medieval swordfighting techniques

 

You can see comparing it to the two staged fights above the difference between staged and real fighting. Real fights swordsmen are much further apart out of range of the opponents sword and much more slow and considerate at looking for openings.

Just like the difference between Olympic wrestling and WWF, eh?

A good staff fighter, fast and nimble of movement, could still have beaten an average swordsman. Whip his leg, his arm, his ribs, his neck, his head or his face, real good, then wrest his sword. Then ... voila! ... the 'country bumpkin' is now ... a swordsman!

 

As a matter of interest, the basic strokes are practically almost the same, therefore almost interchangeable. Except that obviously you can't stab or slice with a staff.

 

While i agree with you, we must remember one thing. These two are adult guys in middle age and this is their hobby. In the past people were starting their fencing lessons since childhood and probably practicing it everyday. It wasnt a sport or hobby like today but the matter of life. Especially in countries like Poland when duels were not forbidden by law... at least sbre duels. In 16-17th century Poland it was only forbidden to use some kind of warhammers called "czekan". But the fact that Polish-Lithuanian parliament issued over 20 bills prohibiting this weapon means that people were still using them.

 

This is the weapon called in Polish "czekan" or "nadziak"

 

K. Prolly flushed it up with chi.

 

So, the Jō stick was invented by someone named Musō Gonnosuke, was it? Wonder if he was a Muslim, or maybe a Jew. The name, you see, Musa, or Moshe.

 

In 1900 the Minister of War defended the practice in the Reichstag on the grounds that without it there was no way to deter immediate bloodshed when  insults were exchanged. Unwillingness to fight was considered cowardice. Count Ledrowski of the Austria-Hungary General Staff was asked to resign his commission when he advised a Lt. to not fight a duel. By this time the epee had become the dueling weapon of the country, but in army circles and throughout Austria the Saber was the weapon of choice.

Naval officers stuck to the cutlass.

In Germany in this period, about 20% of duels resulted in death. Often, what appeared as a minor blood-letting ended in death. Even if no internal organs were injured, the ragged wound would result in a fatal infection. Duelists typically would be sure to drain their bladders befor a fight and not eat before, in an effort to limit infection. Nevertheless, most died long after the fight.

Loss of blood was perhaps the greatest fatal danger. Deep cuts to the head or torso were difficult to treat. Embolism, suffocation and collapsed lungs were formidable consequences.

 

-info from By the Sword, Richard Cohen.