August 2025 Reflections

 Reflections from August 2025

    August in the year 2025 has been a busy month for me on my sword fighting journey. In this post I will leave some thoughts on what I have gathered in my studies this month. 

Fencing from the Sweeps

    I've put many hours into studying the combat philosophy of "fencing from the sweeps". In short, fencing from the sweeps describes the action of off-setting your opponent's blade from albur with your short edge as they cast a parting cut to your head. From there a variety of plays can be explored. I've used this tactic in club discussions, casual sparring, and competitive ranked tournament play. In all three scenarios I found sweeping to be quite reliable and as the month progressed sweeping became instinctual for me. By following the codes laid out in the manuscript my double-hit (when both players hit each other at the same time) rate has decreased drastically. Also, most points scored upon me are less lethal targets such as the hands, arms, and leg. Rarely can an opponent cast a head or chest strike on me. 

Coaching and Mentoring

Soul of Shields x Chase the Knight longsword training session (TikTok LIVE)

    I've had the opportunity to coach and mentor many sword fighters who have come my way. While I have given instruction before, this month was different as I was specifically sought out for mentorship in some cases. I suppose this is the effect of having a presence online, nonetheless it was an honor to help people. The people who sought me out ranged from a variety of skill levels and goals. Specifically, a colleague of mine, Alex, who teaches English longsword at the Guild of Knightly Arts in Columbia Missouri asked me to coach and prepare him for the Donnybrook 2025 tournament, which was a huge honor for me. Besides Alex, I've helped a handful of beginners both in person and online get started with their swordsmanship journey by posting comment-response videos on TikTok, answering private messages, and private lessons both in person and via online video chat. 

    

    A particular swordsman I've mentored who stuck out to me was Chase Bolling (aka Chase the Knight on TikTok), who had recently decided to explore German Longsword. Unlike most fencers I come across, Chase is an entertainer and historian specialized on the roles Africans played in Medieval Europe. Chase and I are fans of each other's content so this virtual training session hosted on TikTok Live was a blast to create!  The experience helped me align with my personal goals of sharing my knowledge of swordsmanship, which is to not only inform fellow swordsmen, but entertainers who also wish to portray these roles. Although, Chase is as real as it gets between being both an entertainer and a capable swordsman. 

Donnybrook 2025 lesson in stage combat

    Alongside giving many beginner lessons on German Longsword, I was given the opportunity to teach about stage combat and how to portray longsword combat that looked intense and cinematic. This was another highlight for me as stage combat is an industry I've sought to break into as my knowledge would be invaluable. 

Donnybrook 2025

    

    Donnybrook is the largest Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) tournament in the midwest. Previously I had no plans of attending this year but that all changed when Alex asked me to be in his corner during the tournaments and to give him a private lesson before the event. A few days before the tournament I packed my things and hopped on a Greyhound to Columbia to begin my journey. 

    The tournament was much more pleasant than last year. The venue had adequate air conditioning and the overall mood was friendly and playful as opposed to overly competitive. I ran into a few familiar faces of swordsman I've come across in my Journeyman days such as Shelby and Austan. On the second day of the event I had the pleasure to play the role of a squire for the armored fighting tournament held by Kansas City HEMA. As a reward for my service I was given a nice reenactment grade squire's cap that I will be using in my costuming for the upcoming renaissance performances I've been recruited into. 

    

Donnybrook 2025, Joel Conley (left) vs Jay Johnson (right)

    

    I had no intention of competing in the longsword tournament. However, on the morning of the tournament I was offered a spot in the tournament and decided to take it to see what would happen. This would be my third tournament and the one where not only am I much more skilled than before, but I also didn't take the results of the tournament so seriously. I didn't have my VB feder at the time but thankfully Austan loaned me his Regenyei shorty. You'd believe that I'd have a major disadvantage walking into the ring with a shorter sword but I used it as motivation to close the line with the Schielhau and work closely to my opponent. I was commended by my opponents on how well I fought with the shorter blade and getting through the tournament with no double-hits. In pools, I ranked 45/76 which I am satisfied with seeing as I didn't know I was competing until I saw my name of the board as the first fight in my pool. 

    

Needless to say, August 2025 was a rite of passage on my swordsmanship journey. I began as a solitary recluse sticking closely to my esoteric manuscripts to stepping into the light as a martial arts mentor whose lessons ripple through the minds of many aspirant swordsmen who were just like me starting out. This journey was only the beginning of what life has in store for me now.

 Strategy, Tactics, and Tricks

"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat" - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

    The reasoning behind any movement in the world of Martial Arts falls in one of the following categories: strategy, tactic, or trick. The individual martial art styles that we craft are compilations of these three concepts. In this post I will briefly explain and site examples of these three concepts, and how they apply to the art of sword play.

