A couple of days ago a HEMA acquaintance asked me to give feedback on a tournament final they had fought. My judgement was kind of damning: they were too damn passive. They sat in Langort until the opponent attacked. After that, they fought quite well. Perhaps more technically than the opponent.
They still lost though.
Their opponent had been able to pick when to start the exchanges, and been able to start each exchange with an attack of their own. I don’t particularly dislike Langort as a guard, nor fighting from the Nach as a tactic. But letting the opponent initiate doesn’t have to be the same thing as passivity.
The Zufechten is the phase for setting up attacks, seeing openings and generally preparing our win, but if you want to fence from the Nach it’s also the time to show the opponent the openings you want them to attack into, to prepare your counter ahead of time, and to make them uncomfortable enough that they’ll throw a poorly executed attack that will be easier to defend.
Consider two scenarios.
In one, I wait in Pflug. My opponent advances. Tests my reaction to nearing the edge of engagement distance. When I do nothing, they come in with a basic oberhau to the head. I react, go to parry and the fight begins.
In the other, I am in Pflug. But I move as my opponent advances. Just little shifts that both serve to disguise potential attacks (and hey, I can feint a few thrusts while I’m doing it) and to make it harder for them to find the “perfect” distance. Suddenly I advance a full shuffle step. My opponent, alarmed, throws the oberhau, the obvious choice from their Vom Tag… and I’m ready to catch it on a hanging guard and snap around to their head on the other side.
Setting up attacks (and defences) is clearly not all of fencing. But it’s a huge part, because it means the exchange can begin with a massive advantage for you. Of course, there’s a difference between setting up an opponent and doing things just to not be passive…
The same day, I saw Danaher summarising the same issue for grappling:
Sticking a landing will royally fuck up your joints and possibly shatter your ankles, depending on how high you’re jumping/falling from. There’s a very good reason free-runners dive and roll.
Hand-to-hand fights usually only last a matter of seconds, sometimes a few minutes. It’s exhausting work and unless you have a lot of training and history with hand-to-hand combat, you’re going to tire out really fast.
Arrows are very effective and you can’t just yank them out without doing a lot of damage. Most of the time the head of the arrow will break off inside the body if you try pulling it out, and arrows are built to pierce deep. An arrow wound demands medical attention.
Throwing your opponent across the room is really not all that smart. You’re giving them the chance to get up and run away. Unless you’re trying to put distance between you so you can shoot them or something, don’t throw them.
Everyone has something called a “flinch response” when they fight. This is pretty much the brain’s way of telling you “get the fuck out of here or we’re gonna die.” Experienced fighters have trained to suppress this. Think about how long your character has been fighting. A character in a fist fight for the first time is going to take a few hits before their survival instinct kicks in and they start hitting back. A character in a fist fight for the eighth time that week is going to respond a little differently.
ADRENALINE WORKS AGAINST YOU WHEN YOU FIGHT. THIS IS IMPORTANT. A lot of times people think that adrenaline will kick in and give you some badass fighting skills, but it’s actually the opposite. Adrenaline is what tires you out in a battle and it also affects the fighter’s efficacy – meaning it makes them shaky and inaccurate, and overall they lose about 60% of their fighting skill because their brain is focusing on not dying. Adrenaline keeps you alive, it doesn’t give you the skill to pull off a perfect roundhouse kick to the opponent’s face.
Swords WILL bend or break if you hit something hard enough. They also dull easily and take a lot of maintenance. In reality, someone who fights with a sword would have to have to repair or replace it constantly.
Fights get messy. There’s blood and sweat everywhere, and that will make it hard to hold your weapon or get a good grip on someone.
A serious battle also smells horrible. There’s lots of sweat, but also the smell of urine and feces. After someone dies, their bowels and bladder empty. There might also be some questionable things on the ground which can be very psychologically traumatizing. Remember to think about all of the character’s senses when they’re in a fight. Everything WILL affect them in some way.
If your sword is sharpened down to a fine edge, the rest of the blade can’t go through the cut you make. You’ll just end up putting a tiny, shallow scratch in the surface of whatever you strike, and you could probably break your sword.
ARCHERS ARE STRONG TOO. Have you ever drawn a bow? It takes a lot of strength, especially when you’re shooting a bow with a higher draw weight. Draw weight basically means “the amount of force you have to use to pull this sucker back enough to fire it.” To give you an idea of how that works, here’s a helpful link to tell you about finding bow sizes and draw weights for your characters. (CLICK ME)
If an archer has to use a bow they’re not used to, it will probably throw them off a little until they’ve done a few practice shots with it and figured out its draw weight and stability.
People bleed. If they get punched in the face, they’ll probably get a bloody nose. If they get stabbed or cut somehow, they’ll bleed accordingly. And if they’ve been fighting for a while, they’ve got a LOT of blood rushing around to provide them with oxygen. They’re going to bleed a lot.
