Training Longsword and writing (Warning! - Kick ass videos of Longsword fighting in this post)

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Hello,

This week I would like to tell you about fighting with a sword, in particular, Longsword

If any of you have read my Bio you will know I practice Historic Martial Arts (HEMA), in particular Longsword. I am a member of Wolfshead Westen Martial Arts and am an assistant instructor at the club. We train in various disciplines, I teach Longsword and Sword and Buckler, but we also train in Sabre, Staff, Tomahawk and Bowie knife and Knife work. Myself, and a few of the others at Wolfshead, are quite active in the UK tournaments and I am proud to say I have won myself I nice clutch of medals in Longsword and Sabre.

Now I cannot recommend this hobby enough, it keeps me fit but also teaches me accurate fighting techniques that I can use in my writing.

As I’m sure many of you are, I am a big fan of the Fantasy genre. In fact it’s pretty much all I read. We all love our sword wielding heroes and villains in our books. In fact, I can hardly imagine a fantasy novel without a sword.
Since I was a young lad, I have always been obsessed with swords and a few years ago I decided I would learn how to use one. So I started training in English Longsword, then quickly found German and Italian Longsword also. We study the actual sources from the middle ages to learn and interpret the lost arts of swordsmanship. Studying treatises of the old masters - Lichtenhauer, Meyer and Ringeck for German. Fiore and Vadi for Italian. And for my English in which I specialize, Ledall and Harlien. They recommend sticking to just one style but I couldn’t help myself and before I knew it I became fairly well versed in several styles.

Then I started to notice it in my reading, I noticed other authors had obviously done their research in to swordplay. I noticed it in my own writing, my understanding of martial mechanics coming through on to the page to make (what I believe) a more realistic fight scene. I was conscious not to overdo it though; I did not want to end up writing sword porn (something I have seen some authors get carried with, perhaps without realising).

Anyway, I wanted to talk about my swordsmanship and its impact on my writing.
But I also wanted to show you all a few videos of real Longsword plays in action so below I have posted a number of videos.


A few links to my Longsword Sparring videos for your enjoyment :

(I am the big guy in black, I wear a club patch on my breast and have my coat of arms on the thigh of my skirt.)

Longsword 6: https://youtu.be/mxuyF5S2ek8 (Me starting on the right )

Longsword 5 furious exchange: https://youtu.be/QFzmdtbzqHc (Me starting on the left)

Longsword takedown: https://youtu.be/v1RkHFbB3uE (Me on the right taking down my buddy lance)

Longsword 1: https://youtu.be/nAmTOCP9wJ4 (Me on the right)

Longsword 2: https://youtu.be/0Uug_7kGDCw (Me getting taken down by my Instructor)

Longsword 3: https://youtu.be/mu-58wDFOjk (Me starting on the left)

Longsword 4: https://youtu.be/nVsPFqj-wfA (Me starting on the left)


Heres a few pictures of my current sparring sword
Its a Sigmund Ringeck 1300 - 1500 sparring replica




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Anyway, only slightly writing related but nonetheless I hope you enjoyed the blog post this week

Lee Conley

(My family Coat of Arms under which I fight)