    A strategy is a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim. A fighter's overall goal when going into combat is to achieve victory in the battle. Within that singular goal is the strategy he employs to meet that goal. Examples of strategy include being an offensive fighter or a defensive one. More strategies include hit-and-run exchanges, ending a battle with a singular master-cut or exhausting the opponent over the course of several short exchanges. It gives more depth to the fighter's style over just running up and slashing the opponent. 

    A tactic is an action carefully planned to achieve a specific end. The specific end in this case would be the strategy laid out before the fight begins. Seizing the Before (i.e attacking in a way in which your opponent must respond to your movement directly) is an excellent example of a tactic. For defensive fighters, positioning yourself in order to have the most amount of time to respond to an attack in the After would be the tactic they'd employ. Capturing and controlling the opponent's sword would also be a tactic alongside moving to a superior position. Most of a martial artist's training is dedicated to honing and perfecting tactics. Tactics on their own may be enough to emerge victorious from the fight like Sun Tzu once said, but when the tactics are formed to fit the fighter's strategy- that fighter becomes dangerous to their opponent. 

    A trick is a cunning or skillful act or scheme intended to deceive or outwit someone. These are the hard-to-learn, hard-to-master wild card movements that can completely throw their opponent off-guard. Tricks can be useful in the right hands and at the right moment but won't be enough to emerge victorious and can even put the fighter in a worse position if not employed properly. A trick can be almost any kind of movement from sword flourishes to spins to grappling. Some tricks work better on certain opponents whilst a tactic can be used universally against all opponents. Tricks show a fighter's mastery of the martial arts and adds a personal signature onto their style. 

    A masterful martial art includes strategies, tactics, and tricks across all levels of the fighter's style. My advice for any new martial artist is to build your own offensive and defensives strategy and within those strategies study carefully the tactics which manifest the goal of your training most consistently and master them. Tricks will be developed naturally as you gain more mastery in the art you are practicing. You must be careful not to use tricks as a crutch however as they could undermine your strategy when they are not employed at the proper moment. 

 Medieval Martial Arts Equipment Buying Guide 

  The first puzzle I had to solve as a medieval martial artist was acquiring adequate training equipment. This challenge proved to be more difficult than how it would seem, especially so at the time when I began my training. What I wish I had with me when I was starting was a guide for proper medieval martial arts equipment. Therefore, I am paying it forward by creating a guide myself for future medieval martial artists. The guide is geared toward the solitary martial artist who trains alone or is aiming to open their own martial arts guild in their area. If you belong to a guild already,  then I suggest adjusting your purchases to align with the training pillars your guild has established.

  Step 1): Decide what the purposes for your training are. Are you studying for sparring, competition, choreography, or are you simply seeking a workout? Are you going to incorporate steel armor into your training? The training pillars you set for your journey will rank the hierarchy of equipment you should be acquiring to start as quickly as possible. The biggest factor to consider is if you plan on sparring early. 

Step 2): Decide the time period and setting for your practice. The medieval era does not only encompass Europe. The medieval era spanned across the whole world across many different levels of technology.  Focus is key to picking the right equipment for you. I set my training in the late 15th century within the southern regions of the Holy Roman Empire. You don't need to be an expert on the whole medieval era, but having sufficient knowledge of the time and place you wish to study from will help inform your purchases. 

Step 3):

  If you train alone, purchase a training sword and find an appropriate manuscript. woodenswords.com is the best website in the US for finding high quality training swords. Unlike dulled display swords that are more common, training blades whether they are made of steel or nylon are forged to have the feel and balance of a martial sword and will give you a more accurate idea of how a sword should feel in your hands. Your first sword should never have a sharpened blade. There is a database of historical sword training manuals available on Wiktenauer.com that are freely accessible. I suggest you find two masters from your setting and practice from their texts. It is also beneficial to find a handful of sword martial artist accounts on social media and model your exercise routines off of theirs. 

  If you a a member of a sword training guild, purchase a gambeson, adequate protective gloves and a fencing mask if your guild participates in sparring. My personal recommendations for personal equipment are the following, all available on woodenswords.com (US):

 * Gambeson: SPES AP LIGHT 350N JACKET 

 * Gloves: SPES LOBSTER V3 (for heavy swords), LEATHER SPARRING GLOVES (for light swords) 

 * Mask: WUKUSI COBRA FENCING MASK 350N or ABSOLUTE FORCE 350N DELUXE MASK

  

  If your guild has a focus other than sparring then I suggest grabbing your sword and manual as described above. It's important to check in with your guild's organizer to know what equipment is acceptable and what loaner gear is available for use during training. 

