>> Today's episode is brought
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checkout, get 10% off and make us look awesome! Like your thumb... What happened to your thumb? >> I didn't use Squarespace. [laughter] >> All right, so these
are fencing swords, right? And this is how fencing looks? This is a legitimate fencing-- >> This is how fencing really looks. >> Okay.
>> All of those things you were doing before was less fencing than
this is going to be fencing. >> So it's a lot like
conducting an orchestra, but people get hurt. >> It is, it is. Except your arm's more tired afterwards. >> It's a murder orchestra. >> Murder orchestra.
[laughing] A symphony of murder! [dramatically]
>> The death symphony. Yeah. [deep synthetic rumble] [electrical pop]
[gentle vinyl static] [rising chime] >> All right, we are here
at the Austin Historical Weapons Guild with Anthony and Bryant once again. Gentlemen, tell us what we're
going to be learning today. >> Actually, I'm going to let
Teller take control of things. We're doing rapier today, so... >> There it is. He's going to act out all of the moves. >> We didn't bother miking him. >> So I am going to walk you guys through a little bit of rapier, right? So we're going to talk
about Salvator Fabris, he was a rapier master from
early 1600s, late 1500s. He wrote this book that
was published in 1606. So the goal of rapier, as opposed to all of your other weapons, with anything else, it was basically hit them kind
of however you can, right? You can cut them, you can slice them, you can poke them in the face,
whatever it is. >> But this is specifically,
rapier only works if you poke them, if you skewer them? >> I won't say it only works
if you poke or skewer them, however, it primarily works
best if you poke or skewer them. So really it's the structure of the body that really leans into rapier, and the goal is to set your opponent off of the line, so that they can't stab you,
with your weapon, which very clearly is
intending to stab them. >> So is this specifically
like a gentlemen's duelist kind of sport? Where it's like
neither of you are using the more effective murdering weapon, specifically so that
you can mock each other with your talents to knock the stick away? >> Rapier was very much
a gentlemen's game, it was very much a style
game in many regards. There was a lot of honor to
be had in the rapier game. Because if you can pull
your rapier faster, and you get there first, they may not even have a chance to draw, and
that's absolutely humiliating. >> This is like having
a big Twitter following. Like back in the day. >> It was more of a civilian's weapon than it was a military weapon,
and you know, when you have a long antenna
that you're waving around, it tends to not be very effective
when the other guy has, you know, a spear or something like that. >> Okay, so maybe not quite nobility or military, but someone with money. >> Usually someone with money. >> Because I have a lot of
conceptions about rapiers. Like, I'm supposed to stand
with one hand behind my back, and stand up right, you know,
and hold the blade out like this, and then you riposte. >> Different style. >> That's not it?
>> BRYANT: Very different style. >> That's getting into Destreza which is not what we're talking about today. >> BRYANT: Right, right.
>> [dejectedly] Yep, okay. [laughing] >> And I'm going to totally destroy all of your preconceptions about how rapier fencing should actually look, because Fabris is a very different style. >> Is it a particular time
period or a particular class? >> So Fabris was kind of on the tail end of this Italian rapier style that was much more kind of squared up,
it was much more structured. The style that we're looking
at ends maybe mid-1600s. Immediately after him, and even
kind of in his time period, they started getting into
more of a like lunging style, where you really exposed yourself and really committed to this action. >> Yeah.
>> BRYANT: Right? And it's kind of what you think of. >> That's what you think of, you know that really far out stabbing action. >> 99 percent of the time,
we're not going to lunge. >> Okay. >> We don't lunge in Fabris. Don't means sometimes,
but don't mostly means don't. >> Yeah, what prompted
people to use the rapier as opposed to any other weapon? >> Longsword, which was maybe the 1300s up through some of the
1400s, it really started kind of phasing out somewhere
in the 1400s, right? And the metallurgy improved
around that time as well, and so we're able to make
longer, thinner blades that are also lighter. So we're able to have
the length of a longsword wielded in one hand now. I won't say it was easy
to learn how to use, but because it was very focused towards that one principle of
let's poke him in the face, it took a lot less training, right? To really master, to nail down. >> We got this. >> Yeah, nailed it. [metal clanks] [gentle vinyl static] [chime] >> So because this is
primarily a thrusting weapon, and most of my job with
this is to poke people, we're going to have Jason wear glasses, Brian was already wearing glasses.
>> That's right. >> We're going to hope that both
of those pairs of glasses actually stand up to being poked. >> Nowadays, you got
this kind of bowy action where it's like an antenna. Is that the way it always was? >> No, not necessarily. So you'll actually see that mine,
if we compare swords-- >> BRIAN: Oh, jeez. >> BRYANT: -is a little bit shorter. >> JASON: This is like junior high.
>> BRYANT: But you'll also notice it's not as bendy, right? >> Mine's very bendy. >> I don't get as much flex out of this if I press it against something. This is a little bit closer to
what you might expect kind of in the time period,
it might be as long as that, but this is designed for safety, right? Because we're training with these. I will go ahead and let you know one of the things that we
are not going to cover, because it is really not
recommended, is cutting. We're not going to cut with these. >> In the manuscript, it says explicitly, cutting is a waste of time.
>> Right. >> Oh really?
>> Yes. >> He describes how you might cut if you were in a situation
where all you can do is cut. However, he does say that
he who masters the cut and he who masters the thrust, if they were to fence each other, the person who masters the thrust is always going to come out on top. >> What are all these parts? This is different from
the usual swords we use. What is this called,
the basket or something like that? >> Yeah, it's a basket hilt, cup hilt,
something like that. >> BRYANT: I've got the weak of my blade, I've got the strong of my blade. I have my hilt,
which is basically everything below the end of the blade here. Here, I have a clamshell,
in another rapier I might have a cup, which is just sort of a solid piece of metal that wraps around. I happen to also have a style of rapier that includes a swept hilt. It's really just kind of a cover, it's almost as much a
decoration as it is functional. I have my cross guard here,
just like in a standard sword. In addition, I have my
grip and I have my pommel. >> Now is there a different
way we're supposed to hold the blades with our hand? >> Yeah, yeah.
>> Because I was looking at
what you were doing, and-- >> So as I go to hold this sword, I'm going to sort of back it
up against the heel of my hand, we talked about that a little bit in some of the other swords. When I wrap my fingers around, I'm going to shoot my index
finger through this top loop and I'm going to hold it
kind of like a trigger. >> Oh, shoot. I didn't pick that up. Yeah.
