r/Hema

My custom ruleset for a hybrid smallsword and savate sparring game. It may be a little too rough and tumble for the faint of heart and playing on a soft surface like grass or mats may be more comfortable. Some may like a mouth guard in addition to fencing gear but if play is responsible shouldn't be required. This is getting into folk game territory admittedly.

Core Rules:

Thrusts only. All Jackpot points +1 are granted upon a single clean thrust. Simultaneous thrusts result with no points awarded. Instead, add 1 point to the Jackpot held in limbo. The first fencer to score 21 points and lead by 2 points wins the assault.

The jackpot is a way to positively reinforce clean fencing as it does not award doubles. Instead it uses doubles to increase the ponderation of the next clean hit. It is meant to synergize wasted time into game design while adding a wee bit of drama. Cheering and heckling is encouraged.

Rough and Tumble Rules:

Kicks, trips, and open hand pushes carry 0 direct points.

Instant Win: Knocking an opponent to the ground (anything above the ankle touching the ground) using a chassé medium, revers bas, coup de pied bas, or main ouverte opens an instant win condition. Landing a clean thrust on the grounded opponent delivers the instant match victory.

Ground Defense: Downed fencers may defend themselves until they are back on two feet upon which ends the instant win condition for their opponent. If a fencer chooses an action like the passata sotto that fencer does open himself/herself to the instant win condition until back on two feet only. Tackling, closed fists, wrestling, grabbing and throwing opponents are strictly prohibited.

Legal Savate Striking & Sweeping Suite

1. Mid-Level Push Kicks (Chassé Medium)

Execution: A direct piston-like push kick delivered with the sole or heel to the opponent's body (strictly below the collarbone for safety).

2. Low Hook Kicks (Revers Bas)

Execution: A sweeping or hooking kick targeted below the knee, using the boot or instep to hook behind the lead heel or calf.

3. Low Sweeping Trips & Clears (Coup de Pied Bas / Croche)

Execution: A low, sweeping kick or boot-trip targeted at the opponent's shin or ankle, scooping their foot out from under their center of gravity.

4. Open-Hand Deflections (Main Ouverte)

Execution: Pushing, redirecting, or catching the opponent's lead shoulder, wrist, or weapon arm with the non-fencing hand to disrupt balance or unmask the target area.

Peace to us all 🌞

Are there more fun folk games within non-steel HEMA?

Question!! Did they ever have leather lined wrapped plate for neck defence? I mostly seen bare metal.

And...

Are the fabric textile for the maille collar..or it's just maille...?

They must have some genius engineers to come up with something like this!

What has been people's experience with an elitist or exclusive mindset within their own sword art journeys? This could be HEMA, a subculture of HEMA, MOF Fencing, or any African/Asian/Middle Eastern sword disciplines. I enjoyed HEMA immensely for military sabre as I liked bridging the gaps to what lead to Olympic Sabre which is a silly game of tag that I do enjoy because humbly, I freaking rocked at tag as a kid!

In my experience HEMA began with the study of dead martial arts and seemed to lack the elite exclusive culture I have encountered in MOF Fencing and Japanese disciplines; even though these elite types are far less common than their humble and kind clubmates as a whole. I think because when repairing something like a dead martial art one tends to want to share what has been restored. I'm not sure if price of kit can properly be factored into this but if you have experience I'd like to know about how price affected your experience as well.

Times change, with the more sporty HEMA tournaments (I don't go to them) how is the temperature with that?

Edit: A comedic purposeful smallsword club built on satyr elitism would actually be really fun!

Thank you for commenting with your human experience.

Peace to us all

A good day it is.

Blade length 65 cm with a POB at 8,5cm

Raiju daisho from Akado Armory. Most of my collection is European but I decided to come full circle in my sword love/addiction (my first sword was a flea market special Highlander:The Series Duncan McLeod katana).

theoretical end goal: flourishing a greatsword for a considerable amount of time in a park or in my backyard on a regular basis for my primary form of exercise

is this possible?
is this a good idea?
any tips?

