Steel Sword & Buckler vs Longsword - Experimental

Stephen Kime (at the time of this video) is ranked 14th in the world for Sword and Buckler, and we had Erik Bailey over for the weekend. We figured we could make some good stuff happen.
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Weapons used in video:
▶ Longsword: Castille Armoury Mark 5
▶ S&B - SGT Blades Arming Sword, Cold Steel Buckler
Music:
Killers Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

[@jeffreymundell6954]

1:38 that dude in the background got rekt

[@cerealkiller7143]

It seems like it is actually a woman.

[@jeffreymundell6954]

Hm...it does. Still, she got wacked

[@virdictj]

CEREAL KILLER i call women dude all the time lol, even my wife sometimes if I get excited about something 😄

[@chickensandwich1589]

hahahahaha... that was funny

[@yoursexualizedgrandparents6929]

The medius, probably the worst place to get hit with a stick.

[@blacknode]

That exchange was beautiful, just by looking at them I learned new things...

[@Avitaser]

Longsword fights may have been fairly common...Long sword fights, not so much.

[@moki4895]

Sorry it took someone so long to give this comments it’s due attention 🧎🏾

[@alexadamson9959]

Very funny. And very true.

[@secutorprimus]

My club tends to like to do mixed weapon fights, we do it for fun quite often.

[@monkeyishi]

ever run the numbers of the out comes from different styles?

[@secutorprimus]

We haven't actually tried that yet, mostly because we have a small minority that doesn't do just longsword. :/

[@monkeyishi]

its not like the numbers are too hard core more just a general sketch as to what weapon set does better against what. more a curiosity thing. do you have a favoured match up?

[@secutorprimus]

monkeyishi Not really, yet, but I haven't been looking out for it. I will next class

[@torrinmaag5331]

I wish I was that skilled at anything XD

[@scottmacgregor3444]

Getting that skilled takes a lot of time and effort. I just started HEMA a few months ago. There's a world of difference between me and someone like Erik, Stephen, or Lee Smith. They have years and years and years of training and experience over me, so I try not to compare myself to them. Rather, I compare myself to how I was a month ago. Maybe some day, but not without that time and effort.

[@bobu5213]

Nice to see some thought out plays rather than the 3 second games we see in tournaments with longsword where people just rush in

[@steevemartial4084]

Yeah I love mixed weapons ! Especially when the combination likely happened in history. PS : You have some very skilled fighters at B&I.

[@fluffypinkpandas]

These plays were juicy. I felt it.

[@viktorkachovski5252]

We do this regularly at the club :) The longsworder should seek more point oriented work, buckler is better at closer range.

[@Chaosism]

Viktor Kachovski Do you guys employ any grappling in this setup?

[@Tkoutlosh]

By your experience... in this setup... is longsword slightly stronger choice than sword and buckler?

[@viktorkachovski5252]

Both are viable and depend on the skill of the wielder. Grappling situations do happen as well, there are some nice underarm grabs that both can employ effectively.

[@steevemartial4084]

What size of longsword do you use ? I wonder if it makes a difference.

[@viktorkachovski5252]

Regeneyi standard blunt, it turns a bit quicker than the feder for training and a regenyei standard feder for tournaments. I prefer the blunt really.

[@derekburge5294]

This is wonderful content! I'd love to see more asymmetrical fighting.

[@ShagShaggio]

Yes! Love this!

[@PineappledoesnotbelongonPizza2]

Why can't Hollywood make fight scenes like this? This is way better then the fake looking choreography you see in movies.

[@nowthenzen]

and once again another principal of melee weapon combat demonstrated, a shield, any shield offers a considerable advantage.

[@bentrieschmann]

I have done a few mixed weapon fights at my club, mostly longswords versus either sidesword or sword and buckler. For sword and buckler, controlling distance against the buckler user is the biggest thing I have learned. With me typically being the buckler user, getting in close and controlling their sword even for a second usually goes better for me than the longsworder.

[@ulasgursoy2838]

These type of experiment videos are amazing. Can you do a polish sabre vs longsword next?

