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[article] Towards a new approach in HEMA-tournaments: Let’s fence naked!

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Sir Edward:

An interesting, if not controversial subject in the HEMA community. There is a theory that too much protective gear harms the martial art, because people ramp up their power, while not being defensive enough to avoid being struck. The idea is that this can paradoxically create more injuries, and more double-hits.

Thoughts? Agree? Disagree?

Towards a new approach in HEMA-tournaments: Let’s fence naked!
http://www.hroarr.com/towards-a-new-approach-in-hema-tournaments-lets-fence-naked/

Sir Nate:
Or speedos

Sir James A:
I shower naked, that's enough nudity for me. :)

It somewhat reminds me of the saying "beware of old people with dangerous jobs". The young ones don't have the experience, and the ones who live through all of the danger are to be respected (and sometimes feared). It really is a completely different game when you can say "hand" and acknowledge you got hit on the hand and go right back to another round, versus saying "@(#*$@#$!" as you grip your hand in agony because that steel trainer just broke 8 bones because you had no hand protection at all.

Sir Brian:
It is an interesting premise and I have some doubts about protective clothing/armor of some kind not being worn back then. Even though the illustrations and artwork in various codices or reproductions have not displayed any sort of protective equipment I cannot believe that they didn't take some safety precautions given the lack of modern medicinal practices when a simple scratch or cut could easily turn septic and become fatal.

I fully agree that most blossfechten techniques are certainly compromised due to the wearing of bulky protective gear but the fühlen (feel) of combat and the engagement cannot be truly realized by just doing drills or half-tempo duels. For refinement of technique I certainly do not wear the steel gauntlets or the lacrosse gloves but after I feel comfortable with a technique I will practice it with the gauntlets to learn the subtle differences.   :-\

Ian:
I think some of the general problem with the HEMA community is that they're constantly trying to reinvent the wheel and seem to be independently discovering martial arts apart from already established martial arts.

A while ago it was making the rounds that the power of a sword swing comes from weight-transfer in the hips... you don't say?  This has been a known fact forever in every other martial art that power generation comes from body weight transfer, not your arm...  But it seemed to be touted as a revelation for the HEMA community in some circles. 

Protective gear is just another symptom.  Look at every other competitive martial art.  They all wear minimal protective gear, and the ability to get hurt is always present and part of the sport.  Boxers and MMA practioners come to mind.  If you can't get hurt, you will never learn to defend yourself.  Now, of course a newcomer should wear more gear as they learn control etc, as they do in other martial arts, but at the top tier, competitions generally occur with minimal gear so as not to get in the way of technique.

The thing with gear that sets HEMA apart is a steel sword can do a lot of damage, (but so can a fist or knee on the right person), but let's just assume that the sword in general has a greater potential for damage.  If we accept that as true, then it would follow that perhaps some more protective gear would be required to prevent grievous injury.  It's a hard question... but I firmly believe that at the top tier of any competitive martial art, technique reigns supreme and protective gear will always hinder at that level of play.  I think that's obvious to other martial arts, but again, it's only now making headway in the HEMA community.

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