Author: admin

admin No comments exist

Original Post: 25 Mar 2014

By Julia Ström

Picture models: Julia Yli-Hukka and Julia Ström

The information and views in this post are those of the author.

We are all used to pain; getting hit in the face, in the head, on the hands… The list could go on forever. For most of us its no big deal, some of you have suffered breaks or snapped tendons. Bruises and peeled skin are common. For some it’s even a trigger to make you go faster, harder and more fiercely. I for one get pumped after a good whack, I feel the adrenaline soaring and my attention rocketing.

However there are certain kinds of pain that shouldn’t be ignored or glorified. These are the ones that tell you to slow down, to allow your body to rest and recover. In today’s society, not just within the HEMA community, this is becoming less and less “acceptable” with slogans like “shut up and train”, “endure the pain, enjoy the gain” and “if it’s not hurting, it’s not working”. Fair enough, a certain amount of pain from exercise is to be expected, especially in high-contact, high speed sports like HEMA. Also, fun fact: women have, on average, a higher pain threshold, and according to many studies, a higher endurance level for pain.

When you feel continuous ongoing pain, which can be a stabbing, a dull or a coming-and-going intermittent pain, its time to pay attention to your body. In this article I will reflect upon some common points of injury. I’m not claiming these are exclusive to women, far from it, but this is an attempt to reflect on the injuries brought up in discussion in the Esfinges forum, and things I feel are important.

As many of you expressed, fencing does tend to exacerbate pre-existing injuries, which goes for most high intensity sports. I would however like to point out that there are some physical differences when it comes to biomechanics that make women more susceptible to certain types of injuries.

These include:

 

● Lower percentage of lean body mass, i.e. less muscle per kilogram of bodyweight.

● Larger range of motion in joints.

● No compensation of increased range of motion in the form of stronger/more extensive ligaments.

Women’s muscles are not weaker per kg of muscle. There is no statistical difference in strength per cross section area of muscle in male and female athletes, but the fact that we on average have smaller and leaner muscles means that we exert less power (1). But if viewed as strength exertion in relation to cross section area of muscle, there is no statistical difference!

If we take a look at the real life situation we see that this means women have approximately 40-60% less upper body strength and 25-20% less lower body strength than men. This difference persists even when we correct for body mass, although it is then reduced to a 5-15% weakness, women compared to men (1).

The results of these differences are visible in other sports, most notably for example within soccer where the amount of knee injuries is significantly higher for women compared to men, to the point where the female gender is considered to be a risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament injuries (2).

The upper extremity is up first as it is an excellent example of ligaments and muscles working together to stabilize some very unstable joints that are put through a lot of stress, particularly in sports like HEMA. The only bony connection between the arm and the thorax  is the collarbone, anchoring it to the front of your ribcage. All other attachments, including the shoulder blade, are only held in place by ligaments and muscles. They are part of a chain that starts at your sternum and ends to your fingertips. As has been pointed out, we tend to have larger “forward” than “backward” muscles in the upper extremity and thorax. This is due to the fact that we exert a lot of force delivering our blows, but the strain is considerably less when it comes to retracting after having delivered a blow. This in itself builds up a certain imbalance in muscle development, an unevenness in our bodies that increases the tendency to develop strain related pain and injuries.

The shoulder has an extremely shallow socket, and depending on the plane of motion you can move your arm up to 180°, as seen from the shoulder. I won’t go into details, but much of the force of our arm is facilitated by surrounding muscles in the region of the shoulder, neck and upper back.

Something that is of particular interest is the so called “rotator cuff”, which is a set of four muscles that along with ligaments of the shoulder joint serve as the primary stabilizer of that joint itself (3). These four muscles are all relatively small, and can be strained or suffer inflammation as a result of repetitive stress (4). This is where swords come in. Swordfighting involves repetitive motion with high speed and high force, even for those of you using lighter weapon types. Not unsurprisingly your rotator cuff is at risk, and when the rotator cuff suffers injury or strain it starts to “fail”, the body starts incorporating other muscle groups that are primarily used to exert force, in order to stabilize the joint and your motion. This results in tension which can be a large component of shoulder, back and neck pain.

Inflammation requires a decreased intensity of training, and use of analgesics for a limited amount of time is usually a good idea. In order to prevent recurrence, however, it is a good idea to train the muscles in your rotator cuff, and surrounding areas. It is partly to increase strength, but also to give yourself a buffer to handle higher levels of stress.

Muscular resistance training exercise to train the rotator cuff, movement outward from body

Muscular resistance training exercise to train the rotator cuff, movement toward body

 

As for the elbow joint, it consists of three different joints that work together in flexion and rotation (5). There are two shallow sockets of the ulna and the radius in the lower arm, working with the large joint head of the humerus in the upper arm and with each other. This complex elbow joint is more stable than that of the shoulder, however over-extension and over-rotation are problematic here, as these motions are primarily controlled by the tensile strength of ligaments, and to a certain degree a bony prominence known as the olecranon (aka the point of your elbow). In addition to this, it is one of the joints that women on average have a larger range of motion in compared to men.  Large forces working across the elbow can weaken the ligament, which means that  your body has to rely more on muscles for control and stability. It is worth noting that many strains originating from the wrist will also project result in pain towards the elbow, this is due to the fact that many of these muscles stabilising the wrist have attachments near the elbow joint.  “Golfer’s elbow” and “tennis elbow” are examples of this.

Illustration of overextension in the elbow while delivering force

 

Apart from the dull prospect of rest and analgesics when strain injuries occur, an important component here is to train your body control in order to prevent hyper-extension or over-rotation. Boxing classes are good for this, as they tend to lay a lot of focus on controlling your blows, and the motions are very much the same as the ones used in HEMA. And again, buff up!

