The History of The Hockey Stick from Heck

It's been just over a year that I have been fighting with my curved sword and the biggest thing I've noticed is that people tend to refer to it as a scimitar. It's not.

Scimitars are curved swords that originated in the Middle East and first appeared in Persia of the 9th Century. The term scimitar has actually come to cover sever different styles of weapons including the Saif, the Shamshir, the Talwar and the Dao. Like their later cousin, the saber, Scimitars saw great use by cavalry because of their relatively light weight and the ease of slashing cuts due to their curved blade. While Scimitars are probably the most famous type of curved swords in period, they weren't the only ones.

The Grosses Messer - or Hiebmesser - was a German single-edged sword similar to a Falchion with a straight cross-guard in use from the 14th through the 16th centuries. These were less expensive than other swords of the time and were seen as both tools and weapons (think machete) and so were more common among the lower classes.

Another curved sword from Germany is the Kreigsmesser. A Kriegsmesser (Literally, "War Knife") is a large, curved, single-edged two-handed sword roughly the same length as the long sword or hand-and-a-half sword and popular in the 15th and 16th century. It got its name because the hilt resembled that of a knife handle, having two slabs of material on either side of the wide, flat tang. The robust tang and acute taper found in these swords made them handle well. The pommel was usually curved towards one side, while the cross guard was frequently equipped with a ring, plate, or lug for additional hand protection. The Kreigsmesser was primarily used by professional soldiers, most notably the Landsknechts. The Kreigmesser's curved geometry allowed the edge to have more surface area in contact with the target while cutting, thus giving it superior slashing capabilities. Its blade length was normally between 33" and 36" inches and had a 10" to 12" hilt. And although these blades were usually single edged and curved, there are surviving examples which sport a wide variety of blade types.

The third example of European curved swords I've studied is the Swiss Saber. These were popular between the 15th and 17th Centuries with a long, gently curving blade that tapered evenly to the tip. And there are accounts of Swiss Sabers having edged backsides as well. With a grip that could accommodate two hands, this blade was most likely an evolution of the Grosses Messer and Kreigsmesser. The hilts came in a variety of designs, with recurved quillions and/or rings and knuckle guards. These swords tended to be slightly shorter than a hand and a half sword, but still had hilts long enough for two-handed use.

So, which one is mine? Mine is styled after a Swiss Saber, complete with sharpened false edge. Yes, it's longer than a standard Swiss Saber, but then I'm longer than a standard Swiss soldier of the time.

Balance

In my last post, I talked about how armored fighters don't tend to be impressed with rapiers, and made the comment that they don't even like my 36". Sounds conceited, I know, but...

Many moons ago, when I was a happy newlywed, I did a study on period rapiers and how they compared to their counterparts in the SCA (you know, I might just have to resurrect that study because that was back before we expanded beyond schlagers). Basically, I compared the blades based on length (blade and overall), weight and balance. The short of it was that the SCA failed miserably. Too short, too light and with our balances waaaay off. The only group that consistently got anything right was the epee fencers. Surprisingly enough, an epee balances almost exactly the same as a period rapier. Go figure.

Anyway, when I built my 36" schlager, I based it off of that study (practice what you preach). It was still too short (this was before longer blades were readily available) and about a pound too light, but the balance was nearly spot-on. Okay, it's not quite tip-heavy enough; I need to shave about a quarter-ounce off the pommel. Not perfect, I admit, but darn close to the balance being in the 22-25% of the total length range that my study showed was the norm. In short, my 36" feels like a sword.

Here's how balance works. The more tip-heavy a sword is, the quicker it is. But, the less tip-heavy (pommel-heavy?) a sword is, the easier it is to control.

Think inertia and momentum. A tip-heavy sword takes more power (strength) to get going, but once you've started it moving, it keeps moving on it's own. A pommel-heavy sword is easier to get moving, but you have to apply power the whole way through. That's what makes a tip-heavy sword quicker.

Now, when it comes time to stop a tip-heavy sword, you actually have to use your power to stop it (think trying to stop a hammer in mid-swing). Not so with a pommel-heavy sword. All you have to do with one of those is stop applying power.

