Bouts

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After-hours sparring sessions at the Virginia Academy of Fencing (VAF) in Springfield, VA. Mostly German Longsword but also dagger and other weapons. (Listed in reverse chronological order.) These are fairly large (about 10MB) Quicktime files.

LONGSWORD

NEW Eric vs John 6/29/08
Sort of Monty-Python-esque bout in John's backyard; me in chainmail, John in red tunic.
Bob vs Eric 7/4/07 (bigger version here)
It's a miracle one of us wasn't killed. Honestly.
Bob vs Eric 7/4/07 (bigger version here)
This is the second bout. Now it's personal.
Bob vs Eric 7/4/07 (bigger version here)
The enigmatic Bob Busch and I honored our Nation's independence by trying to kill each other in Belle Haven Park, Alexandria, VA. This is the first bout.
Pamela vs Eric 12/6/06 (bigger version here)
The re-rematch.
Bill vs Eric 5/10/06 (messers) (bigger version here)
Taking Bill's new aluminum messer wasters for a test drive. (Okay, messers were medieval machetes, so this doesn't really belong in the longsword section, but who cares.)
Bill vs Eric 5/3/06 (bigger version here)
Good bout with steel.
Eric vs Pamela 4/19/06 (bigger version here)
The rematch.
Pamela vs Eric 2/1/06 (bigger version here)
Live steel action!!! Pamela pits her brand-new, fresh-from-the-box A&A Spada da Zogho against Eric's A&A Fechterspiel.
Pamela vs Bill 1/4/06 (bigger version here)
The match-up the world has been waiting for. Green Monster versus Velociraptor.
Eric vs Geoff 1/4/06 (bigger version here)
Two men have a friendly chat while trying to kill each other.
Geoff vs Bill 1/4/06
Eric vs Pamela 1/4/06
Pamela vs Geoff 1/4/06
Amanda vs Pamela (shinai) 11/30/05 (bigger version here)
Mrowr.
Pamela vs Eric (shinai) 11/16/05
Pamela M. mops the floor with Eric W., using the sixth master-strike, the "pamela-hau" (rushing forward in langenort). (But he was tired.)
Eric vs Bill 11/9/05 (bigger version here)
Good bout that Bill conveniently doesn't remember because Eric mopped the floor with him. Ironically, Mason can be seen mopping (well, sweeping) the floor in the background.
Bill vs. Geoff 11/9/05
Slow-speed bout to work on form.
Amanda vs David 11/2/05
Amanda vs Bill 11/2/05
David vs Bill 11/2/05 (bigger version here)
David R. crosses swords brilliantly against a slightly taller version of himself. Oh wait -- that's Bill. How embarrassing! -- they wore exactly the same outfit...
Eric vs Bill 10/26/05
Geoff vs Bill 10/26/05 (bigger version here)
Great bout. Geoff meant no offense to our British friends when he slashed at their flag like that.
Amanda vs Eric (wooden wasters) 10/19/05
John vs Bill (padded swords) 10/19/05
Eric (shinai) vs Bill (padded) 10/19/05 (bigger version here)
Good fast bout, at least until it degenerates into silliness.

 

RAPIER

Bill vs Kelly 7/2/06 (bigger version here)
Good bout with rapier and dagger.

 

DAGGER

Disclaimer: Not pretty. Sometimes rude.
Amanda vs Bill (dagger) 11/30/05
Bill vs Eric (dagger) 11/30/05
Eric vs John (dagger) 11/30/05
Eric vs Pamela (dagger) 11/30/05

 

MISC.

Cutting Party '05 (bigger version here)
Last November, a farm in Northern Virginia gave a bunch of sword geeks the go-ahead to massacre their spare pumpkins. We didn't even have to clean up afterwards. Now, finally edited (w/soundtrack), is footage of the mayhem.
Using the Schielhau (bigger version here)
Instructional video on the most debated of the masterstrikes. This is how we do the Schielhau at VAF.
John vs Bill (poleaxes) 10/19/05
A 1/2-speed bout with poleaxe simulators.
Pamela (longsword) vs John (sword & buckler) 10/19/05
John H. is up to his usual tricks -- blade-grabbing, tango moves, and obscure "invitational" guards that don't tempt the self-respecting Pamela.
Falls
Watch and learn. (VAF historical students: this is the file you are looking for.)

All videos copyright 2005
Eric Wargo