The wrists are yet another joint where women tend to have a larger range of motion, and where the difference in strength can play an important role when it comes to injury tendencies. It is also here, and in the fingers, that the raw force of a blow is projected, which places enormous demands on the muscles, and the ligaments, of the wrist. Here it is primarily flexors and extensors of the wrist that come into play, but also muscles involved with the aforementioned rotation of the lower arm. In this area it is really all about muscular resistance training to increase your strength, as this is what will give you the ability to better handle the repetitive stress that you subject your hands to.

As for fingers… Skin abrasions and the likes are, as most of you say, a matter of gear and getting used to it. When it comes to finger breaks, again gear is helpful, but if you want to be safe, execute your techniques better and cover those hands!

I will briefly discuss the matter of the neck and back. As I mentioned before a lot of pain that is felt in the neck and upper back can be a symptom of problems elsewhere, but may also be attributed to actual problems in this region. When executing techniques properly you incorporate use of your entire body in delivering force, much of which is projected from your “central body” via the axial skeleton(6). This places huge demands on your back and core muscles, because these are responsible for maintaining a stable base from which your arms and legs can do their thing. Worth mentioning is that many of us lead typical modern lifestyles with relatively little everyday activity; and we spend a lot of time sitting down, often in less than optimal positions. In addition to this, we put different strains on the different halves of our body according to weapon type and “handedness”, which projects throughout the body. This gives us an uneven and often somewhat sub-par base to work from, which may result in multiple types of injuries and pain.

Illustration of posture with poor muscles strength and core incorporation in comparison to a more functional pose, side view

Illustration of posture with poor muscles strength and core incorporation in comparison to a more functional pose, note height difference, back view

 

My suggestion is that you do what is necessary, not only treating the pain with analgesics, rest, massage etc. but that you also start working to give yourself better core and back muscle strength and control. Muscular resistance training to build up back muscle, and particularly muscles of your “weak” side can help. Combine this with focused functional core training and you’ll give yourself a head start, not only when it comes to avoiding pain and injury, but also to delivering more powerful techniques.

Illustration of performing a plank, and common mistakes made when core musculature is not incorporated fully in the exercise

Application of core training in a fencing oriented exercise, sitting on ball without floor contact while performing drills

 

The lower extremity is in its simplest form a blueprint for the upper extremity, with some “slight differences”, like knee caps for example. Few of you mentioned problems with your hips in forum discussions, although hips may give issues further down in the leg, or act as indicators for problems lower down.

Moving on to the knee, which many of you did mention. Much like the elbow it is a complex joint and a common site of injury in many sports. The knee consists of three bone components and a multitude of ligaments, tendons and other bits and pieces. The thigh bone (femur) of the upper leg joints connects to the shin-bone of the lower leg, but has no contact whatsoever with the calf bone. Last is the knee cap, or patella, which is highly important for optimizing force output from the muscles on the front of the leg. The patella is known as a sesamoid bone and is embedded in the ligament of the quadriceps muscles. The knee joint is fairly flat, but has a multitude of ligaments, collateral and cruciform, that work to stabilize it, this also means that there are multiple points for injury and strain. When flexing or extending the knee while pointing the foot in the direction of the knee, without rotating the foot sideways, the knee joint is fairly stable and can handle quite a lot of force: as all of the ligaments and tendons are when strained under optimal conditions. However, this is rarely the case in fencing where low stances and quick lunges are an integral part of the footwork. This means additional strain at “odd” angles where our ligaments are not optimized to work. The collateral ligaments act to protect the knee from “folding sideways” and the cruciform ligaments work to hinder the joint from gliding backwards-forwards in its own plane of motion. Our knee ligaments are particularly at risk when it comes to fencing footwork with a bent knee in a forward position, especially if the knee is in front of the foot, or if the knee deviates from a straight line between the foot and hip. Immediate treatment for when the damage to the ligaments is already done is again analgesics and lowered intensity level training. However, for recovery, practising control and “buffing up” is once again the recommended concept.

To strengthen ligaments takes time, but by building additional strength of the muscles surrounding your knee and practicing control you can lower the risk of re-injury as well as and potentially increase the efficacy of your footwork. By having stronger muscles you can provide greater stability and relieve some of the stress you put on the joint at the more difficult sub-optimal angles, and thus a lowered risk of injuring ligaments. Practicing control under pressure of weight or strain in controlled conditions will also better prepare you for handling them “live”.

Moving on to the ankles and feet, which were not the biggest groups of affected areas, seem less often affected by pain, but are none the less worth discussing. The feet are very much essential to how we perform, as they are what anchors us to the ground and allow us to propel ourselves forward. The simple act of walking puts a fairly large strain on the foot, a force of approximately 1000 N per foot per step (7). Factor in that we lunge at odd angles and with little time for calculation. A common problem associated with this type of footwork is over-stretching of the ligaments that surround the ankle joint, the ligaments that hold the two bones of the lower leg together, or  the ligaments that maintain the arch of your foot. I will quickly discuss the latter of these groups. These ligaments in the sole of the foot are known as the plantar fascia and along with the structure of the bones in the feet help maintain a transverse and a longitudinal arch. This arch is very important, as it allows for shock absorption and facilitates the normal use of the muscles in the lower leg during simple tasks such as walking. If the arch is damaged or stretched, pain in the lower leg can result in something similar to MTSS (8). This can also be a problem for those who practice on very hard ground. In order to prevent these problems, you need to train the muscles and control of your feet. There are various methods, but they include things as simple as rolling a tennis ball around on the floor using your toes. Also, make sure your footwear is not overly worn, is of good quality and a good fit (9).

Over-stretching of the outer ligaments of the ankle while stretching the inner leg, not placing the sole of your foot on the ground reduces this issue.

Overstretching of the ankle while stretching the front of the leg, a grip around the ankle or below it removes this risk.

