SOURCE: Swordplay Help

[Riga Poniard]

I've found the following videos to be of EXTREME help in visualizing any fighting my character(s) has had to do. These are a set of vids by a group specializing in re-enacting medieval fighting techniques.

Video 1

• This video has separate segments for different types of weapons
  
• dagger work
  
• sword/messer and buckler (like a small wrist shield)
  
• messer (note use of ONE hand)
  
• poleaxe
  
• long sword (note use of TWO hands)

Video 2

• long sword work (two-handed)
  
• this video is great because it's divided into separate segments of different fighting techniques
  
• each "technique" is shown one step at a time (very helpful!)
  
• I've NO idea what the subtitles are saying however!

Video 3

• short sword/messer work (mostly one-handed)
  
• the "messer" was considered cheaper than a more regular sword, and therefore more used by the "common" man
  
• note the "clipped back tip" (sorta like a mini-scimitar)
  
• the messer used in this video, however is a "langes messer", slightly longer than the more common messer; this one would have been used in the Renaissance.

Video 4

• long sword work
  
• two-handed
  
• fast-paced