  Miscellaneous equipment: First aid kit, comfortable training attire (rash guards, jogging pants, athletic socks, running shoes), dumbbells, water bottle, sword maintenance items (mineral oil, alan keys, blade tips), personal journal, sword sheathes, equipment bag (addidas defender XL bag recommended) 

  If you are starting your own guild or seek to train with a friend then you will need to extrapolate the quantity of each purchase to fit your needs. There are deals on bulk orders for items available. I suggest reaching out to your chosen storefront to see what they could work out with you. 

 Testing "Fencing from the Sweeps" 

  The manuscript which has been the focus of my research recently is the longsword manual "Fencing from the Sweeps". It is something of an addition to Master Liechtenauer's Zettel- his compilation of poems written on the art of sword play in the 15th century. The author of the manuscript is unknown but he is believed to have been a practioner of Liechentauer's style of fencing in the early 16th century. 

  Liechentauer's Kundst des Fechtens was still widely practiced in the early Renaissance era after his passing. The new era of German sword masters felt as if later generations have lost touch on the Zettel's teachings and sought to write a new Zettel for the new era of sword fighters. The New Art is mostly attributed to the work of Renaissance sword master Andre Paurenfeyndt, who includes "Fencing from the Sweeps" as an appendix to his broader fight book "On the Chivalric Art of Sword Play". The plays in the manuscript were not written Liechentauer,  but by those who inherited his art. 

"when you lay in the side-guard to your left side and someone cleaves-in to you downward from above" -Anonymous Sword Master

    The manuscript contains plays which branch from the first actions made by both fighters in a lightly armored sword duel named Blossfechten ("Fencing with Openings" in German). There is an offensive fighter who begins in the guard of the Day, an aggressive sword guard where the sword rests on its wielder's right shoulder. The second fighter is a defensive one, and begins in the guard of the Fool- leading with his right foot and pointing his sword forwards towards the ground. 

  

  The guard of the Fool leaves the upper body completley vulnerable to a downward strike. Most importantly, the Fool's head is completley open for cleaving. The guard makes the Fool's head an attractive target. The Fool knows this, and has prepared a counter for when his opponent's head strike manifests. 

  

 The manuscripts describes the Fool's counter to meet the opponent's sword with short edge whilst stepping off-line towars his left side. Simply put, its starting from Fool's/Iron Gate and moving to the guard of the Day (Vom Tag) on your right shoulder. Within that movement, your short edge will contact the enemy's blade, thus countering the strike to your head. 

  In essence the manual encourages you to sacrifice the Before in your first intention (Zufechten), so that you have the advantage to take the Before from an advantageous position within second intention (Krieg). Now that you have the Before in Krieg, you can make a direct cut to their head with a wrath cut, or you could choose to also capture their sword by performing a right-side squinter cut (schielhau). Your opponent must work twice as hard to out-time you or retreat. There are even opportunities to grab onto the opponent's blade and wrestle them. 

  But does this actually work? My fencing style used to be focused on always holding the Before at all costs. Not to mention how awkward the idea of allowing the enemy to strike my most vital area felt to me when I first gleamed the manuscript. However if these plays were useless, why were they written so extensively about? Eager to explore these plays for myself I took them to the local fencing guilds for the trial by sparring. 

  The results in sparring were enlightening.  I first began by drilling through the plays with my mentor and allowed his wisdom to add to my understanding of the text. I found the sweep to be easier to execute than how it seemed on the paper. It was effective in parrying wrath cuts from both long and short range and felt quite safe after my body calibrated to the technique. My initial issue was executing the sweep too early and out of measure which was corrected as I went on to understand the sweep further. 

  I sparred with a handful of partners after a water break who had no knowledge of the manuscript. I had no issue using the technique in live sparring and scored many hits with both the one-handed and two-handed swords. I fell in favor for the squinting cut as my follow-up from the sweep and scored 5 hits in a row on the opponent's shoulder. That play gave me a confidence in Krieg that I couldn't find anywhere else should I lose the Before. 

  Eventually my partners caught on to what I was doing, and came up with responses to the sweep in sparring. What I commoly witnessed was a feint from the wrath cut to an under cut. I got pointed a few times in this movement. I began to play more safe with my sweeps by checking a little past long point for a feint, and swiftly drawing back to plow on my right side to counter the feint. After capturing the Feint, the thrust to the chest was an open target. 

  I changed from skepticism to full adoption of the technique after resting on my discoveries. The sweep is now my plan B tactic in my style. Capturing and holding the Before is still my prime rule of engagement,  however I am confident in safely falling to Fool's for the sweep should my opponent beat me to the Before. This manual is an essential read for all medieval fencers and will be part of the core of my coaching lessons. Stay tuned as I will continue to write about the wonders of Fencing from the Sweeps. 