>> That's underneath-- I saw you doing that and I thought hmm. That's new, that's different. >> BRYANT: And I'm going to wrap
my bottom fingers around. You'll notice that I now
have kind of a pulling power with that index finger,
it's like a trigger finger, right? >> Oh yeah. >> So this is a pistol grip, and my thumb just sort of relaxes here
on the back of the blade. I'm able now to sort of
squeeze that index finger and raise my point, very easily, and I'm able to drop the heel of my hand and do the same thing. So I have a lot of control over the weapon based on how my hand is oriented. >> Oh wow, okay. >> So also in other weapons,
we kind of talked about you always want a straight line from your elbow to your hand,
you want this unbroken wrist, right? In rapier, if I'm pointed at Brian...
>> Right. [bristling electricity]
>> My tip, my point,
is actually going over his head [worbling hum]
if I maintain that same line. And so I'm going to
actually break my wrist now so that my elbow to the end of the rapier forms a straight line. >> Does that imply that if
you're trained in the rapier, you'd be stronger in the
lower part of your hand so that you could do the wrist action? >> Not necessarily. A lot of holding the rapier comes from a whole body structure that we'll talk about in a little bit. >> Okay. >> Oh, that sounds complicated. [metal clanks] [gentle vinyl static] [chime] Every part of any human body structure starts from the ground up,
so we're going to talk about feet. Other forms of sword fighting, they all kind of spread
out of grappling, right? You can imagine with a really long antenna stuck on the end of your arm,
we're not going to come into grappling distance as often. It'll happen, but it's going to be much less pronounced than it
would otherwise have been. >> It's probably going to happen. >> I guarantee you it's going to happen. From here, we're going to pretend that we're going to go
into a grappling stance, and we're going to work it
narrower from there, okay? So a good grappling
stance is feet together, you're going to widen out a little past shoulder width so you
have a nice wide base, take our left foot, we're going
to scoot it back about a foot. Now I'm going to bend my
knees and I'm going to set my hips back, like this. So, if anyone does--
>> Oh my gosh. So you're going to feel
that in the hamstrings [stammering] and the glutes.
>> You're really going to feel in the hamstrings. So is anybody familiar
with good mornings? >> No. >> Is that a talk show? Daytime talk show? >> I just don't know mornings in general. >> Nobody can handle mornings here. >> He's got a Garfield mug that says that. [laughing] >> Anyone who lifts weights
is going to be familiar with this action where
my feet are together, I have maybe a barbell here,
and I'm going to, with more or less straight legs, throw my butt back and
bend forward, right? So it's really good for the hamstrings. >> You can feel it stretching out. >> This stance is like
good mornings, but forever. We're going to narrow this
back foot a little bit. What I don't want is to be so wide that I can't proceed forward easily, and I don't want to be so narrow that when I move I cross my feet. Right? So I'm going to bring
this in maybe half a foot. And then I'm going to allow my back foot to be turned anywhere
from straight forward to 90 degrees out. I tend to settle about 45. So we're here, we have our butt sat back, you'll notice that I am not
shoulders also going back, I'm very forward. So I'm going to kind of suck
my diaphragm into my back and tighten that straight
line down my back. All of this is really important because when we pick up the rapier, we might have to hold it for
a really long time, right? Especially if we're training. And so we want as much of
this base here as possible to help me hold up that rapier. So, light as this is, it
gets to be really heavy when it's the weight on the end of the long lever that is your arm. >> Oh, sure. >> I'm going to pick
this up and I'm going to hold it straight forward. We'll notice that almost
everybody has their shoulder sort of pressed forward. >> Right. >> Bearing the load of that weight is stopping right about here. Your arm's going to get
really tired really fast. So I'm going to roll that shoulder back and I'm going to feel the weight
beared in my back and my lats. And if I have a good deep stance, I should feel it kind of above my hips. >> Yeah.
>> Right? So the other thing we're going to do, we're going to take our offhand. Our offhand we actually use. We're going to pick it up, we're
going to put it next to our face, and we're going to pick our elbow
up and roll it back as well. >> Wait, so we're like-- >>> Like Hulk Hogan? >> Yeah. >> Yeah.
>> Okay, all right. >> You'll notice both of my shoulders are now externally rotated. What that does is it engages
both halves of our back and allows the left half to pull some of the load off the right half. Both halves of my back are actually working together to hold up this rapier. Take a lot less effort. So I'm sort of seated into this position. Now, the one thing that I want to change about kind of everybody's stance is I want to roll this elbow in, downward. So right now, my elbow's
facing kind of to my right, I'm going to roll it like this. >> Oh, this is that stereotypical, you know, you've got your elbow out. >> Ho!
>> Yeah, okay, yep. >> So, your elbow is a hinge. The hinge is designed to bear
a load in two directions. It pulls and it pushes down. So, if I'm here and I have this weight at the end of this lever, I'm going to use my elbow
and the correct orientation of this hinge to help bear my rapier. >> So the idea is make your entire body spread out that effort, because
the moment you drop down, you're out of the game, right? Everybody could just get you. So you want to be able to hold this for 15, 20 minutes at a time straight. >> BRYANT: Yep, right. >> Which is harder than it looks. >> Now, you only need it--
>> It's exceptionally difficult. >> You only need it for maybe 45 seconds. >> BRIAN: Sure. >> But you need to be able to hold it up for as long as is necessary
just in case, right? [sword wooshes and rings out] [gentle vinyl static] [chime] Each of you is going to have a line. If I am here, and I'm
holding my rapier forward in the stance that we just talked about, I have a couple of different
ways to move forward. The primary one that most
of you will be familiar with is what we call a simple step. We move the front foot forward
and the back foot follows. Right, so I'm here. >> Now you have the rapier
like extremely straight the entire time, never moves.