 

Most of us will have experienced sprains, and this is where I suggest some caution. Their seriousness is often underestimated. First of all, there is a type of “higher level” sprain whereby ligaments that hold the two bones of the lower leg can be stretched or torn. These are relatively unusual but tend to occur in combination with breaks. Moving on to the the big bad boy of the ankle sprains we have is the so-called “inversion sprain”, whereby the ligaments on the “outside” of the foot are stretched or ruptured, often after quick, not completely controlled, forward or sideways footwork in a forward or sideways motion. It is important not to take this type of injury too lightly, as it has an up to 60% recurrence, and tends to worsen at every new sprain (10). Initial elevation is essential to reduce swelling. In the long-term it is important to build up new control and strength in the ligaments, which even for simple sprains can take weeks or months to achieve. As for building back up to good footwork simple things like standing on one foot while brushing your teeth, or practising skipping rope can be very helpful (10). If you want to try and avoid it happening I recommend the same exercises to avoid such an injury in the first place, as well as sideways step ups and controlled foot work drills where focus is on your feet and not on the weapon.

Uneven weight distribution and deviation of the right leg while squatting, not uncommon for fencers. Problem reduced with additional awereness and correction of knee position and weight distribution

Over/hyper-extension of the knee while standing, places unnecessary strain on the ligaments, reduces balance and affects posture

 

Of course there is also the risk of stress-fractures in the bones of the feet and compression of nerves which will give rise to pain (11). You need to be attentive and seek a medical professional if the pain does not resolve quickly and has no obvious cause.

Ideally we would try to implement “preventative physiotherapy” within HEMA, where we build up good muscular strength and control to keep ourselves from getting injured in the first place. There are many things to be aware of when it comes to injuries, but most important of all is to pay attention to your own body. Remember: if you push yourself beyond repair, you won’t be there to hit your friends in the face.

 

 

 

(1) Physiology of sports and exercise. Chapter 19, Sex differences in sports and exercise. Kenney. Wilmore. Costill. Human Kinetics, by Courier Companies Inc USA, 2012.

(2) Acta Orthop Belg. 2013 Oct;79(5):541-6. The incidence of knee and anterior cruciate ligament injuries over one decade in the Belgian Soccer League. Quisquater L, Bollars P, Vanlommel L, Claes S, Corten K, Bellemans J.

(3) Human movement. Chapter 10: p.156-7. Everett, Kell. Churchill Livingstone, by Elsevier Ltd, China, 2010.

(4)The infraspinatus muscle, supraspinatus muscle, teres minor muscle and the subscapularis muscle make up the rotator cuff.

(5) In the arm known as supination and pronation, a rotation of the ulna and radius in relation to the humerus.

(6) The axial skeleton projects from you pelvis to the skull and a central component is the spinal column.

(7) Biomechanics of Running and Walking. Tongen & Wonderlich. Available as online paper fromhttp://www.mathaware.org/mam/2010/essays/TongenWunderlichRunWalk.pdf

(8) MTSS stands for Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome, and refers to a condition where you suffer diffuse pain in the region of the tibia in the lower leg, which has multiple causes.

(9) Physical Rehabilitation of the Injured Athlete, 4th edition. Chapter 26: p581. Andrews, Harrelson, Wilk. Saunders, by Elsevier Ltd, China, 2012.

(10) Physical Rehabilitation of the Injured Athlete, 4th edition. Chapter 20: p440-442. Andrews, Harrelson, Wilk. Saunders, by Elsevier Ltd, China, 2012.

(11) Physical Rehabilitation of the Injured Athlete, 4th edition. Chapter 20: p457-459. Andrews, Harrelson, Wilk. Saunders, by Elsevier Ltd, China, 2012.

Original Post: http://esfinges1.wix.com/e/apps/blog/sucking-it-up-%E2%80%93-pain-attitudes-and

admin No comments exist

Original Post: 18 Mar 2014

Introduction

When thinking about creating competitive environment, it should be advised to see romantic legends of old heroes and historical badassery in a realistic light. This might be possible through listening to the suggestions of experts whose everyday life contained inevitable armed affairs, and who wanted to invite threatening armed combat to a safe ground, to get rid of the harmful social factors and still keep practicing the noble exercise. This is a very different angle from the modern practitioner’s occasional desire to relive those threats through specifically designed fencing matches.

In order to separate the components of duel combat, to understand their relevance in evaluating fencing performance or the ways safety and different regulations alter the manifestation of fencing theory, it is a great help to include the experiences of contemporary authors in our judgements and preference.

The first part of Herczegh’s treatise discusses the legal and moral reality of dueling in the XIXth century, and might be a valuable addition to the background of fencing history.

Caricature in Bolond Istók, 1880. november 21. Source: Kolozsvári Egyetemi Könyvtár (University Library Kolozsvár)

THE GENESIS AND REDUCTION OF THE DUEL.

WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF PEACE AND THE

UNIVERSITY PIECE FEDERATION (ORSZÁGOS BÉKE- EGYESÜLET and EGYETEMI BÉKESZÖVETSÉG).

WRITTEN BY

HERCZEGH MIHÁLY

UNIVERSITY LAW TEACHER IN BUDAPEST

Translated by Krisztina Nagy, Budapest, 2014.

BUDAPEST POLITZER ZSIGMOND AND SON 1903

Click HERE for the full text.

Original post: http://esfinges1.wix.com/e/apps/blog/herczegh-mih%C3%A1ly-the-genesis-and-reduction-of

admin 1 comment

Original Post: 4 Mar 2014


The views expressed in this article are those of the author.

By Eliisa Keskinen.

As long as I have been involved in competitive HEMA, the discussion on whether there is a need or if it is even ethical to hold women’s tournaments has continued. I wish to bring up some of the practical reasons to have women’s tournaments, both for women’s sake and for HEMA’s popularity’s sake. I am aware that some people have ideological objections, but I will not discuss them here. I will also approach tournaments as an integral part of HEMA, and so will not directly discuss the more general reasons for or against tournaments.

It is often said that this is a martial art, and you should be able to fight anyone. However, tournaments are by nature an artificial game, not a fight, and that the best way to learn to fight anyone is not necessarily to fight everyone. If one sees tournaments as training, as many do, it is important that this training offers meaningful challenges and a sense of progress. Others want to compete for competition’s sake, or view it as a test of their martial ability.

