I Took Some Historical Sword-fighting Lessons To Make The Fights In My Novel More Realistic - Heres What

I took some historical sword-fighting lessons to make the fights in my novel more realistic - here’s what I learned.

To make the fighting scenes in my low fantasy novel more realistic, I went to see a trainer for historical sword-fighting last week, both to barrage her with questions and to develop realistic choreographies for the fight scenes in the novel. Since I figured some of what she told me might be useful for you too, I put together a small list for you. Big thanks to Gladiatores Munich and Jeanne for making time! (Here are some more pictures if you’re interested.)

Caveat: I’m by no means a sword-fighting expert myself, so take these nuggets with a grain of salt – I might have misremembered or misinterpreted some of the things Jeanne told me. If I did, feel free to tell me.

1.) Weapon choices need to make sense

Let’s start with a truism: always ensure your character’s weapons make sense for a.) their profession, b.) their cultural background and c.) the environment they’re going to fight in. A farmer probably couldn’t afford a sword and might use a knife or threshing flail instead, and someone who doesn’t want to be noticed probably wouldn’t be milling about sporting a glaive or another large weapon. Also, soldiers native to a country with wide open plains would be more likely to carry long-range melee weapons such as spears or large swords, than those from a country consisting of mostly jungle or dense forests. The same applies to situations: if your character is going to be fighting in close quarters (even just a normal house), he’d get little value out of a spear or even a longsword, as there’d be no space to swing it effectively.

2.) Boldness often beats skill

In real swordfights, recklessness was often more important than technique. The fighter less afraid of getting injured would often push harder, allowing them to overpower even opponents with better technique.

3.) Even a skilled fighter rarely stands a chance when outnumbered

While a skilled (or lucky) fighter might win a two-versus-one, it’d be extremely unlikely for even a single master swordsman to win against superior numbers, even just three and if they’re below his skill level. The only way to plausibly pull this off would be to split the opponents up, perhaps by luring them into a confined space where you could take them on one by one. The moment you’re surrounded, you’re probably done for – because, unlike in Hollywood, they wouldn’t take turns attacking but come at you all at once.

4.) Dual-wielding was a thing

… at least in some cultures. I often heard people say that people using a weapon in each hand is an invention of fiction. And while my instructor confirmed that she knew of no European schools doing this—if they did, it’s not well-documented—she said it was a thing in other cultures. Example of this include the dual wakizashi in Japan or tomahawk and knife in North America. However, one of the biggest problems with the depiction of dual wielding in novels/movies/games are the “windmill”-type attacks where the fighter swings their weapons independently, hitting in succession rather than simultaneously. Normally you’d always try hitting with both weapons at once, as you’d otherwise lose your advantage.

5.) Longswords were amazing

Longswords might seem boring in comparison to other weapons, but they were incredibly effective, especially in combat situations outside the battlefield. The crossguard allowed for effective blocking of almost any kind of attack (well, maybe not an overhead strike of a Mordaxt, but still), the pommel was also used as a powerful “blunt” weapon of its own that could crack skulls. Though they were somewhat less effective against armored opponents, the long, two-handed hilt allowed for precise thrusts at uncovered body parts that made up for it.

6.)  “Zweihänder” were only used for very specific combat situations

Zweihänder—massive two-handed swords—were only used for specific purposes and usually not in one-on-one combat as is often seen in movies or games. One of these purposes was using their reach to break up enemy formations. In fact, one type of two-handed sword even owed its name to that purpose: Gassenhauer (German, Gasse = alley, Hauer = striker)—the fighters literally used it to strike “alleys” into an enemy formation with wide, powerful swings.

7.) It’s all about distance

While I was subconsciously aware of this, it might be helpful to remember that distance was an incredibly important element in fights. The moment your opponent got past your weapons ideal range, it was common to either switch to a different weapon or just drop your weapon and resort to punching/choking. A good example of this are spears or polearms—very powerful as long as you maintain a certain range between you and your opponent, but the moment they get too close, your weapon is practically useless. That’s also why combatants almost always brought a second weapon into battle to fall back one.

8.) Real fights rarely lasted over a minute

Another truism, but still useful to remember: real fights didn’t last long. Usually, they were over within less than a minute, sometimes only seconds – the moment your opponent landed a hit (or your weapon broke or you were disarmed), you were done for. This is especially true for combatants wearing no or only light armor.

9.) Stop the pirouettes

Unfortunately, the spinning around and pirouetting that makes many fight scenes so enjoyable to watch (or read) is completely asinine. Unless it’s a showfight, fighters would never expose their backs to their opponent or even turn their weapon away from them.

