Staff Sparring - Nick vs Artur (Meyer short staff)

[@kevinlobos5519]

Omg i love to find staff sparring for HEMA, it is so rare compared to swords, i have been following this channel for a while and i'm so glad to see you are tackling the mighty stick, please keep these coming.

[@louisjolliet3369]

Cool stuff. Probably one of the best open-field weapons. So simple yet huge reach, good speed, devastating impact and very reliable. I would put my money on the staff before any type of sword.

[@Priestbokmei1]

An excellent demonstration of Meyer single end staff use. It was good to see the staff used with both left hand on top and right hand on top. Also, it was good to see these two level headed talented people not trying to maul and batter each other! Great teaching video. I hope these guys make a dvd on this staff. Thank you for posting this excellent video.

[@IndividualFreeman5475]

Oh yes, one of my wish list I would like to see!

[@labbyshepherdpuppy5943]

Good thing you’re wearing gloves, hand strikes from those things must be brutal

[@AcademyofHistoricalFencing]

Yes indeed, but nothing as bad as an actual hard wood staff, which delivered crippling power. These hit with about the force of a black fencer synthetic training sword.

[@LordSoulSicarious]

How are you handling the matter of striking with requisite force? I've run into issues trying to get the balance between "not actually bludgeoning my partner through their gear" and "building up enough momentum that I *could* injure someone if I was using a full weight staff and not pulling my blows." Especially in any kind of competitive sparring, where determining the validity of strikes matters.

[@AcademyofHistoricalFencing]

Principally by not using full weight staffs. They are rattan, so they have a fair bit of give and are a lot lighter than hard woods. Hardwood staffs can really only be used with very carefully controlled contact. We only use hardwood for some spears where no blows are being used, and for some low contact polearm stuff. The striking power of a hard wood pole is simply immense.

[@HebaruSan]

Don't skip staff day

[@Rain-if6wk]

To me, it's a bit strange that more people choose longsword over something like staffs and spears. In my opinion longer weapons like these are more fun to use.

[@AcademyofHistoricalFencing]

The sword has, and always will have a special draw. They are heavily romanticised, and often were in their period.

[@ilyaibrahimovic9842]

@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing it's not just in the West. Modern Japanese fiction tends to romanticize it too as a technical weapon by which masters overwhelm weapon and even biological advantages with sheer skill. But to return to real battles, isn't the spear a formation weapon? Sword and shield are perfectly capable of combatting a polearm 1v1 if Lindybeige is correct, so it's potentially one less weapon to learn.

[@somediver9925]

I came to this video looking for Bo Staff sparring tech... Very nice guys... very nice.

[@Tito_Viera]

Guys my b-day is in november, but I can tell you many thanks. I like to know more of the english style of use the staff (you know, everybody knows only asian styles) Is just beautiful watch your sparring.

[@coreycollins6703]

I've been waiting in this one for a while now

[@RobertLisac]

Hey, I have to try this! This looks really cool. Thank you for the inspiration.

[@grendelgrendelsson5493]

Excellent video. Very enjoyable indeed.

[@DwarfElvishDiplomacy]

Good staff right there

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

I'll show you the exit door

[@DwarfElvishDiplomacy]

@@jestfullgremblim8002 i would leave but the academy is rather short staffed right now

[@oldmanstillcan]

Nice work!

[@Goatboysminion]

The interesting thing is, in Australia you could probably get away with defending yourself and home, fighting like this. Swords, probably not so much!

[@epic0wnag]

How long are these “short staffs” exactly?

[@AcademyofHistoricalFencing]

Six foot. The Meyer/Mair short staff is around 5-7 foot. As opposed to a typical English quarter staff for example, that would be 7-8, sometimes even a bit more.

[@xxxxxx5868]

@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing What would be the ideal staff length? As tall as the user, or a bit taller or shorter?

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

@@xxxxxx5868 i'd say that the ideal would be a bit taller than the user

[@icysamurai1485]

You wouldn't deprive an old man of his walking stick!

[@brandonfarfan1978]

Staff fighting. Cool!😃

[@oasisflame]

5:16 a real anime moment

[@AUTOBOTGJB1997]

Sabre and Bowie vs Rapier and Dagger. Pretty please....

[@Appachoppa112]

Mans weapons: sticks n stones

[@normtrooper4392]

Nick, I noticed that in these videos you don't seem to be wearing any lower leg protection. Are you moving away from that in general because you find it more of a hindrance or are you wearing plates under those socks?

