I once caught two guys sparring like that with synthetic swords in a park, so I sat down on a bench just like in the background and watched them for like 30 minutes
I wish more people would take up practices like this at parks. Would make it 10x easier to enjoy something OTHER than basketball without looking like a complete nerd.
Joostin Kookel yeah but if being a nerd means i can properly swing a melee weapon i will take the tag. At least im not wasting my life doing nothing like to many other people.
United forever in friendship and labour, Our mighty republics will ever endure. The Great Soviet Union will live through the ages. The dream of a people their fortress secure.
I really like the idea of using a sickle as a weapon. I know there are a lot of disadvantages to them but inward curving knives and swords like sickles, the sica and to a lesser extent the kukri and karambit. Can't wait to see more of this.
Ever tried fighting with shotel? That might be interesting to see battle against some more medieval weapons like a longsword or something paired with a shield.
Caramel Johnson How very interesting. Up to this day, I only knew it from Dark Souls and thought it was just a creation from them. Well that certainly seems like a weapon that I shall craft someday and test it out. Thanks for the useful and interesting information!
Don't you mean Great Patriotic War parade, comrade? Ruskies are not soviet anymore and they don't celebrate communist holidays in general. But they do love their imperialistic tendencies, just like USofA.
Love to see more this kind of videos showing how these weapons really use in fight! Can't wait to see more for weird weapons like scythe or swinging hammer
This is something I've been looking into for a while now, and thinking of trying out, so it's neat to know that there are companies making practice sickles, since, the alternative was going to be trying to make my own out of wood, which sounds less safe and tenable than I'd like. Nice job, Skall!
Love these sparring videos Skall! I am glad you are trying out the sickle as I have been curious about them since I saw them in one of your earlier videos.
I would love more sparring with commentary! I'm trying to learn some HEMA techniques but there isn't a club near me so watching you spar is super educational
I know this probably took a lot of time to research and prepare but if you get the chance I'd love to see more episodes like this. It's great to see such an uncommon weapon being discussed.
there is a popular fighting style using sickles in Indonesia called Carok. there is even a film about it. should check it out, theyre pros when it comes to it
sickle fighting all depends on the size of the sickle and how dexterous the wielder is, with sickles you should go for quick sweeping strikes at vital areas, it's primarily a slicing and hooking weapon, once you figure it out you can disarm your opponent and follow it up with a series of cuts and slashes at vital areas
Skallagrim It is not much about grappling it is more about dodging and trying to cut off some arms or legs from the inside.Also most sickles don't have an edge on the outside.Sickles would be at advantage against short to medium stabbing weapons.Also it will be good against light weapons with successful parry.
@Skallagrim I know this isn't related to this video but I was wondering if there were any practical uses in things such as a bladed shield, or using shields offensively...or if that is mostly fantasy and didn't have a basis on history? Your videos are awesome btw! ^_^
Watching this, arnis training makes me want to deflect, control, and strike. Not sure with the curve how well deflect works, but the short length definitely pushes the grapple and control aspects. I imagine the curve and the short length make the curve useful against some longer weapons. Looking forward to what else you do here.
I studied under a Silat Master who inherited and practices a living Sickle-fighting tradition, one he actually used back home in Indonesia. One of the common misconceptions about nearly all forms of bladed combat, though, is the unrealistic assumption that most confrontations will take the form of Duels. In fact, most knife attacks are more like assassination attempts, relying on surprise and an unsuspecting (and preferably unarmed) target. The only way to realistically defend oneself against such attacks is to develop one's Situational Awareness, basically to the point of hypervigilance, in order to afford as little opportunity to would-be attackers as possible. The main Tlurit/Sickle techniques I learned were basically sneaky and dirty, relying also on hiding the weapon in the folds of one's clothing, something much easier to do wearing traditional Indonesian gear, or a long coat, something understandably infrequent in the West. Not to say there's no value in dueling, including lots of unarmed vs. armed sparring and training, and it is admittedly fun regardless of how "realistic" it may be in most of today's world (S.E. Asia, Haiti, various Pacific Island Nations being among some of the few places where it's much more common), just as Sport Fencing and HEMA Sword are. FWIW.
maybe i'm mistaken or its editing but you can see you've gotten in better shape since your accident in this video. :) congrats and huzzah for recovery!
ehm i saw a german sword art school battle a year ago. there were sickles used in both hands and i was quite impressing how good they work against greater swords. one weapon to parry/grab the opponents weapon, the other sickle grabs your opponents neck or leg and the fight is over. maybe give this a try and make another video.
this seems like a kind of combat that would have something for the arm, being a close quarters combat you would expect it to be more like boxing than fencing, so you would expect something in the off hand, another scythe/sickle (think when they are small like that it's a sickle) or a buckler or just a nice gauntlet or nightstick..something to help you get inside their attack range safely.
on madura island, indonesia, and almost in eastern java island, use this tool for work on field , forrest, rice field, etc, also use for confrontation....try search "carok madura"
I would recommend to try using the sickles in an icepick grip although this is not shown in the manuals. Why? From the blade (and the original use) sickles are pretty close to a karambite knife, and in Silat (philipenean martial arts), where the karambite as a weapon origins from (sorry for terrible grammar), the karambite is used in an icepick grip. Just try it
I had some practise with a pair of kamas a few years back.They had long shafts about the same length as most nunchucks I've see with a slightly curved blade at the top, not as curved as these sickles but obviously meant for the same kind of work originally before being used as as weapons. Watching this got me wondering how much crossover in technique there might be between these weapons.
I have a pair if sickles from my granfather. They will still work today, I clear the rust and oil them regulary. Now I want to learn some moves with them :)
was gonna say utility outside of combat, but that's not a good point cus knives and hatchets also have that. But i'm not aware enough about this kind of thing to know.
