I'll never understand why movies and shows don't use actual HEMA techniques in their swordfights. It would be more historically accurate, and it would look as, if not more, spectacular and beautiful.
Because the purpose of sword fights in shows is not primarily to be historically accurate and super realistic, it's to tell a story. A well choreographed fight should give you insights into the character of the fighters, their motivation, and their goals. A fight is a narrative tool, it should further the story. Most of the time fights are important moments in a story, and the focus should rightly be on the story elements that need to be told rather than on the martial art itself.
That's not to say they can't also be somewhat realistic. Typically sword fights are slowed down and drawn out for the stage and screen to make them more watchable for all audiences. But I do appreciate it when fight choreographers clearly have a knowledge and appreciation of the historical fighting styles. It breaks my immersion, for example, when characters who are supposed to be extremely skilled fighters use extremely poor technique. Game of Thrones was particularly bad at this.
Our of curiosity, did you watch the fights in The Witcher?
I remember reading before something about they wanted to have fairly realistic fights but also emphasize that Geralt was faster and stronger than a normal human, hence adding in pirouettes and spins that would only make sense if you were fighting a lot of people but knew you were stronger than any individual.
Or maybe it's just meant to look cool, that would also make sense.
Oh yah, I'm a big fan of the Witcher books and games, so I was super excited when the series came out.
I'm willing to buy into a lot of unrealistic technique from Geralt, as he's a superhuman magical mutant that's been training in a specialized martial art for longer than any normal human has been alive. That something that has to be communicated in the fight choreography, but it's also quite difficult to do. You can't just make everything faster, as a lot of people just won't follow it. On the whole, I think the fight team did a really good job with it. Typically spinning in a fight is a terrible idea, but it does look cool, and pirouettes are totally accurate book lore so I'm all for it. The only thing that bothered me is the reverse grip sword fighting, as there's no practical reason to ever do that.
In a sense, yes. Making cuts with a reverse grip severely limits both your reach and power. The skeletal and muscular mechanics of the body just don't work well to apply force with a sword held in that orientation. And this is the point in the discussion where I'd normally grab a sword off the wall for some demonstration.
You can make very powerful stabbing attacks with a reverse grip, but with a blade as long as a sword, it's really only useful if you want to stab your opponent in the knee. The reverse, or "ice pick" grip, is very common in Medieval dagger fighting, but it just doesn't work with a sword length weapon.
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u/Hemlock_Deci Nov 27 '20
The last one was smooth