How not to hold a longsword

This is John Clements in Glasgow. Showing the world how not to hold a longsword. This is what happens when you start believing your own hype. All common sense goes out the window.

The Bear.

 

And he's left the price label on!

 

What's he doing wrong?
What should he be doing?

 

The thing that struck me at first glance was his front hand, it seems to be in a very weak position. Striking forwards like that is going to strain the wrist, and lose a lot of power.

He seems to be working on the half-hold, used for more penetration power, but for that the front hand should be the other way around in a better position, and further up the blade. The rear hand should be on the hilt rather than the pommel, just below the guard, and the thrust direction should be a straight line.

I'd imagine that a block here from an opponent would hurt, even through the gauntlet, and the strike would be weak at best. It's also not a particularly maneouverable position.

That's just my reading from a glance - I'm sure Polar will correct me if there's anything I've missed or got wrong (I'm mainly a rapier guy rather than longsword).

 

Yeah now it could be that he did want to touch the leather as this is NOT a replica but an original 500 year old sword. The reason the guy behind him's eyebrows are shooting off is that he is one of the museum bods and was probably trying not to have a heart attack.
However, first, you never hold a sword by the pommel unless you can help it. Here is good ole uncle Dobringer to tell us:

"Know also that a good fencer should
before all things know his sword and be able
to grip it well with both hands, between the
cross guard and the pommel since you will
then be safer than if you did grip it with
one hand on the pommel."

Now even if he is half-swording for some reason. You still won't grip like that. You need to grip atleast half way up the blade to make it worthile and the second hand is still on the hilt. Just imagine if you are holding the pommel and then for some reason you need to take the other hand off the sword. Oops, sword falls.

Needless to say my people who attended this event were less than impressed with ARMA and Mr. Clements in particular. The content of his lecture was so horrendous it offended every member of my group.

The Bear.

 

I feel proud. I didn't get it completely wrong. Yay!

 

Longsword? Looks big enough to be a Montante.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

For wee Clements maybe. It's about the size of my longsword.

The Bear.

 

Damn my mind is in the gutter.

 

Why would anybody hold the blade? Serious question

 

As I understand it those sort of blades weren't nearly as sharp as a katana and people wore dirty great gauntlets.
Grabbing the blade was/is a way of gaining greater manipulation when in close or opening up options in attack and defence IIRC.

 

With a good gauntlet and grip you could basically turn a longsword into a very effective shortspear - great for punching through armour.

 

I've heard about half swording...

What about this without metal gloves? Seems a bit risky.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rqP1F36EMY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rqP1F36EMY[/ame]

 

Besides what else has been mentioned, it also becomes a fantastic lever. It can also be turned around and swung so that the crossguard becomes a pick-axe.

No part of a Longsword is not a viable weapon.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

With a tight grip, you're surprisingly safe. It's actually quite hard to budge a bar of metal someone's gripping tightly. I've seen this done in rapier barehanded - though I don't know anyone who'd be willing to test their grip on a live blade rather than a plastic one (it could just be that those who have, no longer have fingers and so don't go to classes).

 

The palms and gripping part of the fingers aren't metal anyway. They're leather and they have to be pliable enough to grip or they're worthless.

As for holding a live edge with your bare hands, it depends on the geometry of the edge and whether or not the edge moves in your hand. Edges cut best by slicing. Unless the edge is sharper than is right for a sword, you can push the edge directly against your skin and not get seriously cut. But drawing that same edge across in a slashing motion will cut.

Of course, with enough force, you can get a "chop" too and there's little to stop that except how you, the swordsman, use the sword; your mechanics.

The reason you don't want a hyper-razor edge is because the edge geometry becomes too fragile. It will be ultra sharp but won't stay that way if it gets used at all. Ever see those Axe-Man competitions? They have freaking SHARP axes, and they touch them up in between events, or even swap them out with a per-sharpened axe to save time.

[edit]
Here's a link to a discussion on the different edge geometries, what they are, when they are used, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. It's focused on Japanese swords but is pretty applicable to just about any sword or cutting implement.

http://www.toyamaryu.org/edge_geometry.htm

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

I know someone who did it against a pig carcass. A lot of stitches were required.

The Bear.

 

For the carcass? Were they stuffing it for afterwards?

 

The sword sliced through his leather glove and the his hands. Very skeptical about halfswording without a chain glove on the off hand.

The Bear.

 

I believe the appropriate response here is 'ouch', and to stand by my belief that only a maniac tries to hold (and use) a weapon by the dangerous end.