pike and Musket formation, everybody played "The 3 Musketeers" which everybody knew were great and famous swordsmen.

[@jonasandersson7367]

It's so nice of Rollo from vikings to show us these things

[@Asmusei]

Your two videos have been the only places I've seen anyone explain the use of this weapon. It's been motivating me to take up this sport!

[@azureprince3478]

I just found this channel and while maybe it isn't the intention, it's an excellent art reference for practice drawing or writing weapons. Their stance and posture, the way the wield and hold the weapons and how they move with them... It's all excellent and I'm thankful to have seen it!

[@MrThule]

Good that someone takes time to share helpful life skills like this. They really should include this in basic education gym classes.

[@BlackOmegaWorks]

I wish I could get my wife to practice with me. Björn you're so lucky!

[@alexandrbatora9674]

On one hand, I love how you demonstrate the techniques with no protective gear at all, on the other hand part of me screams "wear goggles at the very least!"

[@rentheseer190]

I have to book mark this now because this is a very good demonstration of motion and posture for artists like myself who is madly in love with the halberd.

[@Esper320]

>mfw when I will never have a halberdier waifu >feelsbadman.jpg

[@yt_krg]

>tfw we will never have gf

[@jakemocci3953]

Bro just lift White men are in high demand

[@yt_krg]

@@jakemocci3953 I highly doubt my man roasties only go for the money

[@MortenErCrazy]

the halberdier waifu is the rarest kind of waifu

[@subhuman2433]

That's SSS-tier, there's no way you're going to get one at the fist roll.

[@AliothAncalagon]

Sometimes its so much harder to perform such techniques without actually going through. This looks like one of those cases and I really appreciate your effort.

[@G0thCrayon]

Your ability to demonstrate and concisely explain the forms and their functions is quite impressive -I dare say underrated. These steps work quite amicably for using a long-but-not-quite-pole hammer.

Thx mate

[@superpnutbutter8608]

Halberd is a versatile weapon. It can cut, thrust, chop, or even hook to disarm. One wrong move will results in death. What this video has taught me is that if I ever have to Halberd duel with someone for whatever the reason, I'll just run away and throw rocks at them.

[@taylorahern3755]

Outstanding, what a fluid & beautiful display of Halberd fighting, with amazing finesse & accuracy (FANTASTIC!!)💯💯👍👍 Interestingly, all throughout the 1300s-early 1400s the famed & fearsome Swiss fighting men used the Halberd to brutally devastating effect in several major battles, defeating all before them (it wasn't until the 1420s that the highly motivated & cohesive Swiss soldiers began to incorporate greater degrees of pikes into their hard fighting formations, becoming extremely proficient in the use of them, thus did their overall renown, power & prestige as fierce warriors grow substantially!). It was also the weapon that the superbly trained English infantrymen utilized to defeat the savage, sword & ax wielding Scottish tribesmen at the bloody & ferocious battle of Flodden in 1513, as English Halberds wreaked terrible havoc amongst the primevally driven, wild Scots, whose swords & axes were badly outreached by the finely wielded English Halberds. Keep up the Great Work, as the sheer dedication of your training has paid off marvelously, with your various, thoroughly developed skills being very refined, intricate, dazzling, lethal & thrilling to behold💯💯👍👍

[@EU-eb7xd]

By far the coolest of all the Medieval hand-to-hands.

[@hermitcard4494]

FromSoftware and other game companies should pay attention to these videos.

[@brandon585barber]

This gives me anxiety every time you go for a thrust

[@mauriciomorais7818]

Me too. This stuff is dangerous, you could seriously hurt someone in the face.

[@reieben886]

Yep, helbert is effective but also dangerous for practices because you should predict the length of the helbert

[@lelionnoir4523]

Don't worry, she's very used to his thrusting.

[@MrSagaTeller]

@@lelionnoir4523 thank you good man, you made my day

[@lelionnoir4523]

@@MrSagaTeller Glad I could do that with saucy wit. ;-)

[@juliancain6128]

Bjorn, your video's and instruction are excellent. Thank you for sharing them!

[@KentHartmann]

Absolutely brilliant. Great to see such high quality and informative coverage of a wonderful weapon. Thank you. Excited for more!

