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

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Thorsteinn:
My 2 cents~

Related to what Ian said: I'm doing just such a thing in the SCA. The better I do, the less gear I wear, I wear way less kit than I did 10 years ago. At the top of my game I rarely get hit in the arms or legs at all and could probably go minimum there without serious consequence. For years Duke Jade of Starfall, 16 time King of the West, wore SCA minimums to fight hard hitting folks cause he just never got hurt bad. Now that he's older those armour bits are coming back (and some of those decisions about no armour are haunting him).

However I have to go to work Monday as a Software Tester. I need my hands.

Why can't folks just do what we did in TKD for years with putting on as much protection as the power level called for? Slow work/no contact= Minimal. Full Contact & power= maximum.

You may look at an UFC fight and note that all they have is cup (sometimes), mouth guard, & gloves but what they don't show is all the gear they use for training & that the minimums are used in specific instances for specific reasons and not as an all the time thing.

SirNathanQ:
I get the sentiment, but as a guy who plays with swords and MMA, I'd far rather take a knee to the body than a full-force sword strike, even with a steel blunt. Hell, any fool who can oberhau is theoretically capable of killing you in a HEMA bout. Remember in a HEMA bout one solid blow almost always decides the bout, while countless blows are exchanged in a MMA match.

I think minimalist gear will mean something different for HEMA than MMA or SCA.

Perhaps light (very hard plastic?) gauntlets, a jack-chain type defense on the arms, a torso protector, gorget, cup, and fencing mask/secret helm mix?

Ian:

--- Quote from: SirNathanQ on 2014-02-02, 21:47:10 ---I get the sentiment, but as a guy who plays with swords and MMA, I'd far rather take a knee to the body than a full-force sword strike, even with a steel blunt. Hell, any fool who can oberhau is theoretically capable of killing you in a HEMA bout. Remember in a HEMA bout one solid blow almost always decides the bout, while countless blows are exchanged in a MMA match.

--- End quote ---

This ignores the statement that minimal gear would be reserved for people of higher and superior skill levels.  Newbies, who can't control their power in any martial art of course wear the most gear.  The best people in all martial arts (except HEMA) wear the least. And a knee to the skull can surely kill you just the same as a blunt sword, and that's a perfectly legal target in MMA.  But only experienced practitioners should be playing at that level.

SirNathanQ:
But full-force knees to the skull are rather rare in MMA. The vast majority of blows are decidedly without killing potential, excepting in rare anomalies. The most common MMA hits are probably leg kicks and punches to the body/head. (This is ignoring grappling clench submission game, which has no parallel in longsword HEMA as practiced today) These are rarely going to seriously injure a professional fighter. The most common HEMA hits are hand/arm/shoulder cuts. Without some type of protective gear, a full force cut has a decent chance to disable the wrist, for a long time. 
While I think less/lighter/less restrictive gear will always be better, I don't think HEMA can safely be done at full force without some type of protective gear.

Ian:

--- Quote from: SirNathanQ on 2014-02-02, 22:08:33 ---But full-force knees to the skull are rather rare in MMA. The vast majority of blows are decidedly without killing potential, excepting in rare anomalies. The most common MMA hits are probably leg kicks and punches to the body/head. (This is ignoring grappling clench submission game, which has no parallel in longsword HEMA as practiced today) These are rarely going to seriously injure a professional fighter. The most common HEMA hits are hand/arm/shoulder cuts. Without some type of protective gear, a full force cut has a decent chance to disable the wrist, for a long time. 
While I think less/lighter/less restrictive gear will always be better, I don't think HEMA can safely be done at full force without some type of protective gear.

--- End quote ---

All very true Nathan.  But is it necessary for HEMA to be practiced at full force?  I agree that the killing or serious injury potential is higher in HEMA, but this is predicated on the assumption that at the top tiers of HEMA it need be practiced with that level of force.  I don't know if it needs to be or not.  If people are good enough, then I think technique can be valuable absent full force, but I'm not nearly experienced enough to make that judgement. 

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