jerrbear said:
just a comment on your weapon weight argument. Yes people think two handed weapons being so big that they must weigh a ton. in which case you are right, they dont. but you forget that holding a two handed sword that is almost 4 foot long at one end multiplies its feel of weight, try taking a metal pole that is about 4ft long and weighs around 5.5lbs (average size and weight of a claymore) and holding it at one end straight out from you, trust me it will seem alot heavier than it is. Now im no expert on this, but i think it has something to do with your hand placement being farther away from the center of gravity of the blade.
Two words: mass distribution. As ares007 has said, the pommel and hilt furniture act as counterweights. Additionally, the blade often tapers (both profile taper and distal taper) towards the point. Read
this article for more information.
myrmidon said:
lol you should go to one of the recreational medieval fight tournaments and watch double handed sword users get torn a new one by the shield/small one handed hammer users.
quite funny to watch such a pissy little hammer wreaking havoc
Doubled handed swords do suffer in the context of re-enactment, since a lot of those fighters act like they have nothing to lose. They know they won't die for sure, so a lot of the techniques that have an inherent 'threat factor' don't work. It's a bit different when you don't respawn.
Also, shields do give an immense advantage in M&B. It's acknowledged by the bulk of experienced players. It's the newbies that haven't mastered the little tricks to strike faster that are complaining about how they can't respond to an opponent even though they're using the biggest melee crutch in the game.
othr said:
WTF not a single cut on that tree trunk in that video!!! And that's exactly what you should get for spamming in M&B, lots of noise, little effect!
Here is a video of a REAL fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj1hBxyw2pw
and on a more serious note, this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFAKTjOQJwQ&NR=1 between 1:12 and 1:15, look how the guy loses balance after a powerful swing. Loss of balance = dead, where is this loss of balance?!
Idiot. It's called pell training. He's cutting against a stationary target with a blunted training sword for practice.
And please, you're using Cold Steel's promotional video as a proof. They make excellent knives, but they aren't swordsmen or martial artists. To make things worse, you're using a video of a bloody
zweihander, which is several centuries removed from the main time period from which M&B draws its inspiration. A zweihander is NOT a longsword (bastard sword, epee du guerre, etc). Additionally, the handling of a zweihander has more in common with a polearm than a longsword.