[@Xephisto]

Ulaş Gürsoy this would be very interesting to me

[@Corellon666]

From my experience against fighters with shields (I know, a shield behaves other than a buckler, but that is not the point) I must say it is useful to use the better reach you have with the longsword, so you can fight more defensively. A better reach always means you have the better reaction, because you can react in the time, the opponent must step in your direction. And second, althogh it is not very beautiful, you have the pure force of two hands. Hard strikes, where you use motions that lay your bodyweight in the strike, are nearly unblockable with one hand. Especially in the case of the buckler. A buckler is perfekt in deflecting a strike, what works well against quick strikes with the tip. But if you make very hard hits, like you often see on cutting-tests, the deflection is not strong enough to glance the blow of and you more or less just wipe away the buckler.

[@grailknight6794]

derFaust yes but as you see the guy blocks hard blocks with the sword rather then thebuckler...the sword can defend aswell braced on the buckler making it very strong as you saw on a couple times in the footage

[@Corellon666]

That is why it makes sense to concentrate on the left side of the opponent, especially arm and neck. The buckler can not protect the left elbow or upper arm, so you force the opponent to block with the sword. But then you get all the advantages you have with a longsword against a single sidesword. Also, if you concentrate on reaction, rather than action, in the moment the s&b fighter attacks, he is very vulnerable against a counter on his left side and it is easier to find a gap in his defense, because of the longer reaction time, the longsword gives you.

[@breaden4381]

A sword won't glance off of many historical bucklers. Cold steel bucklers don't simulate how a sword bites and binds into it. That being said, George Silver says that a two handed sword has the advantage over sword and buckler.

[@funzies2577]

derFaust i kind of half agree. sometimes i fight with steel messer vs longsword and surprisingly it can hold its own well, even when blocking. One exception is when i fight some guy in my club that is like 70lbs heavier than me, and it becomes a bit hard on the wrist to block.

[@Corellon666]

silver also says, that the smallsword (or was it the shortsword?) has the advantage over the rapier... and that is bullshit in my opinion ;)

[@merfall2224]

Excellent

[@Dragoon876]

I would love to see more of this, including ways to get around shields in general when using only a longsword. I realize that may not have been common historically if it even happened at all but as a LARPer I look to historical fencing for my fighting techniques and it's always a pain going against shields especially the large viking types.

[@chickensandwich1589]

Rapier and dagger VS longsword would be interesting for sure... Rapier and buckler VS arming sword and buckler too.

[@Druid_Ignacy]

This was really nice :)

[@pierrewilliam7119]

Great to watch and to learn from ! Idk why this is not more common among swordsmen

[@orsettomorbido]

SO AMAZING! °_°

[@leviethen]

Gotta krump that buckler hand

[@kobe51]

Great 👍

[@vedymin1]

Legs are closer than you might expect...i always smirk when someone says "just retract it and hit the sucker in the head" ....easier said than done. You have to shift your whole weight do that and legs are slower than hands. Some leg parries would be in order.

[@thedarwinist672]

What kind of sword goes with the buckler?

[@PandemicalShade]

Where are those leg protectors from? They look suuuper long!

[@erikbailey2525]

Baseball catcher's leg guards.

[@rexmcstiller4675]

Can you make a video? Kendo vs. HEMA?

[@HEMASimian]

Rex McStiller if we do something like that we really want to make sure we bring in the right people. Maybe somewhere down the line :)

[@vengefulone5725]

There is just far more opportunities for single time counters, nothing beats sword and buckler except rapier and dagger.

[@breaden4381]

George Silver also said that longsword has the advantage over s&b.

[@virdictj]

Braden Vande Plasse armored or unarmored?

[@nicopetri3533]

It would make sense, if sword and buckler was more effective. Since the Two handed swords(or better long swords) were used with a little more protection, weren't they? Btw. I really like your videos.

[@bearnial975]

I really like to spar against longsword with my sword and buckler and just a heads up, your buckler will get wrecked. I know it's obvious but what I mean is that your buckler will sustain more damage in a single session against longsword than multiple sessions against another sword and buckler

[@daaaah_whoosh]

In my experience fighting longsword against sword and buckler, basically the idea is to engage their sword and then work around it, and avoid the buckler at all costs (otherwise they will free their sword and stab/cut you). I almost find it worse fighting buckler alone, because chances are you can't hit them in your first strike, and that's all they need to run up and tackle you. In general I don't like fighting against a shielded opponent, it's a great defensive tool but I feel like it turns swordfights into punch-and-grapple fights. Maybe I just haven't fought them enough yet though.