>> BRYANT: Totally straight. Arm is full extended,
the rapier never moves, ideally it never even wobbles. >> It's less prancy than
I thought it would be. >> So now you're going to go backwards. So your back foot is going to move first, and your front foot will follow. Yep. Right. So that was your front foot first? >> Oh, back foot first. >> Back foot first, right. >> And what's the purpose of
the back versus the front first? >> So, if I am here... as my back foot moves first, what's going to happen is I'm
going to throw my hips backwards. This allows me to move very
quickly out of the way, because even if my feet never move, I've gained a couple of inches. >> JASON: Okay. >> I leave, but if I pick
this foot up as I do that, [undulating buzz] I get a little bit more distance and now this foot follows
and maintains my balance. >> And I would imagine
also that the opposite, like for example if you
brought your back foot up, like this isn't a very rooted,
strong position to be in. >> If somebody steps offline,
if they leave that path straight down your middle,
it's very easy for them to just sort of push you off
if your feet are together. I won't say it doesn't happen, there are times when it's appropriate, however, as a rule of thumb, you generally don't want to be here. >> It's very precise. It's like every inch
matters, and every second, because the fight is really really quick. Thank god, because I'm a sprinter
and not a marathon runner. Not a sprinter either, actually. >> So, speaking of sprinting. The next step is a passing
step or a natural stride. I'm going to step forward,
and I'm going to maintain kind of the angle of my foot. >> JASON [acknowledging]: Ah.
>> BRIAN [quizzically]: Oh. >> So if you're at that 45,
you should stay at the 45. >> Stay at 45, doesn't hurt anything, right?
>> BRIAN: Hold on... So this is natural. This feels a bit unnatural,
but I assume again what we're doing is we're
keeping a wide base. >> Right, and if your foot
is turned out like this and your hip opens, you'll find that it's much harder to take a longer step and it's much less natural feeling,
so take a smaller step. So it's even just here. Right. And the other thing you'll notice, as you move that back foot forward, if it's a small step,
you feel tension in your hips. The way we resolve that is by
taking the next step, right? However, that tension is a chambering. It's a chambering action. And so I produce this potential
energy to then release it as I'm passing through the next step. >> Here.
>> BRYANT: Uh-huh. >> Here.
>> Uh-huh. >> And then keep on going?
>> Yep. Right, and you just kind
of keep moving forward, so make those steps smaller, and make sure that the width that you
started with maintains itself. >> Oh, you know what? I can tell when I'm doing it right when I feel that tension
never leave my quads and my glutes and my hams. It's all in the legs,
and nothing is moving up front, right? >> That's correct. [under his breath]
The focus is immeasurable. [laughing] So, the goal of this is to not pause. So the goal is smooth,
natural, kind of rolling gait, and so if I do this
sort of in front of you, I'm going to be here, I'm going to, and you'll notice I never rise. [Jason vocalized hum] Only my feet are moving. ♪ [airy breakdown] [Bryant's vocalized affirmation] As we're here, and we have
this nice wide stance, you'll notice I can kind of
shift my weight back and forth. As I bring my back foot forward, I can still kind of shift
my weight back and forth. This sort of centered
weight is really important, especially as you're moving. Stepping forward,
I'm leading with my hips, so I'm pushing sort of my hips forward. And if I exaggerate it,
it looks super wonky, right? But if I make it really small, and it's just sort of a little kick. ♪ ♪ I can walk very smoothly. My hips are leading, not my shoulders, and I'm not kicking my foot forward. We're hammering on this
because it's critical later. Keep it smooth, keep it rolling. Yeah. So most people's idea of fencing kind of comes from this modern
Olympic fencing background, where we have this
really deep lunge, right? Or even deeper, where that
leg is straight in the back and they're very posted
up over this front foot. Instead, we're going to keep
doing exactly what we're doing, and we're just going
to walk that point in. So the reason that we do
that is there's this thing called flinging the sword. Flinging the sword is
when I, with bent elbow, jab my sword forward. Watch my point. >> Here, use this one. >> Right. [murmuring]
>> You and your really solid-- >> Let me use the wobbliest sword. >> ANTHONY: Not the wobbliest. >> It really flops around, right? >> Yeah. >> If I jab like that,
and I have a really fine, small target I'm trying
to hit, I might miss. >> It also looks like
you're denying yourself a few more inches of length
because it's flopping down. >> Right. If I add my feet into that, I create a really unstable motion. So if I'm here and I... >> Oh wow. >> BRIAN: Yeah.
>> JASON: That's dramatically different. And that could make the difference between [swirling wooshes]
getting someone right in the heart versus, you know...
>> BRIAN: A glancing blow. >> JASON: A glancing blow, right? >> BRYANT: A small tip off the arm or something, while the other person has
their point in your throat. So, we don't fling the sword. This specific motion of my arm extending without my body is a jab. >> Okay.
>> So we don't jab. So instead, if Anthony is my opponent, and I start in position, then as I advance forward, we'll find that I'm just going
to walk this straight in, and the orientation of my blade actually sets his point offline so that it doesn't poke me in the face. >> BRIAN: Oh, that's great. >> That's why the rolling
natural gait is so important. If I'm advancing against Anthony and I have these long, deep strides. >> Oh yeah! >> It's very easy for
my point to wave around, he sets me off, and now I'm overcommitted to this huge motion of my foot, and I've gone too far. So I always want these
small, controlled steps where I can change direction if I want to. >> This is the surprising part. I thought the rapier
was all about the wrist, but so far it's not
about the wrist at all, it's all about the
footwork and the hip work and the full body posture. >> We totally can talk
about the wrist in a second, because it is, in fact, all about the wrist. [laughter]
>> I was right. >> Everything else builds up
to where your wrist can move. You need to be able to bear the sword, you need to be able to
move with the sword, and then you can move the sword. So I'm going to try and make
the tip of the sword move without lifting my whole
arm and without moving at the shoulder. So without picking my sword up like this. >> Right.
>> Let's see what you guys got. Before I even tell you how to do it. One of the things that our students slowly discover over time is that
they don't have a lot of awareness of what their wrist is doing
and how to manipulate only their wrist. And so you build up this
thing called proprioception, it's the awareness of what
your muscles are doing. As we're here, I'm going to
lift my wrist and only my wrist, and so I wobble the point up and down by just moving my wrist. And I can move my wrist more and less, for more and less motion from the point. And I'm never leaving the fight
to make those things happen. >> Hold this in place and move your wrist.
>> Okay. Just like that? >> Yeah, like only move... >> Oh, move the wrist!
Not pivot the wrist, got it. >> Yeah, so don't even like
lift this up if you can, it's isolating this, yeah. So moving the wrist in space.
