A lot of people here seem to think things should have gone differently... By all means, get involved and earn your place as a judge, until then, stop trying to do their job. It's disrespectful.
I didn't expect those last cuts made by James Clark I understand is his name, the waistcoat competitor, to be so powerfull and effective. I am concerned someday someone is going to lose the grip of his sword in this crowded audience. It happens in baseball, tenis etc. I'm a worrier
Such has happened at other similar events - there has been at least one fatality, in Sweden, quite a few years back. You have a fine example here as well (fortunately, no injuries): /watch?v=1b_P879EEQY It tends to be a rookie mistake, however, as was the case in the link above.
I like how you are humble and help clean up after the cuts. Menial tasks like that are utterly necessary and nobody should feel they are above them. I also see Sean Franklin in this video, did you guys manage to talk to each other and exchange opinions?
Considering the difficulty of these cuts I'm quite impressed with these gentlemen's performance. I wish I could've gone to this event since it would have been both educational and enjoyable.
I LOVE the broad blade on Jake's Albion Principe. I wonder if it handles like a hand and a half sword, due to it's stoutness but the broadness can probably make up the extra weight making it not as effective in one hand as say a Mercenary from Albion.
Luckily for me, Alaska abounds in "natural tatami" targets. Devil's Club and Poison Celery. Both of which penalize you for improper cuts in their own deliciously natural ways. I slew a GREAT many of them with a 22 inch Galivian latin machete from the age of reason to now. I've broken one, and someone else broke another =( But those blades are like excalibur to me, or like the Kokiri/Master sword to Link, how I love them! I haven't found a real replacement, America is gimped on melee the way the rest of the world is gimped on firearms.
Please could somebody clarify to me, how are results made in the competition of this type. Is there a jury, or it was done solely by some measurement? In my humble uneducated opinion gentleman of the utmost left should have won.
Hey guys, do you know what is is that guy on the right at 1:40 using for leg/shin protection at video "FightCamp 2015 standart tournament rules - historical fencing"? i want to buy a long gambeson because i have problems of people hitting me into shins.
I feel like the skinny young guy had his elbows and arms out way too far for it to be realistic. Although I could be totally wrong, I don't know anything about cutting. That's just how it appeared.
So I'm not sure exactly what the objective is here, or how to tell who's doing well, but in general I'm guessing you're supposed to cut through all of the weird rolled-up things cleanly and not knock anything over? So I guess it takes a lot of speed and accuracy with the angle of the blade.
Rolled up tatami mat. You're right. Cut must be both quick, and edge alignment have to be perfect. Sounds simple enough, but what these people show are years of hard work.
Does being big and strong help with the cut at all? Or is strength only for maintaining the proper stances? Are cuts like this practical for an actual sword fight?
Cognitive Instinct strength does help, and yes, cuts like this are practical in combat. When cutting, blade orientation is a must. Improper blade orientation will result in hitting, not cutting (this is what happen when the cutting stand fall)
Gloin79 because there is no standard from history, longsword are a lot like guns in that regard as they are catalogued by type, which is determined by blade geometry. gilts and pommels have their own specific types.
Gloin79 max weight of longsword is 1.8kg. It is stated by german masters. I this competion blades above 1.8kg or 130cm were prohibited. So heres your amswer: nobody brought such blades you described. And lol, even two-handers dont weight 3kg.
does it ever happen that somebody loses grip of their sword? seems that it could be a dangerous situation with so many people all around in every direction.
Hey Matt, what do you think about throwing a circular shield offensively like a frisbee á la Captain America? Random question but I've always been curious about it.
Well it would certainly hit and hurt someone. Though most shields you cannot let go of them that easily, as they're attached to the arm by two or more straps. The exception being boss-gripped shields from the Viking era and earlier.
scholagladiatoria Would a shield-throwing attack be practical in a one-on-one fight, assuming you had the strength to knock someone out, or would you just lose a shield and end up empty handed?
Armexius Productions All of these are longswords. They weight roughly the same. Yes, some of these had advantages. Broader blades are sharper, so as you can see winners had an advantage.
Matt, do you have any insight for us into how the point system works for the cutting tournament? Does knocking the stand over mean you get no points at all despite having cut through a mat, for example?
Knocking over is indeed zero points. They are looking for cleanliness of the cut, the angle of the cut and the action of the tatami. The best cut is straight, on the correct angle, and the tatami just dropping down next to the stand. If the tatami goes flying you have force going outwards which is not good. Bad angles and scalloped cuts is lack of edge control.
That gives some insight into why points are awarded, thank you. Do you also happen to know the amount of points that can be awarded? Is it something like a jury holding up 1 - 10 point signs, in the end totalling to a score?
+SunBreaker Films Well, cos, his name's Matt, and "practising by chopping Matts in half", a tragic misunderstanding could ensue... I apologise, I'll now leave the internet forever.
LOL. i somehow didn't realise the pun. I thought you were some elitist weirdo being like "test cutting on matts isn't a proper way to demonstrate realistic technique, blah blah blah" hahaha
thank you for that. Do you think the shape is perhaps prime for this type of cutting contest? They seemed to be the only blades (or skilled sword users) able to cut deep through the wrack of 4 horizontally stacked mats.
The guy on 1:10 is the only one doing things right. He probably would wreck these other fools on an actual combat. Me included because I dont know shit.
In my first day of fencing class I told my teacher: “I like everybody helps everybody”. He answered me: “I like they hug each other”. Impressive cuts all of them.
What stops a sword coming loose and hitting someone or is that very unlikely? Sweaty competition hands? A Faulty sword grip? Nervous spasms? Maybe a cage might be an idea...or everyone in the crowd has to bring a shield :D
I loved the vid and I watched it five times already. However one thing worries me - no matter how skillfull these men are (and they are), they could lose grip on their sword any moment. Even a master can make a mistake, get a cramp, sneeze at the exact wrong moment, etc. etc. And if sharp blade capable to cut three tatami mats went flying through the air, it could seriously injure or even kill someone. There should be some protective barrier (like arrow catching net, or plexi wall) in the line of the swing between the competitor and spectators and judges, or enough distance (although I imagine the sword could fly quite a few meters with such powerfull swings). I am suprised there were not more obvious and readily visible safety measures, given this happened in USA with their shitty health care system where anyone potentially injured would almost certainly have no other option than to sue the event organizers in order to be able to pay the hospital bill.
😀 although what is true is, they apply force with both hand, that makes the edge zigzag and deviate when cutting. I saw also there were cuts made with the center of the sword and that probably also helps to not cut properly.