10.)  It still looks amazing

If your concern is that making your fight scenes realistic will make them less aesthetic, don’t worry. Apart from the fact that the blocks, swings and thrusts still look impressive when executed correctly, I personally felt that my fights get a lot more gripping and visceral if I respect the rules. To a certain extent, unrealistic and flashy combat is plot armor. If your characters can spin and somersault to their heart’s content and no one ever shoves a spear into their backs as they would have in real life, who survives and who doesn’t noticeably becomes arbitrary. If, on the other hand, even one slip-up can result in a combatant’s death, the stakes become palpable.

That’s about it! I hope this post is as helpful to some of you as the lessons were to me. Again, if anything I wrote here is bollocks, it’s probably my fault and not Jeanne’s.  I’ll try to post more stuff like this in the future.

Cheers,

Nicolas

The first time Yelena sees Maria working diligently beside Melina as they cook supper Yelena laughs so hard she falls out of her chair. Natasha can’t keep from chuckling along with her little sisters frantic laughter. “What’s so funny?” She asks with a grin.

Yelena lays curled on the ground, grabbing her stomach, trying desperately to catch her breath. “You,” was all Yelena could get out before she gasps out another giggle. “You married mom!” She finally shrieks as she breaks into hysterical laughter, as though saying it out loud just made it funnier.

Natasha looks over her shoulder with an indignant frown. Maria looks nothing like Melina. Maria looks only superficially like Melina. They are both lean women with dark hair. She sees them standing beside each other, both frowning down at something unseen on the counter. Maria gestures at something and Melina nods briskly. An action Natasha has seen Maria make nearly daily at work. Maria brushes her bangs back impatiently, more focus on her work than her hair. Exactly like Melina would do when pouring over the reports Alexi brought back. As though cued both tilt their heads in synchronization just slightly to the right, seeking a better angle to consider the task ahead of them. Natasha’s green eyes widen. “I married mom,” she whispers horrified. Her words nearly drown out by Yelena’s ongoing laughter.

A warm hand knocks against Natasha’s shoulder so hard she she nearly falls out of her own chair. “Yes!” Alexi cheers happily. “You did not see this?” Natasha flushes at the question. Alexi noticing something before her is just embarrassing. Even if he was technically a spy. “I told you! You make good choice. Pick nice girl. Your mom is best girl, but your wife is close.”

Natasha does, in fact, vividly remember him saying exactly that when he first met Maria. This realization adds a layer of context that Natasha did not want. “Oh god, why did I marry mom?” Natasha’s still too horrified to think clearly.  Alexi’s good natured laugh overwhelms Yelena’s high pitched giggling. “It is rule of life. You marry one parent. You become the other. My beautiful girl is just like me.” He pounds his chest with pride and Natasha uses the freedom to sink beneath the table in shame.  Yelena’s also laying on the floor, relearning how to breath. Natasha pokes her, smile licking around her lips. “Careful,” Natasha threatens, “you might end up marrying mom too.”

Yelena’s own eyes widen in horror. “I will never!” She vows.

Natasha grins teasingly and arches an eyebrow. “We’ll see.”

***

One year later when Yelena shyly introduces her sister to her beloved Natasha mouth drops open in shock.  “What? What is wrong?” Yelena asks defensively. “Kate Bishop is pretty cool. Don’t try to play me.”

Natasha shakes her head. “No, she is. She’s pretty much an awkward puppy in people form. I just didn’t realize you were so against marry mom that you’re trying to marry dad.”

Yelena’s look of slow dawning horror is worth every second of teasing Natasha survived for the past year.

So Maria and Melina similar-- similar enough for Yelena to make a joke about Natasha dating her mother.

Rosemary? You mean spicy pine needles?

I’m now imagining a little mermaid AU for Hawkeye where Kate’s the human prince(ss) who jumped on a burning ship for a dog and rammed a shipwreck into a 150-foot-tall magic sea monster (Dreykov) for Yelena. 

I hope im not just a blog you follow but also the only person with 100% correct opinions about the little mermaid

kate + yelena (inspo x)

Wait! Wait, wait wait!

“A person who believes in eugenics wants to influence or control other people’s reproductive choices based on whose genes they think should be passed on to “improve the human race.””

But? But didn’t OP? Didn’t OP try to control other people’s reproductive choices based on whose genes they think should be passed on to ‘Improve the human race’?

This might be considered controversial but I really don’t care

I remember seeing this post on radblr a while ago (if you know the op please don’t tag them. It’s possible they changed their opinion and I don’t want them getting unnecessary hate) basically saying in the name of bodily autonomy it’s okay for women to abort disabled children

This could be my personal feelings as a disabled woman but it felt very similar to eugenics

If you’re pregnant and the minute you find out your child isn’t “perfect” you decide to abort it that’s not okay

What’s going to happen if they don’t pick up on a disability or the child develops a disability later on in life or are in some kind of accident that leaves the child disabled

Committing to child means committing to everything that can possibly happen

Your love for your child you’re bringing into the world should be unconditional regardless

I’m sorry if this is not the right thing to say

It just really hurt and was on my mind tonight.