>> BRYANT [whispering]: Even less, small-tiny. There. >> Man, that is a fundamental change. Like I was thinking of
moving from the wrist, but you're actually moving the wrist. >> The wrist is what moves. One of the easy drills to demonstrate is if you push your fist into my hand. >> Yep. >> All you need to do is
move your wrist up and down, maintain this contact. >> Okay, so if I want my wrist to go up. >> Yeah, but don't move your whole elbow. >> Okay. >> Just move this joint, that. >> Oh yeah. >> And then move it left and right, yeah. >> Oh my gosh! Yeah. >> And it's getting
that kind of connection. >> BRYANT: Now make a circle. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. >> And you can feel your
shoulders starting to move. >> Yep, yep, I can feel it all back here. >> So roll that back in. Yeah, now so do that same
thing with the sword. >> Okay. Left, right. Boy, it really changes it
when you're looking just at the wrist, and the sword is just the after effect. >> And it's still about
maintaining that straightness. >> Wow!
>> Yep. >> That's amazing. >> Right, all that you're doing is moving the end of the lever. This bone on the top of my wrist that I'm focusing on just
kind of moving up and down, and in a circle, and left and right. >> Well it goes back to like
the archery and shooting, aim small, miss small. If you're moving this
as little as possible, you are increasing your precision. >> Right, so that's how
we're go move the rapier when the tip of the rapier
needs to go somewhere other than where it is. >> Okay. >> Very tiny motions as opposed to
[nervously] oh god. [sword shearing through air] [chime] If I'm here, and I'm in this position that we've been sitting
in the entire time, I'm going to roll it 180
degrees so my knuckles face up, and I'm going to roll it outwards, I'm going to roll it counterclockwise. And I'm still going to keep it straight and in front of my face. So this position really,
really strongly depends on your shoulder being locked back, and so I have to loosen
my grip a little bit. But my trigger finger is here,
propping up this blade. >> Now how much of it is
hanging on your thumb? Or is it all just the grip?
>> BRYANT: My thumb is
always very relaxed. >> Okay, so this is all
just in the fingers. Man, this is really taxing on the arm. >> It is, yeah. >> Yeah, it can be. Especially if you don't
keep everything locked back. >> Yeah. >> There we are.
>> All the way. Oh my gosh, like over-rotating.
>> BRYANT: Excellent, all the way! >> ANTHONY: Lean there.
>> BRIAN: So awkward. Got it, so like a stabbing motion.
>> Pull that shoulder back. >> Okay. Hoh-boy.
>> ANTHONY: That.
>> BRYANT: Right. So now, make sure
that the front of your hilt is as close to in front
of your face as possible. Because if I'm walking
straight at your face, you need the only protection
you have right in front of it. >> Right. >> From this up-facing position, which we call the first guard, I'm going to roll into the second guard, I'm going to turn my arm 90 degrees. Yep. So now, the knuckle edge of my
blade is facing to my right, facing to everybody's right,
and the flat of my blade where my palm is,
my palm's facing down, okay? So this is second guard. Roll 90 degrees so that
we have our edge down and our knuckles down.
>> BRIAN: Okay. >> This is third guard,
so this is the position we've been sitting in
while we've been talking. >> JASON: Okay. >> BRYANT: Now, another 90 degrees
so that our palm is facing up, our knuckles are facing to our left, extended arm, this is fourth. So we can have sort of
in-between positions, which we generally name after the guard it's closest to, right? If it's immediately in between, call it one or the other,
it doesn't really matter. These are referred to as I believe guardies bastardes or something. They're bastard guards. When the opponent's blade is in front of us, sometimes you'll be at
a kind of wonky angle instead of 90 degrees to
the clock face, right? >> So what's the rule of
thumb between the relationship of your guard position
to what they're holding? >> As a general rule of thumb,
wherever they are, you want your index finger to be pointing towards their blade. So he's sitting in a sort of third, right? >> Right. >> If I'm on this side of his sword, I'm going to point my index finger at him and find myself in fourth. >> Roughly perpendicular? >> I'm kind of perpendicular to this. >>> Yeah. If I'm higher instead of
matched to the same distance, if I'm a little bit higher, I might be rolled a little bit down. >> Okay.
>> But this is still mostly fourth. If I'm to the outside, I'm going to point my index finger
and arrive in second. Quick review, knuckles up is first, knuckles to the right is second, knuckles down is third,
knuckles left is fourth. To help you remember first,
think, my sword is sheathed, I draw my sword into its
most natural position, which is knuckles up. So I'm going to draw my sword like this. Now we can actually get to the fight. Because now we know how to hold the weapon and hold ourselves. >> We're fully trained. We're ready.
>> Yeah.
>> BRYANT: Absolutely. [sword slash] [gentle vinyl static] [chime] These rules are called
proceeding with resolution. >> JASON: Okay.
>> The rules of proceeding with resolution. So I'm going to set my mind to the target and I'm going to proceed
towards it with absolutely nothing but the intent to hit it. The first rule is advancing
forward, arm extended, with a smooth, natural gait. He is threatening me, I am threatening him, if I maintain my position
and I move first, I'm going to come here,
you'll find we've met, right, and I'm going to walk
this straight through, so that my cup sets his blade off, I don't have anything to worry about. I'm just going to keep
walking straight forward. Right?
So we already did the first rule, right? Way at the beginning. Full passing steps. Yeah, there we are, and come back. Good. Remember, small steps,
no lunges, good, excellent. There we are, okay. So all parties have this mastered, I expect total success [laughter]
later as both of you advance
like this toward each other and just stab each other in the face. [airy whoosh] [gentle vinyl static] [chime] Everything about your posture
is going to maintain itself. We're still here, our butt's still back, our knees are bent,
we're balanced between our feet. But instead of this extended arm, we're going to bring it up to our face like this. >> Remember being a bear
from the dagger episode? >> BRIAN: Sure.
>> JASON: I remember, with the rondell. >> Yeah. So now,
what this does is it squares you up
to your opponent. Normally we don't want this because it looks like we have a
giant opening here, right? This giant opening is
actually really important and you do want it. Because with my sword here, I've locked anything Anthony can do from outside my sword, right? He can't do anything from there. So he only has one target area,
which I can control now. I can predict exactly what
he's going to do next. So if he goes through
the center target area, I'm just going to wind my shoulders. You'll notice I'm not pressing. I'm keeping my arm in
its chambered, cocked, ready-loaded position,
and I'm just turning my shoulders. >> BRIAN: Man, that's such a difference, because I'm tempted to just, you know, punch forward with my arm, but that would throw me off center,
so instead if you keep it rooted and you're just pivoting it out-- >> At no point do you fling the sword. As you walk towards him,
he should do this. So you need to be...
