“James,
“Hope your trip went well James. The two fencing masters are at it again, engaging in a rematch from the year before. Wanted to get your thoughts on their progress from the year before.
“The link to their first set of matches is here:
“Take care of yourself,
Adam
HEMA instructors fighting with the Polish saber - Lee Smith vs. Richard Marsden
James’ Comments
Okay Adam, the shorter guys is athletic and has more potential. He lunges, thrusts and circles, but does not angulate, counterstep or pass.
The taller guy understands the material better but seems to be at an athletic ceiling. He also lacks stamina.
He does not possess the explosiveness to leave himself open and wait, yet he does and repeatedly pays for it.
He has a fair counterstep [reverse shift], but with those long legs needs good or excellent.
A taller, weaker, more precision minded fighter like him should be in constant motion, not waiting and should be setting up the pass slash, which he does not bother doing until 7:40, which was a nice job but kind of close.
More importantly, being a saber fighter is one thing against a saber man, but if these guys were facing an epee, rapier or small sword they would get skewered. To be functional against thrusting weapons—such as the Turkish spears and polish lances these fellows would face in battle, they need to have more lateral movement, pass slashes and shifts.
I like watching these fellows, particularly liked the short man’s attention to the point [a thrust from a curved sword make s big blood channel] and the tall man’s dedication to deep slashes.
They both seem to be a bit stymied by the fact [and I’m guessing here} that they face each other two much. They kind of remind me of Chuck and I, or me and Charles, two guys that developed artificial performance ceilings because of doing a whole lot of work with one sparring partner.
Twerps, Goons and Meatshields: The Basics of Full Contact Stick-Fighting
