Sharp demo Sletten23 - Full video

First a quick word on safety: Only fence with sharp swords if you have TOTAL confidence in your skill, and even then, you should always try it first with someone who has done it before if possible. Look closely at some of the openings we get during the bouts. The follow through is always shallow. The swords are razor sharp, and we take great care not to injure each other or ourselves. Roland, Jacob and I have many years of experience, and many hours of fencing under our belts.
Roland (Dimicator), Jacob B Johansen and I did a demonstration of sharp fencing, as well as give a walkthrough of some of our latest observations on historical fencing in the viking period. Long video of the full presentation.
8:28 sharp sword bouts Jacob and Mikkel
13:02 sharp sword bouts Roland and Mikkel
15:31 Sharp sword bouts Jacob and Roland
16:47 Manipulating the shield with the point of the sword
19:57 Using the shield boss to pin the shield edge
25:42 sword binds, and a volunteer tries a simple sword bind
31:13 Sword and shield vs 2 handed spear. difference between sharp and blunt sword
35:40 Signal quality blunt vs sharp on a spear shaft
38:00 Sharp spears
43:00 Volunteers feel the interaction between a sharp spear and a shield
49:30 Sharp spear thrust to a historical shield reconstruction

[@swordandshield]

I am very happy that we got around to do that demo, and even more so as it was well-received, and stirred just the kind of discussions I was hoping for. Special thanks to the brave camera person who kept recording for the better part of an hour.

[@123456am8]

Excellent demonstration, thank you Mikkel ! (And Roland, and the rest of your great crew). I have enjoyed watching your work on several of Roland's videos, but this time you have really given us something exceptional. I do not think there is any other film footage of Sword vs Spear using SHARPS. Watching Roland's sword cling to the spear shaft made sense ... but it's the only video that actually illustrates it, and a picture really is worth 1000 words. In responding to Mr Mk Bob you acknowledged 'I can totally understand why onlookers sometimes feel that our dance-like and cautious approach appears weak and easy to beat', but I VERY much enjoyed your justification: that 'while applying martial arts is fighting, fighting per se does not necessarily equate to martial arts.' You are very courageous to be so honest; your "The emperor has no clothes" attitude is unlikely to make you popular with HEMA practitioners who are very impressive in their 'fights' ... until one reminds oneself: oh yeah, the "winner" of this competition got "killed" 9 times, but that's 1 less time than the silver medalist. (I secretly suspect that once most medieval warriors were killed in battle, they didn't have any spare lives that allowed them to get up and carry on fighting. But I've been wrong before). I learned of your video from Roland who gave this comment which is also worth repeating: 'The psychological pressure of facing a sharp ... is a crucial aspect of ... combat that is impossible to simulate .... This is why, in sparring with blunts and protective equipment, a martial art quickly turns into combat sports where practitioners are eager to hit one another while self-preservation is often neglected....' Movies have taught us that warriors aggressively attacked and were eager to endanger themselves ... let's put sharps in the hands of some screen writers and see if they don't start writing the stories a bit differently after their first fight, eh? As for Mr Mk Bob's complaint that you didn't try hard enough to gut Roland ... well, enough said. There's merit to the discussion of the compliant 'opponent' in martial training, but I note that few people who make the complaint actually volunteer to put their own safety or their reputations on the line with a 'more realistic' demonstration. Here too you and Roland and your crew stand head and shoulders above the rest !

[@jraben1065]

Roland, I appreciate your closing comments about Formation Fighting, and the desire for "Control". In a Duel, a skillful warrior achieves a fair degree of control, adjusting when control is lost. But a line-formations battle must have been more chaotic. I imagine two skilled opponents simultaniously attacking to divide my defense. Or distant opponents throwing hand-axes and javalins while I'm already engaged. Yet Roman Legionarys trained for formation fighting, and they had "confidence", suggesting a degree of "contol". But how?

[@jraben1065]

Mikkel, I'm still thinking about Roland's question, how Viking Age shield-formations achieved "Control". Perhaps the formation is like an "organism", rather than many individuals. In Team Sports, the formation responds. Facing a scoring drive, it would be hopless if I responded as an "individual". Instead I hold to my assignment, and trust in the Team's formation. I imagine shielded warriors working in "teams", one taking a spear-hit, and his neighbor sword-binding that spear. Meanwhile the spear opponents would similarly cooperate.