[@Sir.suspicious]

Amazing skill with the halberd, a weapon that deserves a lot more recognition. And also, M8 the anxiety, your girlfriend has nerves of steel, you stop so close of her sometimes

[@rampari]

Having trained with bolognese sources, its quite interesting to see Meyer's take on the halberd

[@partydave1067]

I always loved pole style weapons, they are wacky in the wrong hands, but extremely powerful when used right

[@anomalyp8584]

When fighting turns into a precise dance...albeit a deadly one. Great job!

[@MauriceTarantulas]

No girlfriends were harmed in the making of this video! 😉

[@熊掌波清波]

XD

[@witolds.2099]

The forth play... 🛌😉😆 That's what she said;-)

[@BraindeadCRY]

They where, however, armed

[@harveywallbanger3123]

Whoever she is, she is Amazonian and a highly skilled practitioner of HEMA. Bjorn's videos wouldn't be the same without her. I admit I am slightly sad to see him always defeating "Halberd Wife" in demonstrations. She should get to parry and defeat him sometimes too. 😋

[@-Shinoray-]

Wow those moves really made me anxius for your GF... But you two coreographed These plays smoothly . Cheers to both of you P.s. May i ask what kind of Heads you are using ? They Look Sharp but Sound synthetic... P.p.s Love the narration in this episode. Keep it Up it is much easier to follow the plays this way.

The heads are synthetics from tempus-fugitives.co.uk/

[@andrewhazlewood4569]

@ I'm sure they would be dangerous for eyes in the hands of someone with less control.

[@PieLovesPi]

The most important safety measure we have in HEMA is trust. If you and your partner fence each other often and prioritize safety above winning then it's not at all strange to be able to perform the dance laid out in plays with minimal gear. Obviously, gear should be warn as much as possible to maximize safety but there are situations like this where some corners can be cut.

[@-Shinoray-]

@@PieLovesPi yeah you are right. Fencing with someone unexpirienced or someone who takes winning over safety is dangerous and kinda disturbs the fun. It takes a lot of practice and lots of trial and error before you can have trust this deep as in the video. I train together with 5 different people and i only have trust in 2 of them to "spas" out and wave their swords around without any control in case of an error. You have to ensure that everyone you fight knows his techniques and is surely aware of the danger fighting (even with Gear) can have. And most importantly when to stop hitting the opponent. It's not an easy task to achive and i think the best preparation to evade insury is to talk with each other before each fight and making clear what the signs for a hit are and when to stop and give the otherone time to Catch breath again. Long Story short: Stay safe HEMA friends !

[@MrFlatage]

@@-Shinoray- Then you are not fencing but play fighting really. My Maitre always pitted the best fighters against beginners. Cos high level fighters expect opponents to react in a certain way. Beginners can do really crazy stuff. When you learn to deal with the unexpected you can pretty much beat anyone. Then the bastard blindfolds you and puts you on a 5 cm beam just to learn to do it all over again. Just like I learned to do whip strikes hitting opponents in the back with foil. Which can be done with sabre as well. Epee is a more rugged blade which is only suppose to bend 'lightly'. When I learned to do it with epee as well? I was literally accused of cheating 9 out of 10 times at competitions. My Maitre is over 70 years now and runs 12km each morning with his granddaughter. So very respectable and great honour. Not a very nice man if he's training you. True competition gear these days? Yea bulletproof stuff. Which unfortunately makes it very expensive.

[@LifeEnemy]

I like that one-handed swing in the last play! Very flashy

[@cmayotte9431]

doin' a mini battle with some friends and found your video on poleaxes, which are similar enough to this to make it worth it lol thanks for everything!

[@SirBryanForrest]

Always good info presented clearly and with great final messages, well done!

Thx mate :)

[@SeekerArech]

Your videos have inspired me to keep up with my training even during the quarantine. I may have "The Art of Combat 1570" book but, these videos give such a wonderful insight .

[@shawnm5692]

Wonderful. Hopefully I find a lifelong hema school one day.

[@GizmoDuck_1860]

What I can't imagine though, if you have a unit of helberdiers fighting in cohesion, was there room for all of these techniques, or was it more like the pike blocks of later years, where it's just a hedge of pike points poking you off of the field?

[@Fuerwahrhalunke]

Wirklich gut erklärt. Danke!

[@jinxhead4182]

Brilliant stuff mate, as usual! Really helped me with my polearm tactics (no pun intended).

[@MaxDad7]

Thanks for narrating what you were doing, and having a friend participate so we can see the plays in action. Have you ever been hired to choreograph scenes in movies or plays before?

[@TigerShady]

Very well presented.