Who's Really the Fool of Fools Guard?

 Who's the Fool in Fool's Guard?

  The image above describes the guard of the Fool (known as Alber in Liechentauer's traditional martial art). It's an easily recognizable guard for anyone who has studied the art of the longsword. It could also associated with the guard named Iron Door which is another well known lower guard across martial arts traditions from Germany to Italy. Many plays have been designed featuring the employment of this guard however the texts hardly explain the reasoning behind the guard's condescending name. 

"The third guard is called the fool; arrange yourself thusly: Stand with the right foot forward and hold your sword with outstretched arms with the point upon the ground" -Master Sigmund Ringeck

  Master Ringeck describes the positioning of Fool's and includes several plays that can be made from it in his manuscript. However Ringeck does not contexualize why the guard is named Fool's explicitly.  As far as I am aware none of the old sword masters give reasoning behind the guard's name. Therefore I wish to speculate and offer different reasonings in this post. 

  The typical explaination I hear from my mentors and online is that this position is a foolish arrangement in a real sword duel. Fool's does not offer any inherent protection from your sword. On the contrary the guard exposes your upper half entirely and more importantly your head. This isn't the only concern with Fool's as you blade is also pointed toward the ground thus offering zero offensive capability as well.

  There are plently of fighters who disregard all lower guards entirely for that reason and will only train and use upper guards as they are much more protective. I find that reasoning to be mostly valid however I wonder why the masters would write so extensively about the guard if it was truly useless. As I said earlier there are whole manuscripts written specifically for this guard (see 'Fencing from the Sweeps'). This leads me to believe that the guard is more important than what is seen first hand. 

  Some say that Fool's is a manifestation of the fighter's ignorance of sword play, as any well-trained fighter would favor a guard that is more useful. If your opponent takes this stance you might as well rush their head as they have no way of stopping you in the onset. I chewed on this understanding in my early training days but as I continued to read the manuscripts I learned more and more plays that can be made from fools. I decided to try the plays' techniques myself and was surprised by the results. 

  A direct attack from Fool's will hardly win a fight- that much is certain. The most direct attacks from Fool's is a false edge cut underneath the arms or a thrust to the body. Any other attack would take too much action-time and would certainly be slower than your opponent's oncoming strike. I didn't find myself satisfied with the cut under the arms. My approach to sword play is within the context of Blossfechten ('open fencing' in German). The main protection worn in Blossfechten is a heavily padded jacket. The jackets were made with several layers of linen specifically tailored to protect its wearer from cuts. The short edge cut from Fool's has less-than-average power and would certainly be blocked by the opponent's jacket. 

  The thrust to the body is underwhelming too. The jackets were not protective against powered thrusting attacks and are thought to be avoided in sparring to preserve their fighters. The thrusting attack- while a valid strike still has a major problem shared with the cutting attack- my head is completely open for the taking. Even if my strike were to land, the opponent still has a clear angle for my head and would certainly mark my end in a fight. 

  Does this mean Fool's is useless? The old masters didn't think so. The manuscript "Fencing from the Sweeps" addresses this issue. The manuscript tells you that the true way to move in the onset from Fool's is to parry your opponent's strike with your short edge whilst stepping off-line. This technique is named the "sweep", and all plays in the manuscript follow after this movement. 

  I brought these plays to my local fencing guilds to try them out and the results were enlightening! The most direct movement after the sweep is to cut towards the opponent's head with your long edge once their point has been cleared away from you. This worked remarkably well! Upon reflection, that play is a technique I would see performed by a reenactment fighter I train with from time to time. He trains and spars with half of the protective equipment I do, thus he needed to find ways to protect his head other than his fencing mask (a grace that can be lost when training with modern fencing equipment). 

 The second path to take after a sweep is winding your sword into a wrath thrust (pictured above). By turning your edge you can gain better control over your opponent's sword and strike them with a squinting cut to the head or a thrust to the head or body from above. This places your opponent in check and forces them to seek a disengsge from the bind. After testing these moves in sparring I understood the capability of Fool's within Blossfechten and how a seemingly weak guard can be turned into something deadly in the second intention. 

  Now I see Fool's completley differently. It is a strategy more than a simple guard. By making the most desireable target the most vulnerable (the head), your opponent is much more likely to strike it. If you are prepared to receive the cut with your sweep, you can quickly turn the tide of the battle into something your opponent wasn't prepared for. So is the fool the one who leaves their head open, or the one who takes their bait? I will leave that answer for you to discover on your own journey.