[@AcademyofHistoricalFencing]

I'm now wearing armour under the socks. I got sick of straps breaking on those worn outside. The straps snag on things and buckles can get damage quite easily. So I moved over to use the Adidas lux guards shown below. They are fantastic. They fir perfectly to the calf, really slimline, but they actually offer loads of protection, more than my previous guards did, in coverage and impact protection. www.total-hockey.com/en/gb/Adidas-2018-LUX-Shinguard/m-5433.aspx

[@normtrooper4392]

@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing fascinating. I have only been wearing knee guards myself because I grew a bit frustrated by leg guards slipping down all the time. So far it's not really been a problem with the level of sparring but, I'm glad to hear that there is another option

[@AcademyofHistoricalFencing]

@@normtrooper4392 Yeh I hear you. These have no slip at all.They form to the calf and have zero movement. I'll review them soon. But in short, they're super light, comfortable and provide loads of protection.

[@normtrooper4392]

@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing That's excellent news. I really hope I can get them here.

[@UCDupleix]

Red guy very solid.

[@rasnac]

Reminds me of Jogo do Pau

[@frederico4d]

:(

[@Ara-_-Sso]

Could we use Spears the same way like staff?

[@AcademyofHistoricalFencing]

Absolutely. The form we are using here, Meyer's short staff, is a universal system for all two handed pole weapons, included spear/partizan, halberd etc. It's just that hookng actions get added when you have an axe like blade or similar. The only thing to consider when using a spear in two hands is that the point is now signicantly more damaging than the blunt percussion of the haft, and so you'd want to thrust more to take advantage of that fact, but the techniques would remain the same.

[@omari2306]

The blow at minute 8:27 could've been harder if he stablized better his rear foot, whati mean is, to keep the rear foot well grounded when commiting into a blow, it's like in boxing, fencing resembles boxing some bit and hand to hand striking sports, if you do not keep your rear foot well grounded your blows are not gonna hit as hard as you might wish and your form is not gonna be clean and your stance breaks, because the force of your blow moves your body forwards and thus it breaks the stance, we have to keep the rear foot allways well grounded when commiting into a blow, thus, our stance doesn't break. I studied Jack Dempsey's book, trust me, weight management is important, for fencing and hand to hand striking. Good blow tho, nice.

[@NuggetsForBrains5]

Where can you buy these

[@benashurov7434]

Hey, thank you for the video. Where did you get your quarterstaffs?

[@AcademyofHistoricalFencing]

Rattan bo staffs. The ones we are using are linked below. They're light and flexible, making them a lot safer than hard woods. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rattan-Bo-Staff-Tiger-Paw-Design-Flexible-Staff-72-6FT-Bo-Staff/151096458524?hash=item232e0cfd1c:g:Y1UAAOxyoeBSANKy

[@benashurov7434]

@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing Thanks a lot!

[@benashurov7434]

@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing Wanted to ask. Ive been reading up on Mayers guards, and it seems like he recommends to have the left leg out. From the video it seems like you guys have inverted the guard. Is that correct?

[@cipmaster1]

@@AcademyofHistoricalFencing Do you thinkrattan has enough force to be used as a weapon? I mean if the strikes with full commitment could break bones like a oak or ash staff will

[@MaDmanex100]

@@cipmaster1 strikes to the head perhaps and there is always the weakspots, Though id say unlikely It would hurt as hell though and people have probably been killed by one in history.

[@Canal_Marte]

Which material this short staff is made of?

[@AcademyofHistoricalFencing]

Rattan

[@abrahamtorres5275]

Distance its okay, moves are okay. Congratulations!

[@dimitrizaitsew1988]

Dane axe when?

[@grsshppr7659]

Staves have two ends. Both ends are the weapon. Why only use half the weapon??? It's the reason you're only moving at 2/3 speed. This is more like pointless spear fighting. Pointless as in lacking the tip, but it works as a pun the other way. Not bad for spear fighting, tho. Should try more thrusting, even with a staff. Even if you only use it like a spear.

[@AcademyofHistoricalFencing]

Yeh you can use both ends, it happens in the video, but it is tactially a choice you want to make. We are working from Meyer staff, where there are use of the other end, but only a small amount. The majority is done using the reach of the staff. There is certainly a lot of thrusting in Meyer staff, but then there is plenty in thie video too.

[@grsshppr7659]

Yes, I did see the thrusting, but I took it mostly for measuring and feint. Maybe just camera angle? I was waiting for either of you, just for a lark, to punch the butt end of stave into the other's facemask. Many times it would have been as simple as pressing current momentum. And fast also, like cracrack versus the usual crack, crack tempo. Sometimes I do that with my partners just to keep out of routine, to stay on the learning edge of things, as it were.

[@Sfourtytwo]

@@grsshppr7659 if you use both ends you only have half the range and stand pretty much square to your opponent.

[@jordanreeseyre]

Meyer staff appears to emphasize using the reach of your staff and occasionally using butt strikes rather than the common image of wielding a staff about its midpoint.

[@Sfourtytwo]

@@jordanreeseyre Off the cuff I don't know any historic source that does the brother tuck style...you have any?