Rapier Combat: A Practitioner's Thoughts

Greetings, Ok, I will admit with this blog I am cheating, and a lot. I am reprinting an old article that I wrote sometime ago. It is primarily designed for an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronisms) audience, but much of what is written in there applies just the same. There are quite a few references to the SCA and the way that this group does things. In some ways I hope that this will assist in clearing up some confusion about this particular group also. Anyway, here we go.... Rapier Combat within the SCA is an attempt to recreate one of the civilian forms of combat that existed in the Renaissance period. This form of combat is centred on the rapier and its companions. It is important to realise that it is the rapier that is being focused on otherwise a great deal of confusion will be created. In recreating this form of combat we use simulated weapons in a semi-competitive combat form. The weapons only differ essentially from the real weapons in that they have a blunt edge, and a rolled tip, which has a rubber stopper over it. The metal blades are very close to the actual weapon in weight and handling characteristics. The fibreglass blades are much lighter than real ones, but can be made in such a way that they do simulate a rapier in a reasonable fashion. Importantly the fibreglass weapons are cheaper to purchase, and are great for starting students. The combat form itself, in tournaments, is an attempt at recreating the lethality of the rapier in a combat situation, without the blood and burial costs. A win is scored by “rendering one’s opponent disinclined to continue”, this could mean a kill or disarm, or sufficient scratches. The whole body is a target, though the groin area is not deliberately targeted. We are assumed to be wearing civilian attire and as such any cut or thrust has to be judged as if the weapon was real and had hit flesh. This means that a combatant has to be really careful. It is also this reason that a lot of skill rather than brute force goes into this form of combat. What we do is kept safe by our safety and armour standards. Most importantly amongst this is the control that we instil into our students while they are in training. The best method to keep safe is to teach and learn control. The armour standard is there just to bolster the safety of the combatants. Where does this form of combat fit into the “medieval” period? Simply, it doesn’t. It is a Renaissance form of combat. Earlier forms of combat using thrusting weapons have been theorised as the predecessors of rapier combat. A lot of the techniques which are used in rapier combat were developed as the rapier did. Cut-and-thrust technique is one of the predecessors of the rapier’s technique and it is from this that a lot of the style was ....

The rest of this article can be found in Un-Blogged: A Fencer's Ramblings by Henry Walker, which is available in paperback from:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blogged-Ramblings-Henry-Leigh-Walker/dp/098764470X
Booktopia: https://www.booktopia.com.au/un-blogged-henry-leigh-walker/book/9780987644701.html
Among other places...

It is also available in electronic format (pdf) from: https://buy.stripe.com/fZecP419c7CB9VKeUV

... or direct from the author.