Wild Flailing with SHARP Swords... How About No?

I'm late to the party on this, but the old safety vs. reality controversy in martial arts is still worth discussion. A couple of years ago the group Holmgang Hamburg drew some attention with videos that show them fight with sharp blades and no protective gear aside from helmets and gloves.

They simultaneously admitted to be crazy on their channel page but also claimed in the video description that this is the only way to experience to understand sword fighting or fencing. ("Nur wer scharf und ohne Rüstung kämpft, kann Schwertkampf oder Fechten verstehen.")

Seeing how they swung at each other with very little sense of self-preservation and disregarding any techniques from the historical manuscripts, that seems a little ironic to say the least. So is my opinion on the matter, including the potential benefits that practicing with sharp blades can have (by the way... DON'T).

A more sensible way to do sparring with sharps:
   • Sharp Longsword Sparring Experiments  


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