The common thread between all these reasons for participating in tournaments is that they are supposed to achieve something greater than simply participating in a tournament, and it is neither good training, nor a good test, nor very rewarding, to participate in tournaments where you are by nature disadvantaged to the point that your chances of winning the toughest fights are virtually none. Why is this? Because it does not take skill to get mediocre results year after year, nor does it test anything: what is the meaning of a test you’re unlikely to improve on? You do get a bunch of fights, but it is very difficult to get a good sense of progress, especially after a certain point. It does take some amount of courage to risk injury, but at the same time since one is going in as an underdog, there is no risk of losing face.

If a large segment of potential fencers, in fact over half of the earth’s population, lack a meaningful competitive environment, many of these people will be lost to HEMA. One only needs to look around at an average HEMA event to see that this is probably already happening, and has been going on for years. This is also not the case in similar activities with established women’s series, such as sport fencing.

You can see the effect of this in the tournament scene: the Swordfish 2012 women’s tournament probably had more female participants than any other modern HEMA tournament has had. If there was no social call for women’s tournaments, this would be not the case. Of course it takes time for this to take effect: the Swordfish 2009 ladies’ tournament had a mere five participants, but those brave pioneers paved the way for the rest.

There is also a need for role models for female beginners, non-competing practitioners who are still interested in tournament results and young people who might not practice HEMA but are fascinated by the world of historical swordplay. It does make a difference that female role models exist, and for that purpose it is good to have female champions. Imagine if someone asks, for example, who is the most successful female HEMA fencer in the world? Without women’s tournaments, the answer is likely to be someone who did well in an open tournament, but did not win. Which is more inspiring: that, or female champions in large, international female competitions?

A beginner’s tournament in no way replaces a woman’s tournament: it does not create role models, and while it does offer the possibility of progress, there is no point for someone to compete in a beginner’s tournament year after year if she is no longer a beginner, but at the same time winning the open competition remains an unrealistic prospect. Frankly, I find the concept that women’s competitive HEMA should revolve around beginner’s tournaments offensive, as it defines women in HEMA as second class practitioners.

So why are women disadvantaged in open competition? Let us look at some facts about differences in physical prowess between men and women. For strength, Olympic Weightlifting provides a good example: in the 69kg weight class, the world record for snatch for men is 165kg, while for women it is 128kg. This is a 22% difference!

If we compare world records in two speed-based sports, the 100m sprint and 50m freestyle swimming the difference is smaller, but still there: In 100m sprint, men’s and women’s world records are 9.58s and 10.49s respectively, and in 50m freestyle 20.91s and 2.,73s. This is a difference of 8.7% and 11.9%, in two sports where having a greater mass is not an advantage in itself.

In swordplay one needs both strength and speed (which has been written down at least as far as the 15th century!), and even at the highest levels of training women have a natural disadvantage in both. It is possible for individuals to be stronger and faster than individual men, of course, but the higher the bar of the open competition is raised, the less likely it is that a woman can physically challenge the top men in a tournament. As mentioned before, the opportunity to win tournaments is valuable in itself, and merely the opportunity to take part and get mid-level results cannot replace this. This is true not only for women as individuals, but also for the sake of having a strong female presence in competitive HEMA, and by extension all of HEMA.

Now, obviously women can and have won open tournaments, but the differences in statistical physical ability do make it more and more unlikely at higher levels. People say you can compensate with skill; but skill training is equally available to everyone so it cannot be used to bridge that gap. However, the trend that a women’s tournament can get more women to participate in competitive HEMA, and thus give them the experience and skill benefits of actively fighting in tournaments, actually makes it more likely that a woman will win a prestigious open tournament. I’d say this means that regardless if women can compete at the highest levels of open tournaments, at this point in time women’s tournaments are a positive force.

Original post: http://esfinges1.wix.com/e/apps/blog/womens-tournaments-meaningful-challenges

admin No comments exist

Original Post: 25 Feb 2014

The views expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily the views of Esfinges.

By Anna Stępień

So I was asked to write an entry for the Esfinges blog, since apparently “there is too little known about the HEMA scene in central Europe.” Although I might provoke the anger of my brothers and sisters, let me dismount my unicorn, pour myself a nice glass of fern flower tincture, and tell you a little about the mythical creatures – the Poles.

Polish HEMA people can be divided into two categories. If you were lucky enough to meet one of us during some event, you have most probably met the representatives of this particular category. We usually call them Witchers (I hope most of you at least played The Witcher, and maybe some of you actually read Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels). Their main goal is to master techniques which require roundhouse kicks, flying kicks, or quadruple somersaults, even if such things were never mentioned in any treatise (Treatise? Never heard of such a thing. / I was raised by wolves. I was too busy hunting to survive, didn’t have the time to even learn how to read.). They can use their swords as spears and toss them at their enemies. They never lose, they are just kind enough to let you win. They don’t like using bucklers or shields, because a true badass is able to take a hit, if ever, to the head or chest like a boss. They are also not very fond of pole arms – being too far away from the enemy makes it impossible to bite through their arteries.

Typical Witcher attacks the enemies even if they are asleep

They dream of time machines that could take them back to the Middle Ages (poor things don’t know they would’ve probably ended up as peasants growing turnips). Some dream of a zombie apocalypse, when they could cut through zombie hordes like mowers.

Witchers simply love tournaments! Some of them never take their gambesons off and sleep in their fencing masks. The most hard core ones, however, do not participate in tournaments, because they don’t like the requirement to use protective gear (If the folks from the treatises did not use them, why should I?).

They claim to be able to cut anything with anything and if they don’t, it’s because the weapon was not sharp enough or the target was not right.

But let’s leave those uncouth brutes aside and make place for the ever elusive… Well, they are so mysterious that they don’t even have a collective name. Let me call them the Spirited. They live in mud huts in the desert (did you know we have deserts in Poland?), sleep on beds of nails, and feed off solar energy.