>> BRYANT: Yep. >> Up and back like this.
>> BRYANT: So your hilt is going to be right next to your face.
>> Oh god, it's like I want to rush forward to meet him, but I guess that's not the way. >> No, not right now. >> Oh believe me, I want to stab you too! >> That's why we have glasses. >> See that's too far forward.
>> BRYANT: Don't press that arm. >> JASON: You're pressing the arm now. >> Yes.
>> BRYANT: Now switch. >> And I'm maintaining the same position with my feet though, right? >> You can. You can, or you can sort of
set them on the same line. >> Okay. [nervously]
Ooh! [laughs] Premature turn. >> Uh-huh. Uh-huh. So, what we'll notice is that our point is nowhere near the
opponent, and I just told you that we always basically want to be pointing at the opponent. >> Sure.
>> We always want to be working towards stabbing the other person in the face. That's not happening here. What I'm doing, is I'm provoking. And I'm creating an opening,
and I'm wanting them to travel through, because if Jason walks in on me like this, and I set this aside, now I can just lean and take my step. >> Oh yeah. >> And notice, my arm
never changed where it was. >> BRIAN: Right. >> Right? My point's back online. There. [laughs] >> That was astonishingly natural. It felt really good. >> Now, don't extend the arm. >> Okay, all right. >> So turn, lean.
>> ANTHONY: Lean. >> Yeah. There we are.
>> Dude, that felt good. >> What guard am I doing here
when I'm holding up like that? >> It's a third. It can be a third or it can be a second. >> Okay.
>> It's easiest to remember third. >> Okay. >> Oh! [laughing]
>> BRYANT: [cautiously] Little slower... Lean. Yeah! >> So he doesn't come up
from underneath, he-- >> He doesn't really need to. His goal is to set your blade off, and put his point on you. Where his point is online depends on where your nearest open target is. >> ♪ Slow motion fencing man. ♪
>> So, there. >> ♪ Oh! I've been bested, oh! ♪ >> BRYANT: Excellent. >> Yeah, that was good. >> Rule two will come back
to haunt us, don't worry. [sword clanks] [gentle vinyl static] [chime] Rule three, I'm going to
start in my extended position, and I'm going to advance
forward a little bit offline. This is where we start talking
about inside/outside lines. Anything that is, in this case to his left,
to my right of the blade, is inside his line. So that's basically all of his body. >> Inside is where the heart is. >> Right. >> I saw that on a Hallmark card. [laughter]
>> Outside is everything else. So if I'm outside and I have an advantage, I might be able to poke his shoulder. I might be able to poke his
face over his sword, right? But I can't really get
the opposite side chest. >> So you want to be inside? >> You want to be where the target is. From here, advance forward,
we're going to pick the line that we're going to walk down,
and we're going to walk a little bit to the outside, and... just keep walking. You'll notice as he turns out,
I have a better angle. Jason's going to start by walking, and he's going to angle very,
maybe 30 degrees to the outside. >> Okay, and I am aiming
to what, pushing him out? >> BRYANT: Nothing! >> I can do nothing. I'm good at that. >> Yeah.
>> And remember what we said about putting your index
finger towards his blade. >> JASON: Ah! >> So as you're getting
close to the blade, roll out into second. >> Oof. >> Oh, sorry. >> BRYANT: So you'll find that if done well, walking to this outside line
creates a natural opening, often above the opponent's sword. As well, you naturally sort of void off the line your opponent is on, right? You leave that line. >> And it's really just
a matter of degrees. It's really subtle.
>> It is. So anytime we are sword fighting,
with any weapon, in fact anytime we are
working with martial arts, putting the other person off
is not about shoving them out. It's not about maximum motion. It's about minimal effort
for maximum result. You only move them enough. >> That is a really interesting re-frame, because it's tempting to think of like knocking them out is useful,
but it's not any more useful than slightly knocking them off, and meanwhile you've
wasted your stamina bar. So you want to preserve your stamina bar and spend the least amount of energy. >> The more effort you put into something, the more likely you are
to come offline yourself. To over-commit to an action and to put way too much effort
into this, for example. >> Okay, so here, let me see if I can... >> Yeah. >> Oh, I'm still doing the wrong side. Because that's the side you did for me, I just realized I'm mirror imaging. I'm here. ♪ ♪ >> Uh-huh, uh-huh. >> BRIAN: Like that?
>> BRYANT: Uh-huh, that's fine. Keep that arm extended. Good, arm extended, arm extended, arm-- >> That's terrible. >> So don't try to fight his sword. Just walk the point into him. >> Okay. >> Don't worry about
what his sword is doing. >> Got it. I mean, can you just do that?
>> That's fine. Yeah. >> Okay.
>> BRYANT: That's also valid. >> It feels like cheating. I was like, "I can just go over here!" >> The next part of rule three
is learning how to relax. If you guys are this far
apart from each other and you go into position, why? Is there a sword fight here? >> Not yet.
>> BRYANT: Is anything happening that far away? >> Oh, that's interesting. So are we wasting energy by being prepped before we're even close? >> You're also telegraphing
what your intent might be, because rapier's a very fine art, it's a very nuanced set of
motions, and as a result, anything you do might give you away. And so instead, you're going to do nothing until you have to. >> Is there a "nothing" pose? I mean, I know plenty of them.
>> Yes. >> I think we're about to learn it. >> I'm going to relax my sword. It doesn't really matter
where my sword is. >> JASON: Chill guard. [affirming]
>> BRYANT: Chill guard. As I advance forward-- >> JASON: That's my favorite bar in Skyrim. >> I'm going to wait
until the very last moment to raise my sword. Now we talk about measure and distance. The distance at which I can
simply lean to stab my opponent is what we call stretta, it's close. If I have to take a step and lean, I'm in what we call larga, wide. So misura, measure, misura larga, misura stretta. These distances dictate
the kinds of things that I can execute
depending on how close I am. If I'm at larga, I can't simply stab him. I also have to take a step,
which means I have to be covering the line, controlling the center, so I can step without being threatened. We're going to start
in a relaxed position, our opponent is going
to start in position, I'm going to slowly walk
to the outside line, and as I step into this longer position, denoted kind of by the end of
my sword close to his hilt, I'm going to raise my sword. >> It's so wild, because
it looks like you're doing an ostentatious braggadocio
move of swagger, basically,
>> JASON: A strut. >> -but in fact what you're
doing is legitimately conserving your energy until
the moment it's needed. >> BRYANT: And I'm not telegraphing. A little bit smoother, it looks like this. And now I'm there. >> JASON: It's like how sometimes
the second move in chess is better, because you
can tell what the gambit of your opponent is. Yeah.