I don't see any, to be honest. In fact, the only difference I can think of at all is that you can't put down as much force with a sickle, as it's not straight as a dagger. Perhaps it inflicts deeper wounds on shallow hits, as the sickle is shaped like a hook or something, but I'm not sure on that one.
Theoretically, you could use a sickle to grapple / control limbs in a way that you could not (or at least, would be extremely difficult) with a knife... you could also use a hatchet in the same sort of controlling way, but sickles would also be capable of cutting with the inside edge (possible severing tendons or ligaments if you catch an unarmored opponent in a good spot)... ultimately, I think sickle fighting is a novel concept and probably more done for the sake of "let's see if we can do this" than actually attempting to use it as a combat weapon. Another possibility is that a sickle may be something a poor farmer could expect to carry, and thus would make training with it somewhat more viable (sort of like how most Japanese "ninja weapons" are really just farming tools)... I'd probably prefer to use a knife than a sickle if I had to choose one to fight with, but a sickle could potentially be a really neat side-arm to replace a sword-breaker or a buckler in a duel, as it would give you a lot of close-range control options All of that being said, I have never once attempted to use a sickle to do anything other than cut plants, so I'm not exactly an expert on fighting with one lol
also, I imagine a sickle has a somewhat longer reach than most knives, and it's significantly lighter / easier to handle than an axe or hatchet (because of the distribution of the weight)... so it may be slightly "longer range" than the knife and slightly faster / more reactive and maneuverable than the hatchet
I agree. It was ,as far as I know, illiegal for farmers to carry swords and they could not afford them or even a good dagger if they were poor. But of course every farmer has a sickle. For the royal people it was of course still only a new way to waste time
those short Sickles would be a Weapon you could problably use effectively for dual welding, due to the shape should work well for catching the opponent weapon
Would it be usefull (for combat situations) to sharpen the outside of the sickle aswell? Or would it weaken the blade to much? Really interested in that, I hope to see more sick(le) videos :)
I think learning how to use the Sickle by studying fighting systems that use recurve blades would be far more proficient than studying it from fencing manuals. I mean i'm not "dissing" the medieval manuals, but those fighting systems are still used and viable today, so you can be pretty sure they work. Filipino martial arts are really specialized in using these kinds of weapons in close quarter combats, that might be the best source
perhaps close in grappling and tendons as targets rather like fighting with a karambit very interesting though, would the sickles have been single edged or double?
Could it be possible that the inverse grip can be used to emulate a Karambit fighting style? Maybe some moves from that martial art can be applied to the sickle.
Good vid. Gave me some ideas(ideas are usually good). Good luck finding "cheap" land for training so you don't have to fence at the local park(unless you are into that)
Hi, Iil be visiting Rome and Venice in a month or so, I was wondering if there are any sword shops there that sell high quality medieval swords? Thanks in advance.
sickles seem like almost a mixture of a shield and a side arm because it definitely has defensive capabilities as well as quick attacks to me it seems like it would pair up nicely with an arming sword
So was using a sickle ever a viable weapon for personal defense, or was it purely for dueling only? I would think it would be for dueling purposes only, but I don't know. It is much like a knife just with a curved blade with the edge on the inside.
Leonlx I do not think they were really used in duels that much, its more of a curiosity. Since its only mentioned in Hector Mair's books, which mention quite a few curiosities, its probably a save assumption. But as always, we can never be certain at all.
Reminds me of Watching Doug Marcaida's Kali Demo's. I think you hit the nail on the head that you have to use more Knife fight Techniques like using the other hand to ward off blows instead of keeping it at your hip. Just my two cents.
I noticed you were doing a lot of footwork in this video. Do you use dancing to improve your footwork or do you do the stuff you thought was boring that you mentioned in a video a few months back?
Perhaps in treatises you see the duelists with their hands on their hips so they're not presenting another target but the hand isn't too far away for grappling, as opposed to being behind the back. Yes, you open the body to being a target, but with such in close fighting losing the ability to grapple is a serious enough disadvantage to ensure that the arm is out of the way. A good slice off one of those sickles could do a lot of damage! What have you learnt in the last 8 months since posting this video?
How flexible are the sickles? One of the main issues we have had with the sickles and simulators that we use is that they just hit to hard with the point over a very small surface area with no flex.
Hey so I saw your video on issues with fantasy swords, and it got my thinking. What about keyblades from kingdom hearts? How effective or ineffective do you think they would be?
Would lowering your stance even further reduce the exposition of your head when attacking low? Well, it would probably increase the exposition of one's own legs,
Something I wonder seeing this is if it was common to have a smaller or even equal-sized sickle in the offhand to hook a limb to pull it to the side to attack with the other. Yes, you can just grab with your hand, but that presents your hand much more as a target it would seem. I get dual-wielding swords and most other weapons is usually just cheese and pointless, but with these, it seems to be quiet logical to improve the ability to hook limbs. Any known precedence for it?
Skall, have you ever thought of making an instructional video series? Obviously an actual instructor working with you is irreplaceable, but just something to get someone going on their own if they are having trouble finding a place to learn HEMA. I know you're fairly familiar with longsword fighting, so hearing instruction from someone who uses terminology I know (because I only watch your HEMA vids really) would be a nice thing to see.
I wonder if on top of the techniques the manual suggests if you would sharpen the outside edge and used it in some of the same ways you would use a Karambit in some situations it may be more effective?
Have you tried throwing sickles? I had a -toy- _practice_ sickle as a kid, and the damn thing was frightening when you threw it either vertically or horizontally.
I'd like to see how a sickle like that would fare against a sword. Maybe two sickles dual wielded since a sickle would be at a disadvantage due to the short range. Maybe you can use one sickle to catch the sword and strike with the other.