Here’s a link to a chart to show you how much blood a person can lose without dying. (CLICK ME)
If you want a more in-depth medical chart, try this one. (CLICK ME)
Hopefully this helps someone out there. If you reblog, feel free to add more tips for writers or correct anything I’ve gotten wrong here.
How to apply Writing techniques for action scenes:
– Short sentences. Choppy. One action, then another. When there’s a lull in the fight, take a moment, using longer phrases to analyze the situation–then dive back in. Snap, snap, snap. – Same thing with words – short, simple, and strong in the thick of battle. Save the longer syllables for elsewhere. – Characters do not dwell on things when they are in the heat of the moment. They will get punched in the face. Focus on actions, not thoughts. – Go back and cut out as many adverbs as possible. – No seriously, if there’s ever a time to use the strongest verbs in your vocabulary – Bellow, thrash, heave, shriek, snarl, splinter, bolt, hurtle, crumble, shatter, charge, raze – it’s now. – Don’t forget your other senses. People might not even be sure what they saw during a fight, but they always know how they felt. – Taste: Dry mouth, salt from sweat, copper tang from blood, etc – Smell: OP nailed it – Touch: Headache, sore muscles, tense muscles, exhaustion, blood pounding. Bruised knuckles/bowstring fingers. Injuries that ache and pulse, sting and flare white hot with pain. – Pain will stay with a character. Even if it’s minor. – Sound and sight might blur or sharpen depending on the character and their experience/exhaustion. Colors and quick movements will catch the eye. Loud sounds or noises from behind may serve as a fighter’s only alert before an attack. – If something unexpected happens, shifting the character’s whole attention to that thing will shift the Audience’s attention, too. – Aftermath. This is where the details resurface, the characters pick up things they cast aside during the fight, both literally and metaphorically. Fights are chaotic, fast paced, and self-centered. Characters know only their self, their goals, what’s in their way, and the quickest way around those threats. The aftermath is when people can regain their emotions, their relationships, their rationality/introspection, and anything else they couldn’t afford to think or feel while their lives were on the line.
Do everything you can to keep the fight here and now. Maximize the physical, minimize the theoretical. Keep things immediate – no theories or what ifs.
If writing a strategist, who needs to think ahead, try this: keep strategy to before-and-after fights. Lay out plans in calm periods, try to guess what enemies are thinking or what they will do. During combat, however, the character should think about his options, enemies, and terrain in immediate terms; that is, in shapes and direction. (Large enemy rushing me; dive left, circle around / Scaffolding on fire, pool below me / two foes helping each other, separate them.)
Lastly, after writing, read it aloud. Anyplace your tongue catches up on a fast moving scene, edit. Smooth action scenes rarely come on the first try.
some quick handy advice from someone who has been on the Front Lines when a peaceful protest has turned violent:
milk is really good for soothing pepper spray. water is more convenient but if possible rinse with milk to ease the stinging. keep your eyes closed though, as it’s not quite water, and be sure to rinse it all off properly because no one wants spoiled milk on their face
there are always “easy” targets in groups that police/aggressors will go for. close ranks around them and make sure they’re in the middle of the group. if you’re white, keep a barrier between the police/aggressors and poc, for example.
lining up and linking arms is actually an incredibly strong barrier. if everyone is doing it it’s very difficult to break through. double for multiple layers of people doing this.
know your exit routes. if you need to get out fast (and you might) know where you’re going and have multiple routes if you can. never run alone; it’s always best to have at least two other people running the same route.
change of clothes in your bag man. new t-shirt, a hoodie, a different jacket, anything to alter your appearance. even changing the colour you’re wearing could throw police off, especially if they’re looking for dozens of people.
always know the number of people in your group and have a safe place to fall back on after you’ve escaped. headcount. raise the alarm if someone isn’t there or can’t be contacted.
even minor head injuries from thrown projectiles can be serious. if you can, get it checked out.
and saving the most important til last:
water cannons/fire hoses are not a ‘soft’ option.it’s high pressure water that can blast off skin, break bones, throw you clean across a road, and even kill. I have seen someone get hit by a water cannon and die. the force of the water threw him down so hard his neck was snapped. if they bring out the water, get out of its range.
I am no master of the miniature hobby, but I do love achieving
neat things via DIY with cheap materials so here as a quick tutorial.
A couple of people have mentioned being worried about the wobble and rubbery nature. All I can say is that after a coat or 2 of PVA or ‘ard coat or some other sealant. The surface goes rigid, almost like a resin. But its true I would not be keen on just gluing something directly to the surface, or any painted surface for that matter. With virtually all my DIY surface stuff I pin for safety.
Aliquid de Magis 