[@malcolmbrown5331]

Much appreciated, especially the slow motion replays. I am reading a Warhammer Fantasy book , Sword of Justice, which has a Captain of Halberdiers as one of the main characters. I wanted to see some videos so that it would be easier to visualize the fighting.

[@malcolmbrown5331]

I Subscribed. Lots of good looking videos here.

[@randelldarky3920]

The Halberd is My favorite of all the Medieval weapons.

[@emrealtun8415]

Amazing, I love Halberds and Staffs :)

[@kdak247]

Your partners head movement is on point.

[@lucakroon8868]

This is coming in handy for learning how to draw dnd characters

[@CV-lq5bp]

the Indiana Jones method vs melee is what i love!

[@jamesd6785]

Excellent demonstration! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@titutat6239]

Bjorn, we are missing your cool videos, when will you come back?

I'll be back...

[@Jetalockhart]

Beautiful body mechanics!! Nice!!👍

[@Abudzin]

0:38 oh shit, your girl got some balls for wanting to play like that. That was a close one!

[@Alswulf]

adore to watch you guys: the look and moves - if I need to go to some epic quest I would definitely ask you to join :] Wish you best!

[@LR110Td5]

where can I buy a halberd trainer? I have never been so interested in a long weapon such as this one, but you make it look so strong, balanced and efficient, and i wanna learn how to use that

[@WM01129]

Contemplating I should start being a Halberd main than being a Paladin or Priest main

[@SamohtNox]

i'm surprised i've haven't encountered no For Honor references here....hold on! AD MORTEM INIMICVS ngl..feels good

[@ducagace1390]

Great flow! Wish you the best for you!

[@satriasky]

i always love music intro and outro 😁

[@MartinGreywolf]

One additional thing to note is that these are meant for halberd vs hablerd fight. Once you are facing halberd vs spear, some of these techniques are not a good idea, since halberds have a hefty metal bit at the end and aren't quite as nimble and quick as a spear. Change through can work, but is riskier, fifth play will just get you stabbed. The last play should probably only be attempted only if you want to meme on your foe anyway.

[@justjordan8018]

This will be very useful the next time I pack my Halbert in my Day-Cary-On pocket.

[@bozoforce]

Apart from the axe chop, these look like effective staff and spear moves.

[@MrThule]

4:50 is silly. Power does not come from the above, so it is good trade for a opponents thrust, and quite good way to lose weapon.

[@dswade59]

It would be interesting to see your take on the dane axe since there isn't much information on ttp's. Would be cool to see how you would use it

[@Sk0lzky]

>be me >searching rifle news stuff >your videos pop up regardless I guess I'll get a new polearm instead Edit: I just realised I'd added the video to martial arts playlist, not hema one. EDC halberd anyone?

[@davy8990]

3:00 That foot work tho! Beautifull

[@Fortigurn]

This is beautiful.

[@arjun._.bbC6]

Hey do you happen to practice blunt weapons in your Martial Arts? Would love to see some blunt weapons fighting techniques, like warhammers and maces.

[@123DOWNUNDER890]

I just discovered your channel. Your videos and amazing. subbed and put notification on.

[@미제드론]

Very nice weapon & good skill

[@teddyberserker]

Would love to see some tutorials on battle axe technique!

[@jimelliott8931]

Some of that looked pretty dangerous. Especially the swinging ones.

[@tos-un_del-armg8880]

This video pops up right when I started debating on getting a Irish lochaber (type of Irish polearm

[@Chabal117]

So cool, my man! Thank you!

[@uwezetzsche9501]

In a judicial duel most of the attacks seam to be logical and economical first, but in close formation 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th attack are not uselfull because you will harm your mates, open up your defence to long - and you will be hit by enemy mates, 4th attack used the range of the weapon as well the speed - keep your weapon in front of you. Not worth mentioning A halbert is always a hook to break up the enemy line.

Its not for formation fight. The fencing treatise describes only duel situations as mentioned in the video description below

[@omari2306]

Unterhut is a beautiful move.

[@joaoliduario]

Are you going to mix weapons? Halberd vs Sword strategy, for example, or shield, or other polearm. I don't know if such thing existed or if your channel is about those things. I'm new to this.

[@derek96720]

If you have a sword and have to fight some kind of pole arm, your best bet is simply to run away to a more tight space.

[@arjun._.bbC6]

@@derek96720 or bring a shield. Granted it isn't the best option, but a shield can buy you some defense against a polearm.