>> Where they're headed, yeah. >> Oh, that was too close. >> Ooh, that was good. Still are close. >> Right, and you'll notice that as you pop that up, you're kind of jerking with your whole body, and you're pulling yourself out of position. >> Ah! >> So instead, think
about just straight lift. Right? And point your index finger
towards their sword. Yeah. >> It's fairly intimidating. >> Right? And now as you raise,
keep moving forward. Don't raise and-- >> Yeah.
>> -stomp. Don't stomp. Brian, don't get stabbed. >> Sorry. [laughs] >> JASON: I get it.
>> BRYANT: It's fine. Why wouldn't you? >> Self-protection. >> At this point,
it's right there in your face. >> BRIAN: Yeah.
>> So protect yourself a little bit. >> Okay, good.
>> Set it off, it's okay. As long as it doesn't
disrupt what he's working on, totally fine. >> I still lunged. >> But you know it, right?
>> Yeah. >> You know what you're supposed to be doing. >> Yeah.
>> Right, recognizing
what you've done wrong is the first step to
learning how to do something. [under his breath]
>> Smooth, smooth, smooth... [groans] >> So don't worry too much
about attacking his blade. >> Okay. >> Yeah! >> That felt better. >> That's much better. Now just poke him in the side. >> Are you thinking left
side or right side or? >> I'm thinking here. This is closest to you, right? >> Yeah, so just don't
even worry about his sword? Just poke him.
>> BRYANT: No, don't even
worry about his sword. >> Okay. [laughing] >> But you didn't proceed
to the outside, right? >> Walk toward me. >> Okay. >> No, stay there,
stab him, walk toward me. >> Oh, got it. Oh hey, that's way easier. [laughter] It's so hard to not fixate on his sword. >> There.
>> Yeah. >> There it is.
>> Just like that. >> BRIAN: Jousting basically. >> The first half of rule three
was walking to the outside, the second half was
as you enter misura larga, as you enter wide distance, we are raising from a relaxed position very suddenly to take the line, right? We are raising unpredictably. [sword clashes] [gentle vinyl static] [chime] Rule four is how to actually use your feet to close a line. As I'm advancing forward,
in the style of rule three, I am here, I know that my
next step is going to take me into larga, right? My tip is going to be close to his hilt. So as I take that next step,
I'm going to be aware of what foot is stepping. If my left foot steps, I'm going
to fall off-line to my left. >> So basically your hips are following whichever leg is extended. >> Right, my hips are open,
and they can now turn to face the sword,
turn my index finger to point, and if he pushes on me, I'm very strong, because I'm squared up in
the direction of his blade, and now I just take that next step. If my feet are opposite... So I'm here, I advance. This next step would take me into distance. As my right foot proceeds,
I'm going to fall off to the right, even from the outside,
and I am turned into over my front foot. >> Now, the first time,
you were on the inside and you pushed out?
And this time you're on the outside pushing in?
>> Both times I was on the outside. >> BRIAN: Okay.
>> I started on the outside. >> JASON: Do you always want
to start on the outside? >> That's rule three,
you want to do a line off to the-- >> Just all the time? >> You might want to start there. One of the reasons for
starting on the outside line is that if he's up, en garde, and even if he goes into second, theoretically he's much stronger in his position because
he's pushing that direction. The problem is that the
back of his shoulder, his rear delts are really small muscles, and even if he's got this locked back, in order to pull out to resist, he has to use tiny muscles,
as opposed to-- >> All the work comes from back here. >> As opposed to the great
muscles of his chest. If I push him here and
he pushes against this, he's very easily going to turn that out. And his hips are cocked and
ready to deal with that. If I'm here, and he tries to push out. [lightly mocking]
Push, push, push, push. I'll put my tip there. Even if I'm putting my tip there, like, I can maintain structure despite the fact that my sword is bending,
and he's really straining. >> Not to add another rule,
but keep them working from the back, because the
back is weaker than the front. >> Yep. The back is weaker than the front if you are coming from the front. >> Oh wait, is that a whole thing of like being attacked from the
back? And then you can-- >> BRYANT: Right.
>> Wow. >> That sounds advanced. >> BRIAN: You're right,
because your back is stronger when you're-- [laughter] >> Always wanted to do that one. >> That's a thing. >> I bet it is!
>> I've seen people do that in competition. ♪ ♪ Uh-huh. >> BRIAN: And then
walk into the outside line. >> Yeah. >> Okay, all right.
>> BRYANT: And you'll fall off the line. Excellent. Uh-huh. >> The left. >> Ooh! That was good. >> So that was good. One thing that I want to point out, that we haven't done every repetition, is bringing us back to
an idea of rule three, I want to raise as I'm coming into larga, which again is about
my point to their cup. We've been raising to the hit, right? At which point we have no
control over the situation. The opponent's sword can
do whatever it wants. So raise at larga to control the sword and then continue forward. [surprised vocalization] >> BRYANT: You crossed your feet.
>> So just pick up your arm. You're attacking his sword,
the sword will cover the line, just pick it up. ♪ ♪ >> Ooh, you okay? >> Scared. [laughter]
>> It's just the cross. >> It's fine.
>> BRYANT: You just hit his cup. >> That's what it's for, perfect. It's exactly where you want to pick that up. >> We get the idea,
we know what we're doing wrong. >> BRIAN: Right. >> And when we do it right, it feels good. We have a basis off of which
we can continue practicing. >> So the four rules... >> Rule number one is advancing smoothly with a natural gait,
straight at the opponent, with our arm extended. Rule two is this weird bear position where we just wind our shoulders
and lean to control a line. >> And that's mostly to bait them in. >> It's mostly to bait them in because the only opening is right here,
it's face or breast. >> Also, as we just saw,
that outside line is really weak, so that really covers that
outside line really strongly. >> Third is walk about 30 degrees, really you're walking just
past their outside shoulder, in a relaxed position, after which, as you close into distance, into larga, we raise our sword up, very strict raise. I'm just working to control the line. Remember, enough is plenty. >> Got it.