(not sure if this is the right subreddit for this, sorry if it isnt)
(also, im not sure if anyone will be bothered by this but I will be reffering to the entire group of "zweihänder, montante, and spadone" swords as greatswords)

(Edit) Ive mentioned this in the comments but I feel like maintaining progressively loaded macebell exercises would establish the strength portion of the workout while the sword drills would count for cardio

Elaboration:
I have had a random impulsive thought that I have just kept visiting constantly for the past two days and have had a long ChatGPT session discussing about possibly adopting a traditional great sword military training regimen or something similar and use that as a general fitness program while incorporating any focused exercise or stretches that would address anything I feel I lack in order to complete my exercises
I am making this post for some general human input or a voice of reason (chatGPT can feel like a bit of a voice of affirmation rather than reason sometimes)

history:
I used to be a powerlifter for 3 years but I stopped when I got a job and haven't gotten back into it (I think its because I was lifting mainly for some sense of progression while I was unemployed and now I dont have that motivation since I am employed, IDK though and I wont elaborate) point being that I have good experience with general purpose strength training, however I have been out of practice for a long time so I have lost most of the actual strength by now
I have no HEMA or related experience to speak of

the Idea so far:
I am not exactly an olimpian currently, I dont expect to be capable of just swinging around a giant sword effortlessly right out the gate, nor do I have any interest in swinging something around in a public space while having no clue what I am doing. My idea right now is to take it in phases, I want to start with stretching exercises to increase my range of motion while doing macebell exercises (I bought a 10 pound one impulsively on amazon yesterday) to get a feel for how my stretching is progressing and build strength back, while also messing around with a cosplay sword (I have had for a while now because I am lame) to get a feel for any techniques I might want to practice. once I feel I have a grasp on some techniques and have at least most of the range of motion needed to follow through with them I want to get a wooden rod from home depot cut to the length of a greatsword that I can keep in my car and swing around in a park or something similar as I live in an apartment with no backyard yet. eventually I might graduate to using a synthetic greatsword, and then maybe graduate to a full steel sword if I keep at it for a long time (they not cheep though so it would have to be something I keep at for a looong time before I decide its worth it)

some books/resources I plan to work with:
Ken Mondschein, The Art of the Two-Handed Sword
Diogo Gomes de Figueyredo, Memorial of the Practice of the Montante (1651)
SET FOR SET Steel Mace Training Guide

I couldnt really find any modern resources on specifically greatswords

the motivation:
I want something that will accomplish general fitness with a focus on strength all as a byproduct, if I am just doing general exercises to keep myself healthy thatll become boring, however obsessing over something that is impractical and unnecessary sounds like itll be fun. This is why I am being specific about it being a type of sword that I am aware that most HEMA clubs probobly dont practice and that I will probobly never actually spar with, because I dont care about practicality with this and I want to focus on strength
also I am 5'2" so swinging a sword arround that is bigger than myself sounds funny

sorry for the really long ranty post
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2gcpFU-78k

What's your opinion about it? What do rapierists think about it? Leave your opinion at comments bellow.

A blade I made with 1045 high carbon steel. Forged because there's no damn bar stock locally. I cut the tang too short, so I decided to make it into a simple hilted court sword or smallsword. Its not perfect, but its the first sword of this type I've ever made.

I'll be making this into a proper smallsword, though the damned thing still took a saber bend.

​

Based on my “Osówka” blades, I’ve been experimenting with different types of fittings. This time, I wanted to return to the dusack in a more hybrid form.

The removable shell allows the sword to be significantly lighter and lets it be used more like a far-balanced sabre. I’m also very happy with the double-sided etching done by my friend Ina. The name of this particular piece comes from the figure depicted in the etching.

Blade length: ~84,5 cm

Overall length: ~103 cm

Weight with shell: ~1150 g

Weight without shell: ~840 g

In this video we can see the master Sergey Kultayev, top swordsman (long sword) and the instructor Melnik.

Winner of HEMA Triatlon, the Russian master comes from Olympic school of fencing, known for its fast stabs. Student of Kanat and Kultayev, the young master has a leading position in HEMA ranks.

The international tournament gathered participants from Brazil, Belarus, Italy and China.