[@MrFlatage]

@@derek96720 Yea learn to throw swords. It's fun. ;-)

[@MrFlatage]

@@arjun._.bbC6 Being a shield? Point of a halbert at least is so you can de-shield on the front line. This type of one on one combat would be more for tournaments. In real battle it just gets messy real fast. Sidestepping is rarely possible if you have to hold the line.

[@arjun._.bbC6]

@@MrFlatage Well I actually meant "bring", stupid typo. Granted halbeard's are supposed to break shield defenses, but I'd assume you have slightly better chances of surviving with a shield than another polearm.

[@calamityjane9826]

Nice tutorial for those who carry a halberd on them expecting to defend from someone with the same screws loose.

[@rriosl]

Hi @Björn Rüther I’m watching your videos from Los Ángeles, Chile 🇨🇱 in South America and I found them very illustrative, I’m wondering if there’s some way to learn from here (I was a Kendo student) in this place there’s no groups to learn European medieval martial arts and I would like to begin to learn and possibly teach others.

[@reallyhappenings5597]

I think this would be terrifying in modern riot control

[@SrSacaninha]

Those are nice Red Hilted Halberds, but what about THE Halberd?

[@leo86channel]

I had to concentrate really hard on this video because I was constantly distracted by how beautiful and fit the girl is

[@carl-wheezer]

Great for reference, thanks man

[@bojanvasiljevic7977]

Now I want to make a halberd for myself.

[@corbinmarshall8537]

Love all of the content! I’ve watched and learned a lot from a variety of your different videos. I’ve been looking for sparring halberds such as the ones in this video to order, do you know where I can find sparring ones to safely practice with that are made of polypropylene or a similar synthetic material? Thanks!!

Our heads are from tempus-fugitives.co.uk/. With these heads you can perform safer sparring as with steel ones but! it remains dangerous. Sparring with pole weapons remains, no matter what you use as a head more dangerous than anything else such as sword, sabel, etc.. Thrusts are hard and stiff, blows to the head extremely powerful...in the end, the most important thing that gives you safety is the careful use of the fencer/partner and a good agreement. Have fun :)

[@АлександрФедоров-х8ж]

How use this tricks in regular medieval formations like tercio or equal another? (Как использовать эти приемы в обычном средневековом строю вроде терции или им подобным?)

[@СивиСоко-с9е]

Can you try to simulate a battle for example 100vs100?

[@daylenhigman8680]

Could you do a video about glaves

[@egm01egm]

You lift your halberd for an upper strike - your opponent lunges and thrusts

[@warmastergibbon4732]

Where can I get these amazing pants?

I got mine here: highhillpants.wixsite.com/index/catalog-en

[@ajithsidhu7183]

@ how is it used against swords ,axes etc

[@Heroesflorian]

@@ajithsidhu7183 Well typically you'd either use them to bind their weapon, or throw them at their face to distract them and impair their vision, then strike at them with whatever else you are equipped with. But some people also just wear the pants for clothing instead, or so I've heard.

[@knightshousegames]

THANK YOU, I was hoping someone else was gonna say something! Everyone else out here like "this fencing is amazing!" and I'm like "Those pants are amazing!" I'd wear those pants just out and about in addition to while swordfencing

[@edirt]

MC Hammer used a similar pair, can´t remember if he used a halbeard tho 😉 but they are not that hard to make if you look at some tutorials online.

[@elcatrinc1996]

Where can i get my own pair of pink combat trousers?

[@nicholascotardo3795]

very nice! Just im a bit worried wihen u pull up your halberd to charge a hit that your opponent can easily enter and hit you simply going with a straight touch, if the opponent it smart of course

[@whoa_amazing9261]

I see. .so this is the live version of Blandir Cruz stance of my fighter in Granado Espada online.

[@Verbalaesthet]

Hopefully this can be useful for an actor playing a role in a medieval film.

[@oduneyeman]

Your gf has balls of steel to have that thing waving in her face. Very impressive run through though, you have a new fan.

[@hermitcard4494]

Those pants looks very comfortable 👍

[@jimboniusmaximus6018]

Relationship goals.

[@theswiftphil8789]

I've done alot of metal work and I test my blades on real swine leg, a halberd spike would fucking suck to eat to the face... Because often the blade faces and tapers with the spike meaning you get the blade as a thrustable tool aswell. Especially considering the possible block or dodge on an overhead strike with the spike will position the axe blade in an optimal point to thrust at the face.