>> We don't need more. Rule four is as we approach,
offline, in a relaxed position, we pay attention to what
foot is about to enter larga, and we fall in the direction of the foot that's about to step. [sharp, piercing tone rings out] [gentle vinyl static] [chime] The problem with rule five
is that it can be interpreted in a couple of different ways. Some of the ways it can be interpreted are very counter to what
you've been learning. >> BRIAN: Okay. >> We can make it work regardless, it'll fit into the paradigm, there's a reason it's rule five and there's a reason it's in this system. However, we're not going to talk about it. >>> Okay. [sword whooshes] [gentle vinyl static] [chime] >> Rule six is considered
the most sophisticated and therefore the most effective rule. Rule six comes back to rule two. [quietly] We kind of forgot about rule two.
>> Rule two is the bear. >> The bear.
>> I wasn't told there would be math. >> We kind of forgot about rule two because it doesn't fit into anything else. It feeds into rule six.
>> Okay. >> I am going to walk very
slightly to his outside line, in a relaxed position. If I'm here, my next step
would take me into larga, however, I'm going to raise my
sword as I go into this step, step into larga, and I'm
going to leave my hand exactly where it is at extension and continue this step
forward with my body into the position from rule two. >> You are ready for defense,
and you're in stratta at this point as well, right? >> And I'm extremely strong.
>> Right. >> I'm actually still in larga,
because my point is right around his hilt. >> Still needs a step, right?
>> Got it. >> Still needs a step, but he
can't do anything from here. I'm past his point. And so I just walk this in. So when your point gets to about here, keep your sword exactly where
it is and fall into your hilt. There! Right. That's the distance at which
that's going to happen, right? >> BRIAN: Okay. >> And now whatever he
does is not stronger than anything you can do. >> Here, try something. [forceful grunt] [laughter]
>> Perfect. >> You'd be amazed how often you
can get off a kick in rapier. >> I believe it! >> Because the distance is perfect. [nervously]
>> So now you're a bear. >> ANTHONY: Yes. >> Oh, that's pretty good. >> Yeah. [quietly]
That was good, yeah. ♪ [chill beat to study and relax to] >> Yes.
>> Uh-huh. You very much pushed him down, right? >> Cool.
>> Yeah. >> So, and then here,
don't lunge yet? Or I do... >> Keep that point forward. >> ANTHONY: Take another step. >> I want you to advance
with your arm straight, off at the angle,
and the moment your point reaches about the distance
of his cup, pause.
>> So it never goes past--okay, got it. >> Just pause, freeze. >> Coming up, coming up, coming up.
>> Pause. >> Got your cup!
>> Okay. So from here, you see how you've
already started pulling back? >> Yep.
>> So that's fine. So from here, now you're going to take that next step,
>> Right. >> -you're going to fall off this way, and you're going to step
into your sword, and now-- >> ANTHONY: You take another step. >> Take another step. >> BRIAN: Oh. >> BRYANT: There. >> Okay, so it's bear, stab, walk through. >> Well no, bear, walk, stab. >> Bear, walk, stab. So I'm getting close,
getting close, getting close. >> Bear.
>> And bear. >> Walk again.
>> Right. >> Walking.
>> And then walk-stab. >>> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Rapier's all about
these controlled, small, nuanced motions, it requires
very fine motor control that takes time to build up, right? >> There's way less swatting
and swiping than I anticipated. >> Everything you say I trust is right, but the animal part of my brain screams "What if I miss, what if I miss?" >> All of this is designed
to minimize missing. >> BRIAN: Got it.
>> If you miss and you're in that position that you just ended in,
you're past his point. >> BRIAN: Got it.
>> What can he do? >> Can we see what it looks like after you've practiced and trained and know what you're doing? [laughter]
>> ANTHONY: No. >> Absolutely. >> I have not done any of those things.
>> Show us all the rules, including rule five. I want to see the secret rule five! >> You don't get to see secret rule five. >> BRIAN: Dog-gone-it. >> Years of training is
required for rule five. >> JASON: There's something
with chi? And like-- >> You have to hit
operating level thetan seven or something before you get to rule five. [laughter] [sword slashing] [gentle vinyl static] [chime] Gentlemen, only one of
you can have our daughter, the Duchess of Duke's hand in marriage. [muffled]
>> ANTHONY: What does she look like? >> Duel to the death! Also, this is a legitimate
thing that happened in Italy, 400 years ago. Also I guess we're a married
couple in this scenario. >> Totally legal then. >> And encouraged! Fight for our daughter! [laughter] ♪ ♪ >> BRIAN: I'm just going to back up over here. >> That was very quick. ♪ [tense drumming] [loudly whispering]
>> Anthony's grabbing the sword with his hand, I like that move. [clatter and clangs] >> I see a lot of the bear collapsing. [metallic clatter,
a strength born of experience
can be distinctly heard in the scuttle] ♪ ♪ We're the guys in the back
of the Street Fighter video right now. >> That's right! We're just doing this
over and over again. [laughter] [metal clanks] [gentle vinyl static] [chime] [affecting a voice]
My champion Anthony,
crush him beneath your butte heels. Butte heels, that's a word. ♪ ♪ Ah! One for Anthony! >> Point Bryant! That was loud. [through laughter]
>> That was a great sequel to Point Break. ♪ ♪ Dude! The grabbing works really good. Good job, Bryant. >> Point Bryant! [grandiose]
Two to one. [laughter]
>> Are you resetting the score? [grandiose]
>> Yes. [whoosh of the clothes] >> Oh no!
>> Point Bryant. >> Wait, but you also got hit? So do you both get poi--?
You both get points! [grandiose]
>> Everyone wins! >> Three to two. [laughing] ♪ ♪ [clatter] >> Ah. >> Oh man, it's tied up, three to three! >> Point Anthony. >> For the hand of our daughter Myriad. >> Myriad? >> That's her name, Myriad. She's many things, if not wonderful.
What! Oh no! >> Both? >> Both? >> Four to four. For the hand! >> And also all the mineral rights in upper Italy. Wait, did you both get each other? >> ANTHONY: No. >> Point Bryant, five to four.