[@mikkelpauli]

Perhaps. Group psychology is not the same as individual, so it is something to consider

[@levantia5492]

Keeping the shield open and trying to parry the spear with the sword is a fundamental error. Any decent contact with a sharp sword will, if not cut through the shaft immediately, will damage it to some degree and lead to its failure in subsequent contacts. That is a demonstration I did with my old re-enactment group which successfully convinced them to desist from parrying with wooden shafts.

[@luizuhtred3116]

Have you tried fighting with a sharp dane axe? To know how the sharp tip works on controlling the shield

[@swordandshield]

That would indeed be interesting, and we will definitely look into it at one point.

[@luizuhtred3116]

I'm very excited to see this! I just love the dane axe so much, and testing a sharp one would be very interesting

[@swordandshield]

@@luizuhtred3116 absolutely.

[@EntropicEcho]

@@luizuhtred3116 Not so interesting for the person who will have their limbs chopped off left and right I fear..

[@Jezezbagien]

What a pity that nothing new. ( All the same "giveaway games" with an opponent who does not really try to resist.

[@swordandshield]

Nobody knows what a medieval sword-fight looked like. Proper research derives conclusions from sources on historical swordsmanship, principles of modern/traditional martial arts & fencing, and - very important, - the surviving artefacts, plus additional research into historical combat contexts and their cultural implications. Everything else is just opinion and speculation which we are not interested in at all. Here is a relevant late medieval quote, that matches my limited experience: Swach weder stark / herte weder weich / et eqt° / Deñe solde stark weder stark syn / zo gesigt allemal der sterker / dorvm get lichtnawer fechte~ noch recht° vnd worhaftiger ku~st dar / das ey~ swacher mit syn° ku~st vnd list / als schire gesigt / mit /als ey~ starker mit syn° sterke / worvm were and°s ku~st / Dorvem fecht° lere wol füle~ / (HS. 3227a, 22v, late 14th century) Weak against strong / hard against soft / and vice versa / For if one was to respond to strength with force / then the stronger one would always win / this is why Liechtenauer’s fighting follows true and veritable art / so that a weak one with his art and stratagem / wins complete victory / just as a strong one does due to his strength / Why else would there be any art/ So for this reason, fighter, learn to sense well / Strength always helps, but it is useless without skill. In fact, I find forceful fighters very easy to beat in sword-fighting.

[@Jezezbagien]

@@swordandshield Of course, we cannot say exactly how they fought in the Viking Age. But I can't help but point out that you're just taking the instruments that are comfortable for your interpretation (which are 200 or more years late) and pass them off as some kind of study of Viking swordsmanship. I already wrote - the only more or less synchronous source, the sagas, give a different picture of fencing. Cruel and brutal. At least take the fact that many types of swords of the Viking Age weighed 1200-1400 kg and would not be suitable for such "fine" brush work. Not because of the balance, not because of the structure of the handles. Liechtenauer is a separate "story". And it's not as good as it used to be.) In addition to him, in Germany in the 15th-16th centuries there were a huge number of treatises and swordsmen. I'm just reading professional literature on this topic now))) Any fighter can be defeated. I am very interested in your research. But for so many years, I have never seen them effectively shown in real training sparring. Let in the minimum protective equipment. But where will the opponents try to emulate a fight to win. Sincerely.

[@swordandshield]

​@@Jezezbagien Well, any of the hits in the demo would have been cruel and messy if actually carried out. But in all fairness, I can totally understand why onlookers sometimes feel that our dance-like and cautious approach appears weak and easy to beat. Well, the proof is in the pudding, and we have always been open to pressure-testing, and still are. It is probably worth saying that, while applying martial arts is fighting, fighting per se does not necessarily equate to martial arts. I am not the first to say that, late medieval sources make this distinction too, e.g. when they speak of brutish combatants, or those relying on strength alone (see e.g. my quote above). As for the Icelandic sagas: Other than the archaeological finds which we have studied for decades, the sagas date from the 13th century when sword and shield design was noteably different to that of the Viking Age. Saga descriptions of fights also show the same kind of literary exaggeration well known from other contemporary prose, or from biblical fight scenes that audiences would have been quite familiar with. So while we never dismiss any sources, the sagas are by no means a reliable or even ultimate guide to execution of martial technique in the early Middle Ages.

[@swordandshield]

@@Jezezbagien Sorry, I missed to address your argument regarding the weight of Viking Age swords: Yes, indeed, there is a great variety. In fact, heavy and top heavy swords work even better for us, so we rather take this as a confirmation.

[@elgostine]

@@swordandshield what makes the higher weight VA swords more useful for this probing sort of fencing.