A Spirited in an unusual situation – preparing for a sparring, but never forgetting to pray to the gods beforehand.

The Spirited know every treatise by heart and would recite them even if you woke them in the middle of the night. They treat their weapons as parts of their bodies and claim to be able to grow them from their limbs. Even though they seem to live an ascetic life they know how to use Facebook and constantly post their deep thoughts there. For them HEMA is the centre of their lives – it is a tool which helps them find God/meaning of life/link with the nature/their sanity. Those know-alls drop their enlightened ideas on the Polish HEMA community like bombs. Once they decided it would’ve been a marvellous idea to introduce katas to HEMA and there was absolutely no way to reason with them. Some other time, our dear Spirited came up with a new idea for a tournament in which contestants would be awarded points for executing choreographed patterns (damned katas strike again). So don’t be surprised if you hear there is Dancing with the Swords going on in Poland.

They too dream of time machines which would allow them to meet their masters, but they would prefer golden thrones and a gazillion of faithful devotees.

The Spirited are not very fond of tournaments. They claim they distort the technique and move the entire community away from the true meaning of HEMA, whatever that could be. The truth is, however, that they always get their arses kicked and can’t deal with that.

Though you would never see them cut anything with a sharp weapon, they upload videos of weird people cutting weird targets with weird weapons on Facebook.

Are we really that different? I think Poland is not the only place of such a tug of war between the supporters of HEMA as a combat sport and HEMA as martial arts. It takes place on numerous forums, social networks, and disputes during HEMA events all over the world. You read or hear many arguments for one option or the other. Some say that tournaments are the only (legal) way to test our skills and techniques described by Medieval and Renaissance masters. But we all know that the number of techniques used by tournaments participants is limited and there are other issues – like physical and mental preparation, strategy, speed, stamina, etc. – that matter equally, and if you want to be a good fighter, reading and reproducing techniques found in treatises is not enough. And let’s not kid ourselves, a good part of contestants are more focused on winning rather than fighting according to treatises. It is true that by doing so we make it impossible to be able to use complex techniques and moves, and end up drawing only an ounce of the art. It is also undeniable that if we focus on running up the hills, doing almost nothing but sparring, and not devoting our time to read at least one treatise, we cannot say we reproduce HEMA.

So what appears from all the above? Who is right – the Witchers or the Spirited? I can’t give you a straight answer for there is none. It is for each of you to decide. Whatever floats your sword, mate. The key is to be happy and proud of what you’re doing and not to be too serious about HEMA, even if you are a lucky bastard and earn your living as a HEMA coach/fighter, and I hate you for that.

Read original: http://esfinges1.wix.com/e/apps/blog/my-life-in-the-land-of-krakens

admin No comments exist

Original post: 20 Feb 2014

By Fran Terminiello

We all enjoy stirring stories of derring-do, and accounts of women warriors who defy our expectations of the past are always interesting. A personal favourite is Bona Lombarda, a former peasant girl, who would distinguish herself as a decorated soldier and condottiere. Unfortunately no good account of her life exists in English, so I put together the following a number years ago, and thought I may as well share now.

Perhaps stories of her deeds have been embellished through the years, but the key facts do not appear disputed. She is honoured by a memorial plaque near the house where she was born, in a small sub-alpine Italian village. It reads:

“Bona Lombarda, whom the histories unanimously pay homage to and praise, was born in 1417 among the group of humble farmhouses that still stand here. Virtuous and beautiful, she drove a flock through these woods, until at the request of viscount captain Pietro Brunoro she immediately followed him as faithful wife, unmovable at every event of their noble enterprise. She defied great perils, defended and saved her husband, secured victories and honours. Admired by all, returning as a veteran from the Turkic conflicts of Negroponte, she died in Methoni in 1468. Another example that even in poor hovels and under crude raiments at times are hidden magnanimous spirits capable of arduous and most noble undertakings.”

The only other thing worth noting about the village are contemporary frescoes of a ‘wild man’ uncovered in a notary’s villa.

Pietro Brunoro was an infantry captain, a condottiere in the pay of the Duchy of Milan, the bastard son of a nobleman, and fresh from a crushing victory over the Venetians at the battle of Delebio in November 1432 in which over five thousand Venetians died. On a hunting trip, in the afterglow of victory, he saw a pretty peasant girl herding a flock of sheep “small and brown but otherwise not without beauty”. By some accounts she was abducted, “taken away against her will”, by others there was a seduction. Bona Lombarda was only fifteen at the time, we don’t have a birth date for Pietro Bruno but from the fact he was six years into a forty-two year military career we can surmise he was in his early twenties.

Despite their unorthodox courtship Bona and Pietro became constant companions: “…the woman followed him everywhere, dressing as a soldier and always fighting at his side with a bow.” They campaigned together for eleven glorious years, including one occasion where (Brunoro having changed employers) Bona had the honour of personally parading a captured Milanese standard through Venice. Then disaster struck: Brunoro was imprisoned on charges of treachery by King Alfonso of Naples shortly after joining his employ. Brunoro languished in prison for ten long years. During this time Bona tirelessly petitioned “captains, magistrates and princes whom Brunoro had previously served” obtaining amongst others letters of support from the Grand Duke of Burgundy and the King of France, until Alfonso had no choice but to release Brunoro. Shortly after, they married (or remarried, having previously married in secret in some versions of the tale) and Bona bore him two sons and a daughter. “And with the passing of the years he showed an ever greater deference towards her, asking her advice in every important matter.”

Many more glorious episodes followed, such was their stock Brunoro commanded an astronomical salary of 20,000 ducati from the Venetians. Bona’s most celebrated moment was during the siege of Castello di Pavone (which still stands, now serving as a luxury hotel). The castle had fallen to the enemy Milanese with Brunoro inside it prisoner, his forces scattered. A century later the German historian Johannes Guler Von Weineck described events as follows: “When Castello di Pavone fell, the astuteness and bravery of Bona loomed large, amazing everyone; in fact, after armouring herself head to foot, a shield on her arm and a sword in her hand, she demonstrated great courage during the assault. She was the reason the fortress was retaken and she was the first to place her foot inside.”