[@kieranlock3070]

Im sorry but how do you term whats good and bad contact? The first strike from the sword and buckler was mid torso and did not count, because it was a slice or a slash? Because eriks furst point seemed the exact same cut but on the left? Great vid though guys!

[@erikbailey2525]

There was barely any contact, it would not have been an effective strike as it just barely grazed me. My first hit, on the other hand would have caused a debilitating injury had it been a real sword.

[@kieranlock3070]

Ah, it seemed like it was a like for like strike. My bad! Fucking erik bailey replied to me, awesome day!

[@PandemicalShade]

The fencers themselves always know best. This is no tournament scenario, fortunately.

[@the_grimreaper4351]

Bruh at 1:36 got folded like a lawn chair

[@aidan-san3756]

I'd likely use a small round shield or a 20" buckler (basically the same thing) but if you want to use a frisbee go ahead I guess but don't be surprised when ya dead

[@Onlyfamoli]

1:38 kid in the back

[@ivanpena583]

Darksouls becomes reality

[@KraequhoS]

I know the point of a duel is to win, whatever the way. But for an experimental fight, I'm quite disappointed to see the Sword/Buckler combo being defensive only. The only move we've seen was parry/dodge, riposte... That's not that interesting...

[@user-fq8kk6xp2e]

"For the first time they tried mixed weapon?.." OK, I guess that probably explains why such a high-ranked fighter performs so bad. Yes, youtube, this is bad. I mean - the longsworder in the last encounter didn't even continue his attack to opponent's neck, thus losing the fight. I know that this sport is new and so one, but if the description isn't just plainly lying - these are top-tier fighters; and any person trained in kenjutsu for a year would just destroy both. Western martial arts deserve better, I believe... Look, guys, I didn't want to be rude, and I don't want to bush on what you are doing. I probably wouldn't even be writing it, if you weren't boasting in the description about your regals: sorry guys, but if this are top competition fighters - that only means that competition they fought suck. OK, I get it, probably they knew how to fight against equally armed opponents much better, but the mistakes they make are more about the basics. Movements are madly linear, distance is madly close, zero understanding on how close quarter work (probably no clinch allowed?), stances and guards are used randomly... In my personal and strictly subjective experience this mostly comes from mixed weapon training - after you work with a sword against a spear for only about a year, you become much better at keeping distance even in sword/sword fight; after only a year of work with a sword against a Dane axe you become much better at clinch work in sword/sword fight etc. So, I hope that you will continue to practice mixed weapon sparring, and continue improving as martial artists - i know, it's hard to do when you can easily tell yourself "Well, I do well even on international level competitions, so I guess I'm good enough!" But the problem, as in seems, is that this right now mostly speaking about the competition level, not yours( Also, consider cross-training in the unarmed martial art of your choice... In my - again, strictly personal and subjective experience, you become much better weapon fighter if you have good basics - and unarmed styles give you this. Also, it mostly gives you a better level of competition Cheers, good luck with your training, and sorry if I was too​ harsh, or to critical on you or your art. It might be that if I met one of this guys with a sword I would be beaten with ease. But what I've seen here, I did not like; and I thought you might need some fresh air after all the praises of your skill in the comment section)

[@JustGrowingUp84]

Dude, that's waaaay too much work for a trolling comment!

[@user-fq8kk6xp2e]

Maybe because that's not a "trolling comment?) "Dude"?))

[@HungLe-km2wo]

Андрей Кравченко Well to me it IS a trolling comments

[@user-fq8kk6xp2e]

Well, it seems you know much more than me about​ trolling comments...

[@breaden4381]

They fought in specialized tournaments with weapons and techniques that are specific to what they study. Most manuals teach techniques for a X vs X not X vs Y/A/H. The fighters are very good at what they do. You can't expect them to be amazing at something they don't train for.