So the trick with a sword is to balance speed and control. If all you're ever going to do is point drills, you want a sword that's pommel-heavy. Likewise, if all you care about is getting your blade going fast, you want it as tip-heavy as you can get. The tendency I've seen up here in the north is for slow, easy to control swords with their balance point at or below the quillons. While this does improve tip control, it makes the blade slower than a snail on valium. Not a good thing if you're up against some young buck who's just chugged a case of Red Bull.

As you can probably tell, I like my balance point out in front of my quillons. This does mean that I have to work harder at tip control and that I do need a bit more wrist strength. But, hey, I'm old and slow and need all the help I can get. And besides, it's period.

Omens, portents and augurs, oh my!

Walking into work this morning, I noticed the mirror that usually hangs by the door was on the ground, shattered. Needless to say, I wasn't overly surprised to discover that five of our six servers were down. Five hours later, and we were back up, but it got me thinking about how superstition plays a role in what we do.

Now I like to think that I'm a relatively realistic, fairly well-grounded type of guy, so of course superstition doesn't play a part in my fencing, does it? Of course not! Sure I've got some things I do every time I fence, but it has nothing to do with superstition. It's all about consistency.

Yeah, that's it! Consistency.

And actually, it is about consistency, at least for me. By doing the same steps in the same order before each bout, I'm attempting to force myself into a consistent state of mind for each fight. Does it work? Maybe a little too well. I am, at best, a mediocre tournament fencer. While I generally give my opponents a good run for their money, the last tournament I actually won was... eight? nine? years ago. Whereas on the melee field (a field barren of ritual, by just about anyone's standard), I am usually heralded by cries of, "Kill that guy!"

It might be that in my trying for consistency, I'm actually putting on my blinders and closing myself from options that I allow myself to see on the melee field. Maybe if I tried taking out some of the ritual from my tournament fighting (do I really need to spin around three times and spit into the wind before each bout?), I might find it is replaced by better flow and better fencing.

What about you? What are your rituals? And what purpose do they serve?

Did I get anything?

At a tournament recently, there was one fighter who caught my attention. Unfortunately, they didn't catch it for the skill of their fighting, or the quality of their finery, instead it was for their ability and propensity to talk. In their first bout, they were struck with a questionable blow, and when their opponent asked about it, the two fighters discussed the hit for a few minutes before deciding to throw it out. Unfortunately, the next pass lead to another questionable shot and another discussion. Again, it was thrown out and again they ended in a questionable shot. After I think five of these passes, the fighter in question finally decided they'd been killed and relinquished the field. Sadly this was not the last bout the fighter had that day that resulted in multiple questionable hits and multiple discussions. This scenario begs the question: what should a fighter do when throwing or being thrown a questionable blow?

So, what is a questionable blow? A questionable blow is any hit that the fighter receiving the blow is unsure about the validity or location of the hit. Some examples are draw cuts where you are unsure whether they were drawn with the edge or flat, light touches, hits to the edge of a target area, or thrusts that get stuck in clothing. While each of these types of questionable hits have their own quirks, they can all be handled in a similar fashion.

The question is: what does it matter? Well, if you're always on the receiving end and either ignore them or argue about whether they're good or not, the problem is one of reputation. There's a good chance if you're the one who's constantly going up against Joe Newby who can't tell the flat from the edge, that you will wind up with a reputation as a rhino-hider. And while it's possible to overcome such a reputation, it is far easier to avoid in the first place. And if you're the one who always seems to come up against Lord Stone the Unfeeling, the danger is one of disillusionment. Your opinion of those you face will begin to change from that of worthy opponents to a bunch of rhino-hiders who should go play heavy. It may even lead to the point where fencing - or even the SCA itself - loses its appeal, which is something none of us want.

Okay, so now that you know what a questionable blow is and how it can affect you, what do you do about it? Well, that depends on where it happens. If you're at a fighter's practice, you handle it differently than you would in a tournament or in melee. Likewise, the person throwing the blow in question will handle it differently than the fighter on the receiving end.