And by another account: “She rallied the routed remnants of the troops: she guided them, she encouraged them more by her example than with her voice: she launched herself once more against the Milanese and they fled. She recovered the lost fortress and freed her dear husband.”

Bona won further acclaim when she won the palm as best warrior at the games held in Venice in 1457 to celebrate the inauguration of Doge Pasquale Malipiero, the 66th Doge of Venice, having captured the wooden fortress “defended in vain by able captains and soldiers” – no mean achievement for a “small and brown” former shepherdess who was forty years old at the time. After more than forty years a soldier, Brunoro eventually met his end in battle, having campaigned for eight years against the Turks at Negroponte, in the crumbling fragments of Venice’s empire. But not before presiding over several notable and precious victories, Bona died two years later of fever on the Greek island of Methoni, awaiting a return to Venice.

Read original: http://esfinges1.wix.com/e/apps/blog/women-fighters-from-history-bona-lombarda

admin No comments exist

Original Post: 19 Feb 2014

[Picture semed to be lost will be re posted as soon as it’s found]

Original Photograph: Claudia Krause

Krisztina lives in Budapest, Hungary, and has been active in Historical European Martial Arts since 2005, as a longsword and later sabre fencer, studying the history, theories and methodology of fencing coaching. “Fencing is two-faced… Physical challenges give you pieces of a great puzzle, but to assemble the whole picture, is an individual process of maturing – something that appears not by will, through struggle, but naturally, with time and introspection. It is not weakness to withdraw and reflect at times, but often the key to the next success.

Read original post: http://esfinges1.wix.com/e/apps/blog/inspirational-fencers-krisztina-nagy-hungary

admin No comments exist

Original post: 14 Feb 2014

The views expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily the views of Esfinges.

By Nazirah Jetha Garrison

“What is the SCA?”, those of you in the HEMA community might ask, “Do they make it all up or do they actually study the sources?”, “Why do they dress up?”. Here I would like to give an insight into just how historical the SCA can be. Far from being a game of dress-up or plain reenactment, we take our research seriously and apply the treatises in our swordplay.

Well, first and foremost, the SCA is a not-for-profit educational organization.   The very core of its being is education of its members, and education of its non-members if they ask.  We make things, we research things, and the things we make, we try to research how it would have been done in its time period, and try to recreate that. We do demos at libraries, parks, private events, churches.  We’re not “reneactors” though, more sort of re-creationists of the middle ages, but with modern medicine and plumbing. 😉

HEMA, in particular, rapier fighting, has been a part of the SCA since the late 1970s/early 1980s.  I’ll be honest: back in the 80s, there was a lot of what is now termed “basic SCA style fencing”; it didn’t pay heed to the sources, and boiled down to winning at all costs.  Form and style didn’t matter; only winning and fighting like the actors they saw in movies.  But, a large number of us decided to apply the same “research, recreate, and make as accurate as possible” principles that others in the SCA had to food, or to costuming, to HEMA.   In particular, to rapier fighting.

To start with, let’s consider a typical rapier practice. We’ll take it as given that the preliminaries have been done.  First, we warm up; some lunges, some sword drills, either stabbing at a pell, or going through some basic sword “katas”, more chitchat while we warm up, etc etc.  Then, we might engage in some free sparring with weapon combinations of our choice.  This Sunday, it was sword and dagger.  So, I went out into the fighting space, and faced my opponent.  Found his weakness and stabbed him.  And again.  Possibly even a third time. At this point, our teacher called “hold” (basically, “stop!! I’m coming over!”), went over to my opponent and told me to come back into my guard.  I did so.

What happened next was essentially a full on discussion regarding the geometry of lines and planes applied to a woman holding a rapier in one hand and a dagger in the other, both pointed straight at you.  He talked about how the medieval masters would suggest that my opponent try to find the weak line.  That as my stance was a rather aggressive stance, straight out of Giganti or Capo Ferro, with head back, rapier held on point, but not extended, and dagger forward, that my opponent could not gain mechanical advantage over my rapier; in Giganti’s terms, he couldn’t gain my blade.  My teacher then went on to ask how could my opponent gain an advantage over me?  This ended up in a discussion of how Capo Ferro and Giganti defined tempo, measure and gaining the blade.  How, both authors said that to win, one had to control at least one of the three, and what my opponent could do when faced with me in this stance.  We then sparred, putting these principles into practice.

Then we had a water break, and I picked up my copy of Venetian Rapier that I’ve been working through.  I was having an issue with one of the early plates regarding the timing and and ultimate hand positioning of the cavazionne, and how to attack using the tempo given to you when your opponent did a cavazionne based on your control of his blade.  The teacher and I discussed it, and he set me in the right direction.  This led to a discussion of blade mechanics, parity of the blade, mechanical leverage, and Giganti’s  use of feints.

Fully rested and watered, we picked back up, but with sword and buckler this time, and a discussion of Bolognese sword and buckler techniques; how the various guards illustrated in the manuals worked, and what they were good for. Then we sparred, using those techniques.

When I get out onto the field, I’m not thinking about overwhelming my opponent with brute force, I’m thinking about his/her guard, where the weak spots are, how I can exploit what my opponent’s given me.  I think this scenario, which happens on a nigh-weekly basis, sums it up — my other teacher, Kristyn, and I face off regularly against each other. Given that we’re both short-ish women, with very similar personalities, we’d both take similar guards, and we generally stand there for a while, in guard, facing each other, figuring out what to do.  Well, I figure out what to do, I think Kristyn stands there and waits for me to make a mistake she can exploit! This tends to be the conversation on the sidelines:

“Um… What are they doing??”

“Fighting.”

