Main > The Courtyard
John Clement, not being knightly.... again.
Sir Brian:
--- Quote from: Sir Edward on 2012-06-21, 13:15:43 ---
--- Quote from: Joshua Santana on 2012-06-20, 23:59:05 ---I would like to see how he would fare against someone like Jake Norwood or Guy Windsor. That would be awesome.
--- End quote ---
Actually Jake Norwood used to be one of his students. Until he saw the light, and realized there's a much wider world out there. Now Jake's a valuable member of the rest of the HEMA world, with a lot to contribute. I know we're all glad to have him.
--- End quote ---
Which gives me hope for others who are still training with John. Although I only met Jake twice and attended one training session at his school as a sort of 'exchange' student with a couple of other MASHS students, he impressed me not only with his infallible manners but his extremely humble yet skilled instruction.
--- Quote from: Sir Edward on 2012-06-21, 13:15:43 ---
--- Quote from: SirNathanQ on 2012-06-21, 01:13:44 ---Or maybe he should follow through on some of his claims and actually make his students and himself live or die by the sword and use sharps. Then hopefully he'd get a debilitating injury and we wouldn't have to listen to his stupid rants..... 8)
--- End quote ---
Somewhere there's a video of him and one of his "inner circle" dudes fighting with sharps. They're keeping it pretty controlled and careful... and yet... Seriously? Accidents happen. I don't think I'd trust myself well enough, let alone anyone else, to keep it safe for that.
--- End quote ---
Boy o’ boy that just exudes a total John Kreese (Sensei of Cobra Kai) mentality which is infantile at best. Total nut-jobs like him are truly a danger not only to themselves but to anyone else foolish enough to train with them as well as poor examples of the art to the uninformed. ::)
Sir Edward:
I'm searching to see if I can find the video with the sharps, and no luck yet. Though here's one with JC and one of his other guys doing a fight with blunts, and no face or hand protection. :)
http://www.thearma.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23405
For reference, this is the sort of thing that can go wrong with sharps (see attached image). Supposedly this injury was done by a student to himself when missing a static cutting target. I'm not sure who it was, it was mentioned on myArmoury.
Sir James A:
Clements has ~30 years of experience, has been a consultant on a number of things, has had access to original manuscripts that 99% of us will never get to see or touch, and, having taken a class with him in person ... he's a really motivated, energetic, good teacher. Because of that, the saddest part of the article, to me, is that he persists in his 'holier than thou' attitude; and if he'd just step off his pedestal, he could have some great contributions to the community. >:(
And ... Ick! That picture still strikes fear in me every time, since I first saw it! I'm going to ramble for a minute, since it's an important topic. The picture is from here:
http://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/sword-fighting.html
(scroll down to 'ONE FINAL WORD ON SWORD SAFETY')
--- Quote ---This injury was caused by a Gladius sword that cut right through the target and kept going, biting deep into the cutters leg and causing him to lose 6 pints of blood and requiring 66 stiches and emergency surgery...
Swords are not toys. So please, for your own sake AT THE VERY LEAST, read the ebook and watch the video to avoid this kind of thing happening to you...
--- End quote ---
For anyone who doubts that swords can't cause brutal injuries just because we live in an 'advanced age' compared to the 'medieval muck-dwellers' ... stare at that picture, and think about 66 stitches and losing 6 pints of blood. We're around swords a lot, and we have to be vigilant to not become too 'used to it', and we must treat them with the respect they deserve. If we don't, we start to gamble, literally, with limbs and lives.
For reference, average male adults have 10-12 pints of blood, so you're talking 50% or higher blood loss.... safety, respect, and more safety!
Sir William:
I have not taken much umbrage from John's words, if only because I don't know the man personally and he doesn't know me...I'm nothing special, just not of a mind to take offense when he is clearly not referring to me, or you guys.
As flagrant as his self-worship is, he does make some salient points...sword fighting is NOT what most people think it is, he's right about that. 99% of the world-at-large thinks swordfighting is what we've seen on the big screen, swashbuckling, gung-ho, balletic even, if that's a word. Sounds right. In any case...he has a point; I don't agree with casting broad aspersions as he does- it seems to me that he writes from a stance of aggravation...maybe some onlooker or budding student expressed some form of derision at what he considers his life's work. Since I can fully understand not being understood, I'd be willing to give him a pass on that one. That might not be the case...and if it is not, so be it. He is one man among many...he might even be the best, but there will come one who can best him, that is part of the natural order of things. Except for Bruce Lee...none could stand him, you'll not tell me different! ;)
I inject a little levity to say this- none of us should take ownership for his snide comments to the sword community at-large, it simply does not apply to us. To varying degrees, everyone here has an understanding of the sword, its history, its allure and its lethality. We're also human, so we're prone to mistakes, misplaced bravado (at least in my case), but these are things that can be remedied with time, study and application.
I do dumb stuff from time to time...sometimes, I'm aware even when doing it; it is a personality issue with me, I'm imperfect and I know it. I also know that I could probably learn a lot from this man, if I could just get past his massive ego- but who cares, I'm not interested and his rant is just one of many that can be found on any given subject on the Internet. Dump it and move on.
SirNathanQ:
--- Quote from: James Anderson III on 2012-06-21, 16:15:32 ---http://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/sword-fighting.html
(scroll down to 'ONE FINAL WORD ON SWORD SAFETY')
--- Quote ---This injury was caused by a Gladius sword that cut right through the target and kept going, biting deep into the cutters leg and causing him to lose 6 pints of blood and requiring 66 stiches and emergency surgery...
Swords are not toys. So please, for your own sake AT THE VERY LEAST, read the ebook and watch the video to avoid this kind of thing happening to you...
--- End quote ---
For anyone who doubts that swords can't cause brutal injuries just because we live in an 'advanced age' compared to the 'medieval muck-dwellers' ... stare at that picture, and think about 66 stitches and losing 6 pints of blood. We're around swords a lot, and we have to be vigilant to not become too 'used to it', and we must treat them with the respect they deserve. If we don't, we start to gamble, literally, with limbs and lives.
For reference, average male adults have 10-12 pints of blood, so you're talking 50% or higher blood loss.... safety, respect, and more safety!
--- End quote ---
And then think that the sword that dealt that blow was a gladius, a sword not optimized for cutting, and the person cut himself (assuming from that that he tried to slow down, or at least had an extremely awkward cut). Also, it was the lower leg, one of the not so freakishly lethal areas of the body. Imagine if it was a longsword, or say John clements' life-risking sharp duel went wrong? Cuts actually made at another person, with good form, to the torso, or God forbid, the neck. The potential for insta-death/maim in a longsword duel with sharps is enormous, and could met out blows to make that horrific cut look tame!
Sir William, we take offence because we DO consider ourselves part of the community at large of which he accuses of playing "adolescent sword-tagging games" I personally can attest that the efficiency of the fighters we train with, learn from, and watch prove itself to be far beyond "adolescent sword-tagging games"
I recognize that he does have skill, resources, is reasonably intelligent, has experience, and has teaching ability. That's honestly the worst part, that he should know better, and probably has much to contribute, if he'd just get off the high horse and talk to people.
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