I took some historical sword-fighting lessons to make the fights in my novel more realistic - hereâs 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 youâre interested.)
Caveat: Iâm by no means a sword-fighting expert myself, so take these nuggets with a grain of salt â 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
Letâs start with a truism: always ensure your characterâs weapons make sense for a.) their profession, b.) their cultural background and c.) the environment theyâre going to fight in. A farmer probably couldnât afford a sword and might use a knife or threshing flail instead, and someone who doesnât want to be noticed probably wouldnât 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), heâd get little value out of a spear or even a longsword, as thereâd 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, itâd be extremely unlikely for even a single master swordsman to win against superior numbers, even just three and if theyâre 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 youâre surrounded, youâre probably done for â because, unlike in Hollywood, they wouldnât 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 thisâif they did, itâs not well-documentedâshe 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 âwindmillâ-type attacks where the fighter swings their weapons independently, hitting in succession rather than simultaneously. Normally youâd always try hitting with both weapons at once, as youâd 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 âbluntâ 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.)  âZweihänderâ were only used for very specific combat situations
Zweihänderâmassive two-handed swordsâwere 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)âthe fighters literally used it to strike âalleysâ into an enemy formation with wide, powerful swings.
7.) Itâs 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 polearmsâvery 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. Thatâs 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 didnât last long. Usually, they were over within less than a minute, sometimes only seconds â 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.
Unfortunately, the spinning around and pirouetting that makes many fight scenes so enjoyable to watch (or read) is completely asinine. Unless itâs a showfight, fighters would never expose their backs to their opponent or even turn their weapon away from them.
10.) Â It still looks amazing
If your concern is that making your fight scenes realistic will make them less aesthetic, donât 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 heartâs content and no one ever shoves a spear into their backs as they would have in real life, who survives and who doesnât noticeably becomes arbitrary. If, on the other hand, even one slip-up can result in a combatantâs death, the stakes become palpable.
Thatâs 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, itâs probably my fault and not Jeanneâs. Â Iâll try to post more stuff like this in the future.
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