a visual resource

[swan_tower]

The next post in the "writing fight scenes" series has been delayed by the necessity of scanning in a few things for illustrative purposes, but in the meantime, have a video:

Watch on YouTube

It's a nice demonstration of the tactics that prevail between a rapier and a longsword, as well as a few other technical matters that we'll get to in future posts. In fact, I may well refer back to this as an example later on.

Comments

[unquietsoul5.livejournal.com]

I don't know the style book that they are supposedly drawing from but from what I was taught many years ago regarding rapier, the rapier fighter in the video appears to think he should approach the rapier in the same manner as an epee much of the time and is ignoring the cutting edges of his weapon.

ninja_turbo is right that the rapier user is not staying in stance well at all.

From a practical fighting point of view (not necessarily the same as a sporting point of view) the rapier is a bit short to be being used singularly against the longsword blade based on the heights and build of the people involved.

You want to get the longswordsman to over extend his swing so you can make thrusts like the one that catches him in the armpit, or where you can get him off balance and use foot work against him to kick him off his feet (or strike at the knees). Again practical fighting, not legal fencing.

The weakness of the rapier fighter becomes obvious around 5:00 or so when he makes that weird running thrust that leaves him with back/side temporarily undefended and exposed and his balance all shot to hell. It looks like bad desperation move and he was lucky that the longswordsman didn't have the reaction time to take advantage of it.