“But… They’re not *doing* anything?  Just twitching every now and then, and sometimes one of them moves their head or adjusts footing???”

“Wait for it….”

By this point we’ve generally sized each other up, and what follows is a usually a set of techniques from Capo ferro or Giganti, and results in one of us stabbing the other in the head.  Or, binding each other up and having to resort to grappling (at which point we both back off).

Other weeks, the guided discussion and practice may focus around a plate out of Capo Ferro or Giganti, or Fabris (right now, we’re working our way through Capo Ferro with some Giganti thrown in for good measure), but no matter what, practice happens with the medieval/renaissance masters and their salles providing the backdrop.

That’s how we practice HEMA in the SCA, as a scholarly art, based off the historical manuals.  We do also endeavor to put HEMA into its cultural context, which is where the clothing comes in.   I mean, no one disses a kendo practitioner for wearing what they wear, right?  Even if it is based on what they wore in Japan in the late Edo-period.  Yes, we fight with a sword and cloak, or a cloak and dagger (there are sections in the historical manuals devoted to it, so why wouldn’t we?) and the clothing comes into the fight.  If I fight in a skirt, an opponent can’t see my footwork and has trouble figuring out whether I’m refused or on guard.  If my opponent’s blade gets caught in a fold of cloth, I can use that tempo to gain an advantage; just as would have happened historically.  In some respects, the clothes help put HEMA into a wider context and culture and enable a fuller study.  On the flip side, in the SCA we operate under stringent safety guidelines which means we can’t put all aspects of HEMA into practice;  I’m not saying that either way is better, just that it offers a complementary view, and we have a heck of a lot to learn from each other.

Original Post: http://esfinges1.wix.com/e/apps/blog/historical-european-martial-arts-in-the-sca

admin No comments exist

Original post: 9 Feb 2014

By Susanne Popp (also known as Susine Pomeranz), INDES Salzburg

I feel so blessed to train at INDES Salzburg in many ways. We are a friendly, big team with crazy ideas and lots of love to share. But I especially like it here because of the large amount of female fencers who show a lot of motivation and eagerly come to training . For a while though I had the feeling that we need a certain push towards a little more self confidence and getting ourselves active . It turned out that it only needed a very gentle push. As soon as the idea of our own event for women was shared, I received great approval and support and many ideas as to how to shape it. So all of these points became part of our program:

Sharing goals: If people in a group know what others want and need, it is easier to give each other support. So we all thought and talked about competing in tournaments, becoming a referee, joining the INDES high performance team or about wanting to become more fit.

Strengthening our core: Strong and healthy movements come from your centre. Via Pilates we especially trained our core muscles. How to train efficiently: A method of doing dynamic drills full of variations was showed to us by one of our girls who thought about how to optimise your training method. It gave us an idea as to how we can think of our own drills and practice them together.

Video Analysis: During sparring we filmed each other and afterwards watched the film sequences together with Ingulf, our head trainer, who was able to give us advice. That wasn’t easy for everyone, because he was very honest, but definitely helpful.

Wrestling: There is so much in wrestling that contributes to good sword fighting as well. Good stance, footwork, strength and stamina and a feeling for the principles of being hard or soft. Plus it’s a lot of fun to roll around if noone comments on your play with “Ooooh! Catfight!”

Events 2014: I sometimes felt a bit alone when I accompanied Ingulf and the other guys to seminars and events. The urge to show the world the good female fencers of INDES is still big. So I held a presentation about the upcoming events, showed photos and told stories. We are definitely going to more in the future.

Throwing knives: Not necessarily part of HEMA, but it involves sharp steel blades. One of us taught herself how to do it when she was a child. Now she taught us.

Footwork: Sports fencers have amazing footwork and we can learn a lot of them. With the difference that we also put our left leg in front. A member who also has experience in sports fencing coached us on doing lunges and fast footwork.

The jungle of HEMA terms: Our training is usually focused on movement and less on words. But what is actually behind all these expressions like “zwerch” and “Schielhau” and “Alber”? Luckily, we have our own Linguist-ess who looked these words up in old dictionaries and gave us some background. This helped to understand certain techniques even better.

Thrusts: How to do them, when to do them and what to do against them…a course which also was a lot about footwork and the principle of distance.

Photoshoot: We think swords are beautiful. Most people do a certain sport because they like the way it looks. It’s great to have fun and impressive photos of yourself doing your hobby, so at the end of the seminar, we put on our black dresses and played around, making a lot of cool photographs. Always be careful not to ruin the floor with high heels! 🙂 Don’t get us wrong. We love our fellow guys from our club. But just like men sometimes have to be among themselves in order to live out certain sides of their manhood, so do we! Because it seems to become much easier to talk freely, ask questions and share experiences.

The weekend showed us, how much nicer and more productive it is to work on something together. I am a biologist, an ecologist to be precise, and very early we learn about the survival of the fittest (Darwin). To some this means that it is important to be strong and tough. But it turns out that the most successful species are the ones that interact a lot and show good networking. In my opinion, this counts for HEMA as well. A big thanks to Claudia, Fran and Perica. Esfinges gave us not just a lot of inspiration, but it also does exactly what I was just talking about: networking.

admin No comments exist

Original post: 2 Feb 2014

Hot on the heels of her thrilling rapier final victory against her husband Lee Smith at EMA Gathering, we interview Nicole Smith of Blood and Iron Martial Arts, Canada.

Tell me a little bit about your current involvement in WMA (e.g. where do you train, what styles do you practice, who do you train with, etc)

I train at the school I own and run with my husband, Lee Smith; Blood and Iron Martial Arts. My first weapons were the rapier and dagger they will always be a favorite, but right now I am more focused on long sword. I also work with sword and buckler, dussack, messer and dagger. I practice with my husband and our competition team comprised of 10 of our top students. We push each other a lot harder during our fight team training. Having a national level conditioning coach on the team really helps as well. We primarily train from the works Meyer, Ringeck, Marozzo and Capo Ferro. We take what we have studied from the treatises and manuals and put them together with our modern understanding of body mechanics and physiology. It seems to be working.

