Getting started with longsword combat (not staged)
Here is how I started my journey; I started by first
watching Game of Thrones. In Game of thrones,
I was fascinated with the duels, each of the duels was showcasing a lot of
different weapons being used, and my personal favorite became the longsword
(bastard). From the show, I started
researching into how I can get involved with this, I found out my university
has a fencing club and I decided to join them to get a feel for how to fight
with swords. After about 4 months I
found out that there was a pretty big difference between fencing and what they
did in the show, so I asked my head instructor where I can learn to fight with
a longsword, and he recommended for me to go to the Society of Creative Anachronism
(SCA). Currently, I am a general member of
the SCA and when I graduate I will look for a Historical European Martial Arts
(HEMA) Club.
After getting some practice with the different types of
weapon combat people practice, here is how I would recommend for someone to get
started with it; first thing to consider is if someone wants to start off with
Kendo or from fencing. Personally, I
would recommend fencing instead of Kendo because Kendo has a very limited range
of spots where you can attack, although it teaches you good swordsmanship,
whereas fencing teaches you how to perform feints, get into the mind of your
opponent, and good lunging techniques, I personally believe that lunging
(offensively and defensively) is a lot more crucial to longsword combat than
just being able to slash with the sword.
From there I recommend going to the SCA to get a feel for the footwork,
and the distance involved; then use the SCA to head to a HEMA club to get the
true experience of longsword fighting.
