←back to thread

I Never Cared Much for Swords. Then I Had to Fight with One

(thewalrus.ca)
44 points pseudolus | 7 comments | 18 Jul 25 13:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.827s | source | bottom
Show context
KaiserPro ◴[18 Jul 25 13:48 UTC] No.44604609[source]▶
If you want to try sword fighting there are a bunch of ways to do it.

HEMA people are generally very welcoming and probably slightly mad. quite expensive to get into, but great fun.

Fencing is more common, but start out with epee, foil is a big weird as you have right of way, its a training system and it shows, its harder to learn and not as fun. Sabre is for people who like shouting lots, more one hit wonder.

For the eastern styles:

A good Aikido class should start out with weapons, you wont be going full speed as even with wooden sticks, stuff gets dangerous pretty quick.

Korean sword work is going through somewhat of a renaissance, I don't know that much about it though.

If you're doing eastern style sword work, don't be tempted to get a metal sword, you'll never be able to train with it, and they are almost always poor quality. (unless you know what you're doing)

replies(3): >>44604798 #>>44604965 #>>44608288 #
1. yial ◴[18 Jul 25 14:07 UTC] No.44604798[source]▶
I would disagree about starting with epee.

But that may be a bias about form.

I fenced 4-5 times a week for about 10 years, even teaching and was at one point ranked.

Our policy was to start people on foil with a strong focus on form for usually about a year before moving to Sabre or epee.

Of course, we also usually started people with a French grip, and wrist up vs sideways.

One goal for example would be in lunge practice to have a penny or dime a few inches in front of your shoe, and have that go flying without your shoe hitting the floor.

I agree with you though that epee is the most fun, and also the most realistic.

The right of way in foil is not realistic. Furthermore, I always disliked Sabre as it is very showy but not nearly as enjoyable.

In short, foil to learn initial form and practice, and then move to epee. (I realize the arm position difference can create a challenge for some there )

“Foil is art, Sabre is theater, epee is truth”.

replies(2): >>44605013 #>>44609904 #
2. blackguardx ◴[18 Jul 25 14:28 UTC] No.44605013[source]▶
In Epee, if you poke someone in the toe, it "kills" them. Not sure it is any more realistic than foil.
replies(3): >>44605067 #>>44605157 #>>44605224 #
3. some_random ◴[18 Jul 25 14:33 UTC] No.44605067[source]▶
It's a duel to first blood.
4. XorNot ◴[18 Jul 25 14:40 UTC] No.44605157[source]▶
I mean conversely if you drove a blade into someone's foot, the chance they recover before you deliver a follow-up strike is probably quite low.
replies(1): >>44605471 #
5. psunavy03 ◴[18 Jul 25 14:45 UTC] No.44605224[source]▶
The way it was explained to me, foil evolved from training for duels to the death (body strikes only), epee evolved from training for duels to first blood (hit anywhere works), and sabre from cavalry training (edge is legal, but only waist up as you're often on a horse).

Then they took on their individual quirks like right-of-way.

6. ses1984 ◴[18 Jul 25 15:05 UTC] No.44605471{3}[source]▶
On the contrary, when your blade is in their foot it’s not delivering a lethal strike nor is it defending you. Driving a blade through bone doesn’t always come out easily. A trained opponent could probably kill you before they even felt any shock.
7. KaiserPro ◴[18 Jul 25 21:14 UTC] No.44609904[source]▶
Touche as one might say, you make a good point.

I think my bias comes from starting out with japanese sword styles and then moving to european. Instead of huge wide swings, it was all about jabbing someone on the wrist, or intercepting and controlling the blade.

I think because I tried Epee first, foil just seemed slow.