What do you love about WMA? Why do you do it?

I love the feeling of confidence and strength that comes from practicing a martial art. I love the feeling of accomplishment after pulling off that one amazing shot against an accomplished advisory. But I really love the way you relate to someone after you have fought with them. The conversation of the blades between two fencers is like no other. You really get to know someone on a different level when you fence them. It is hard to explain unless you have experienced it, but every martial artist that spars will know what I mean. I do it because I love it. So much so, that it has become my life’s work.

What made you take up WMA (e.g. how did you discover it, what was your first session like, what made you decide to come along in the first place)?

I began practicing WMA for fitness and because I wanted to do something different and interesting. I am not a gym person. I don’t like working out on machines. I find I need a group to train with to motivate me. Sword fighting appealed because although it is an individual sport you still have the camaraderie of your sparring partners to keep you going. I don’t actually remember my first session but I do remember one asshole in our group that would just peg you in the head and never offer any tips or advise on how you might improve. This guy did not try to engage anyone in conversation until you had been around for at least three months, he would just beat you up and leave, off to the next person. I hated this guy. Surprisingly, I wound up married to him.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

So far I have faced two real challenges. The first one is one we all face as women in HEMA. Being taken seriously. For me being a woman in HEMA in the beginning was like being relegated to “tag along” status. She is just doing it because her husband/ boyfriend is doing it was the usual assumption at tournament events. I did occasionally find this particular challenge a bit of an advantage. Men would underestimate me and count me out completely. It was the biggest surprise when they discovered their mistake. “You are a lot stronger than you look” was something I got used to hearing. The second challenge was more personal. In June of last year I completely severed my achilles tendon. I had it surgically reattached about a week later and spent an entire year on the sidelines. I am still undergoing physiotherapy but about three weeks ago I was finally given the go ahead to spar. I was both elated and disappointed. I was happy that I could finally fight but so dismayed at how far I had to go before I would be back to my former self. My skills are steadily improving. Just last weekend I was teaching at the So Cal event in California. I entered the rapier tournament just to see how I would do and I won third. I have a long way to go but it is nice to know I am not completely down for the count.

What achievements are you most proud of, and what are your favorite memories?

I am very proud of what we have achieved with Blood and Iron. Starting in a church hall 4 years ago with four students, practicing two days a week and building it up to a 3000 sq ft training hall running classes 7 days a week with over 60 students is quite an achievement. We have trained and coached our students into placing and now winning tournaments in North America. I think that is something to be proud of. I have so many fond memories. I remember one of my first WMA events. I took one of the last bowie knife classes taught by Col. Dwight McLemore before he retired and I actually got to spar with him (he kicked my ass). I remember another taking another class and being so clumsy I accidentally stabbed Steve Huff in the eye during a drill he was instructing me on. He still reminds me about it to this day. I remember after blowing out my achilles tendon, helping teach a long sword class in Las Vegas from my wheelchair because I could not help myself when I saw people performing drills incorrectly. But my favorite memories are those when the people I was taking lessons from, began speaking to me as though I were one of them.

What are your WMA goals for the future?

I have a list of tournaments I would like to win…Longpoint, International Lowlands HEMA Gathering, Swordfish…..but mostly I would like to build Blood and Iron into the Best WMA school in the world. I know there are a few other schools with the same goal….we will see who gets there first.

Tell me more about your life (if any!) outside WMA.

Lee and I were laughing about this the other day. WMA and HEMA has pretty much become our life. Running your own business is a full time job. Lee is in charge of training curriculum and most classes and I pretty much run everything else. Our only day to ourselves is Sunday and it is not unusual for us to use it for cutting practice. We do try to make time for things not sword fighting related. Lee and I both shoot, we are members at our local range. We recently tried our hand at hunting…….we discovered it is just as much fun off-roading all weekend searching for bear as it is to actually find one…..right?

What response do you get from friends/family outside the WMA community when you tell them what you do?

My family has always though I was a little “different”. Even growing up I was the child looking for adventure. I began SCUBA diving as soon as I could pay for my own lessons, from there it was dragon boat racing, and out rigging. I was always looking for the unusual so it came as no surprise to them that I would take up sword fighting. My friends were another matter. Fencing…..like the Olympic stuff right? NO! Certainly not, I would explain, real sword fighting with actual swords not electrified car antennas. I was still working as a dental assistant when I began sword fighting and I remember another assistant noticing the frequent bruises on my arms and approaching me with the number of a women’s shelter. Because, you know, there are places you can go to talk about this. She thought I was crazy when I explained what I did for fun.

What advice would you give to other women thinking about, starting out in, or practicing WMA?

For those thinking about WMA…..get off your butt and start doing! For those starting out find a reputable school or teacher if you can. It will make such a difference in your development as a martial artist. I am always happy to direct people to groups and clubs in their area if I am asked and know of one. Secondly don’t be afraid to spar. Any groups or schools worth their salt will be encouraging and supportive of new fighters. We all have to start somewhere. Women sometimes have a hard time with this. Strangely it is not the fear of being hit, it is the fear of hurting someone. We are taught to be nurturers not fighters and I have encountered many women that are very uncomfortable actually hitting someone. It gets easier. But, unless you can apply techniques under duress you don’t really know them. For those that are practicing….Train hard and regularly. Until you build your reputation, you will always be underestimated as a woman when sparring. It is one of the realities of fencing with men. You will have to win their respect the same as any fighter, sometimes more so. Give them a good, hard fight and they will respect you. Secondly, spread the word. Tell everyone about what you are doing. Encourage your friends to come out and try a class or a practice. Women are very under-represented in HEMA and we are the only way that will change. Get out there, fight and promote yourself as an example of how beautiful strong can be. Show them, muscles are sexy!

 Original post: http://esfinges1.wix.com/e/apps/blog/interview-nicole-smith