[Brian groans in agony] My champion is victorious! >> All right. >> We both lose our daughter. >> Strip yourself of all of this,
I'll take him myself! Also we're no longer married,
and now I'm going to kill you! >> I consider this a divorce! [laughter] [deep bassy drop] [overlapping muffled chattering] >> ANTHONY: --just not in the groin. [cross-talk] >> BRYANT: It's really that simple. I know it looked really complicated, it's really that simple. >> And when you go in, just go in hard. [overlapping muffled chattering] >> BRIAN: He doesn't have the cardio! [cross-talk] >> Push your arm down. And keep it pointed up.
>> Hey, that's advanced [clang]! None of that. [devious laughter] All right, fence! [muffled]
>> For 3000 years, I've raised
Myriad as my own daughter! [roars] [laughing] Is that--do the feet count? >> ANTHONY: That was slices, this is rapier, we're stabbing each other. ♪ [music slowly fades in] [shouting] >> All right, point for Brian! >> One-zero. Fence! >> JASON: Did I not get you‽ >> BRIAN: Nope.
>> No, you didn't. Two! Two-zero.
>> Questionable point for Brian. >> Round three.
>> I'll take it. >> Fence! ♪ [smooth hip hop beat] >> Hold!
[laughter] So, general rule of thumb,
don't grab the rapier. [muffled]
>> Okay. [laughter] >> Poor form. Reset. >> Fence! ♪ ♪ [war cry] [laughter]
>> He died with it. Hold on, we lost a tip. >> BRIAN: Got real. >> All right, this is heavier. Hit him with it. >> Point.
>> Two-one. Fence! ♪ ♪ [scuttling and scatter clashes] >>> Point. >> JASON: I got him too!
>> BRIAN: You got me in the leg. >> That was a swing. >> BRIAN: Oh it was?
>> It wasn't a stab. All right, three to one. Fence! ♪ ♪ Be a bear. [in pain]
>> BRIAN: Oh!
>> ANTHONY: Point! >> BRIAN: In the crotch. >> Three to two. >> BRIAN: My glasses are off. >> ANTHONY: Fence!
>> BRYANT: Let's see a tie. >> I have to do this. ♪ ♪ >> Hold, hold. >> BRIAN: You can have her. She's not worth that much. I'm going to take my six points and leave. Also my glasses. That was really good. [exhausted sigh] [muffled]
>> I'm just going to stand
here and not say anything funny because I can barely breathe! [laughter] Thank you so much, this was fascinating. >> It was hard. It was harder than I thought. >> Mathematical. >> How does this feel
compared to the others? >> The other ones were
visceral and precise, and you could rely on your
animal instincts taking over, everything made sense. This one, you really did
have to think a step ahead and do the opposite, you know,
think in terms of the wrist, not that we did a good
job at all of any of that. >> And I kept forgetting
the rule of Anthony in that, well there aren't any rules once the blades start flying. And so when you were coming at me, I was like, "You're not
supposed to do that! [laughter]
You keep swatting my blade away!" >> The third time I
grabbed the blade, though, they did fairly call me out for it. If people want to learn all of this stuff, where should they head over to? >> We are Historical Weapons Guild, on historicalweaponsguild.com,
we're on Facebook, we're on Instagram,
we're allegedly on YouTube, I promise to get better about that. >> If you're here in Austin,
you can come by, take some classes. How often do you guys teach
rapier versus the other weapons? >> We have rapier one day
a week, it's on Sundays, if you message us, we'll be
happy to have you come in and take a look at what we do. >> And I'm going to assume that we've only barely scratched the surface
of all of this, right? I mean, there are more than six rules,
we only learned five. [laughing] >> And every rule has a dozen
variations and exceptions. >> And especially, like you
were mentioning off-camera that there's even special
rules for when you're wearing a cloak versus
all the other stuff. I can't wait to learn all this stuff, thank you so much,
gentlemen, that was amazing. >> Outstanding. Very cool. [tape ejection] I want to create a fan site, Brian. >> Are you a fan of something? >> I am big fan of '70s TV
sensation Samson and the Chooch. >> BRIAN: Oh my god, we
totally should do that! >> JASON: We need a fan site
for Samson and the Chooch. >> Okay, Samson and the
Chooch has to have a fan site, but most importantly, it's got to look like super professional,
it's got to look like it has award-winning designers behind it, it's got to be fast, easy, reliable. I'm doing an ad for Squarespace. >> That's great! Good, do it. >> Squarespace makes it so easy,
I remember at one point, I think she was nine
years old at the time, my daughter wanted to do
a website to save pandas, so she made a panda
website on Squarespace. It makes it so easy to
look super, super pro. >> Yeah, I don't want to
have to write any code or anything like that. I just want to take my little
GIFs of Samson and Chooch. [laughter] >> Here's the important part. What are you going to
do when all of a sudden it becomes an overnight sensation? When it becomes the number
one Samson and the Chooch tribute site, you can't handle that on your normal private server, you need the scalability of Squarespace. Just head over to squarespace.com/rogue, sign up for a free trial, get 10% off-- You know what? >> We are contractually restricted from doing any Samson and the
Chooch promotional material. >> We might have made
37 different fan sites for Hacking the System, and that might've gotten us in trouble. >> It was a little sketchy.
>> Yeah. >> You guys could help us out. Can you make a Samson
and the Chooch fan site? And if you do, maybe you'll see some more of Samson and the Chooch in the future. >> Yeah, you know what? That's the fastest way to get exclusive behind-the-scenes materials. We can do a whole episode
of Samson and the Chooch. >> I think maybe we should. >> I mean, we're just
waiting for, you know, a little bit of a fan site. If only there was a
fast, easy, reliable way to make it happen,
squarespace.com/rogue, 10% off. >> The fans have demanded it. They have spoken. >> I mean, actually we demanded. I guess we're fans.
>> We asked. >> We're fans. [pleading]
>> Make a fan site for
our TV show, please. [laughter] -- CC BY REV --
** MODIFIED BY BIZARRE MAGIC ** [notably quieter]
>> Oh, treatises, treatises, got it, okay. Got it, got it, got it, yeah. >> I thought the same thing as you did, like, "Listen, this is out of control." >> In roughly 1808, there
was a conference in Europe where all of them decided
that the rapier was outlawed. They all signed a treatise. >> Wow.
>> Yeah. I'm lying. [laughter]
