Hammer play in recent games

I love to play role-playing video games. As a medievalist and WMA practitioner, this has to be carefully done lest my head 'spode from all the fantasy armour and weapons. Let's not even get into the fighting styles (that much spinning around would make me dizzy as hell).
However, I've been playing Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and Kingdoms of Amular: Reckoning recently and I have to say that while there are still issues (just remember that they are fantasy games) I'm really pleased by the hammer play that appears in both.

Specifically, there are special moves where you use the queue of your hammer to set up your opponent so you can then smack them in the head.

As far as reality for the hammers, Skyrim does much better. Evidence:

Skyrim warhammers:

 

Both of those are Iron Warhammers, other models in the game to have a top spike.

Here are the hammers from Reckoning:

Obviously reality (and physics) have less concern for the designers of Reckoning - but hey, it's a game!

I'm just happy that I get to schtup someone in the face before crushing their head ;-)

Upcoming project

I have a theory about pollaxe usage with a short haft. By "short" I mean:

Average = User's Height +/- 1 foot

Shorter than average =  User's Height - 1.5 feet

The main reasoning behind my theory is actually a picture featured in Sydney Anglo's book Medieval & Renaissance Martial Arts in the polearms section (sorry but I don't have the book handy, so I don't have a page number) - but here is a low res copy from the ARMA site

It's the one on the right.

It's hard to see here, but it depicts French and Portuguese knights fighting in the lists with axes. What is intriguing is that all of the axes are Short and that the knights are gripping them with their main hand almost directly under the head of the weapon and the back hand approximately halfway down the haft.

My theory is that this grip gives you approximately the same queue space as an Average axe, while still allowing, with grip movement, similar abilities to strike with the croix. Naturally, a Short axe will change the tactical nature of your fight - more grappling and close play, possibly some lack in the ability to make throws.

As soon as I finish putting new flooring in my downstairs, and can clean out my garage (meaning I can actually get to my axes again) I will start taking measurements, etc.

I will keep you posted.

Book Review - "Armizare" by Robert Charrette

I just finished Fiore dei Liberi's Armizare: The Chivalric Martial Arts System of Il Fior di Battaglia by Robert Charrette.
First off, buy this book. Seriously. This is, by far, the best overview of Armizare yet. The organization of the book, the writing, and the photography are all clear and easy to understand. Okay, some of the photos (which are black & white) make it difficult to clearly tell relative blade position - but hey, it's hard to tell in the manuscripts too. Rather than do a page-by-page review, I will give overall opinions. For the most part, I agree with Charrette's interpretation of Armizare. What falls outside the "most part" are really just slight differences - I tend to hold Frontale more off to one side or the other, depending on which foot is forward for example. The weapons and armour shown throughout the book are gorgeous.
This may seem like a weak review, but the book, and the research within, speaks for itself. If you are just generally interested in the art of Fiore dei Liberi, buy this book. If you are a student of the German masters and are curious about what "them Eye-talians do" (I'm looking at you Teague *wink*), pick up this book. If you are already a student of Armizare, then you need this book. Need.

Lately I've been worried about something - that I do not have the necessary self-motivation to pursue HEMA to the highest degree. That is, one of my ambitions had always been to become one of "the Names" in WMA - you know, the people who seem to be on the instructor list of almost any event, the people who when you think of a specific art you think of them (example: Italian rapier = Tom Leoni). The thing is that I've always known this about myself - even as a musician during high school I really didn't like solo practice. Group practice I looked forward too but I couldn't really get up the gumption to practice the sax on my own on a regular basis, but I would practice because it was necessary for group practice/concerts to go well. While I was living in Eugene, solo practice was easy for the same reason - it made group lessons at UO or the salle go smoother (and there was the added pressure of teaching).

Part of what has put me into a non-practice rut since moving from Eugene (I think) is partially due to money issues. My wife is in her first year of teaching after finishing graduate school, I am contemplating graduate school, and so thinking about buying new armour, or enough wasters to start teaching Armizare, traveling half-way across the country for events, etc. begins to put a strain on our finances that we just can't handle right now. That is the reason I've been looking into other sword arts to study - arts that require less armour to practice, arts whose weapons are less expensive, etc. - because longswords, poleaxes, and their required bouting/safe practice armour is expensive.

Options so far have included:
-Rapier
-Sword & Buckler (of various traditions)
-Bolognese School
-Military Sabre
-Backsword/Baskethilt swords (mainly because single-sticks are cheap)

I uess I'm jsut putting this out there is the hope that others have had the same issues and maybe have some advice for me?

Musings - Don't get Lost in the Forest by Focusing on the Trees

I was recently made aware of the fact that I have been focusing far too much on individual weapons (i.e. which do I prefer more: longsword, poleaxe, spear, etc.?) and losing the forest for the trees. Instead, my focus needs to be on the system as a whole - as the Marine saying goes "One Mind, Any Weapon". All of the weapons, as cool as they are individually, are just tools. I find myself wondering (and this is probably just an effect of my lack of training time) whether I should spend my time on the longsword, or the axe, or sword & buckler, or whatever and the answer is all of the above. There is room in Armizare for all of these weapons, if by no other option than by simply following the principles therein. For instance I've been playing with my homemade mace - made from one of these Brass Mace Heads from Kult of Athena, a 30" piece of an old axe haft, and some brass tacks (it ain't pretty, but it works) - using Fiore's principles. It's been an eye-opening thought experiment, shadow-boxing with my mace. I really suggest it - find a weapon that is not in your canon (or is not a "normal" HEMA weapon - flail, etc.) and play with it, making sure to follow the principles of your flavor of HEMA.

Axe videos

Sweet Mary it's been awhile since I posted anything!

Anyways, here are some great videos on axe play from a group from the Netherlands (I believe)

First up is a bout between two gentlemen in harness.


Second up is more of a demo video. All of it is very good, but the poleaxey goodness starts at 3:15.

In the both videos there are some moments where blows are obviously being pulled. Of course they are! These guys are using real axes and have their visors up - this is "loose play" or slower-speed sparring. They are not trying to kill each other, just show what they can do.

All in all, these are great videos (and there are more on their youtube page) and it's just great to see people training with the greatest weapon of them all

;-)

Book Review: The Knightly Art of Battle

This is a book review of "The Knightly Art of Battle" by Ken Mondschein, from the Getty Museum.

While this is not a full translation or facsimile of the Fiore manuscript held by the Getty Museum in LA, this is a wonderful introduction to the manuscript for non-Fiorists and Fiorists alike. The introduction is clear and concise, as are the brief introductions to each section.

The highlight (for me) were the high-res images included in the book. While it doesn't include the whole manuscript, most of the "important" images are: the segno, all the poste, and a hand full of plays.

For so cheap a price, this book really is a must-own for any Western Martial Artist.