The simplest situation for dealing with questionable blows is at fighter's practice. Since fighter's practices are for training, it isn't unusual for a fight to be interrupted by discussion. So, if you're fighting and either throw or receive a questionable blow, stop and ask your opponent if it was good or not and discuss the issue. If you're both undecided, you can even ask any onlookers for their opinion. Then, when a consensus is reached, keep fighting, but try for cleaner hits.

When you enter melees, things become more complicated because of the increased pace and adrenaline levels. If you throw a questionable blow in a melee, and your opponent doesn't take it, it's best to assume the hit wasn't good, and just try for cleaner hits. If they ask about it, tell them what you think it was, but let them decide if it was good or not. If someone throws a questionable shot at you, don't take it if you think it probably wasn't good, but if you just have no idea, or if your opponent asks about it and you can't say for sure that it wasn't good, take it. This keeps the pace of the battle going and helps alleviate the occasional adrenaline-driven missed shot.

And then there are tournaments. These are usually one-on-one fights like fighter's practices, but they add in adrenaline levels almost as high as a melee and do it all in front of a crowd. And if that wasn't bad enough, tournaments are supposed to showcase the fighter's honor as well as their skill. What's that mean? It means that, whether you like it or not, at least 75% of your reputation as a fighter will come from tournaments. It is also right up there with fighter's practices for the likelihood of questionable hits.

So, what do you do about it? You use something called a graduated response. By this I mean that each time it happens in a bout, you react a little stronger than the previous time. The first time you throw a questionable blow, you throw that shot away: if your opponent asks, you take the shot back, and if they don't, you just assume the shot wasn't good and try for a clean hit. The second time, if they ask, tell them what you think, but let them decide for themselves, and if they don't ask, ask them ("Did I get anything there?"), but take their decision and, again, clean up your fighting. After that, if you think you them you hit them, ask them if the shot was good, and if they don't think so (especially if they say it was too light, or didn't feel right), stop the fight and recalibrate with your opponent. It could very well be that they didn't feel your shot through their fencing jacket and mail shirt. And if the problem continues, yield. By this time, you'll be frustrated - either with yourself or your opponent - and beginning to get tired. It's far better to lose a tournament honorably than to "resort to their level" or crank up the power to deal with a rhino-hider, either of which can get you thrown off the field.

Now I know some of you are saying, "But I wasn't rhino-hiding, he's sloppy as all get-out! All he got me with were slaps, pops and flats." You and I might know that, but the people watching the tournament might not, especially those two in the shiny brass hats, sitting in the fancy chairs and rubbing their chins thoughtfully. Believe me, you do not want them to decide who the winner is. So, if you're fighting someone and they hit you with a shot that's sort of eh, ask them if it was good. Or, if they ask you, go ahead and take it. If they throw another questionable shot that might have been good, but you're not sure, go ahead and take it. But if you're pretty sure it wasn't good, ask them about it, but feel free to argue the point ("It felt flat to me"). The exception is if they keep throwing really light shots. If they do, stop the bout and recalibrate. Maybe that extra layer of fur you added to your tunic is making it harder for you to feel the shots. And if that doesn't do it, go ahead and take the shots, sloppy or not. After the tournament's over, you can go ahead and discuss things with them and, hopefully work things out for the future.

I've talked about what to do about questionable hits, but not how to avoid them in the first place. While it is impossible to truly do away with questionable hits, the best way to avoid them is to fight clean. I know, I know, I said that already. But what is clean fighting? Clean fighting is hitting your opponent where you want with absolutely no question about whether it was good or not. This means drills and practice. I'm sorry, but there just isn't any other way. And if you're already a clean fighter and an opponent still calls your stuff iffy (when they call it at all), just remember: mask or cup. I don't care who they are, if they get hit in either the mask or the cup, they will call it. One last note: With both melee and tournament fighting, I've talked about calling shots light. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a light hit in rapier! Rapier is a touch weapon, so if you felt it, it was good.

So, as you stand there, facing Lord Stone the Unfeeling, just remember that a shot between the eyes works every time, and if it's Joe Newby you face, you were a beginner once, so give him credit for what he's trying to do.