#Spadroon

[blue-and-gilt]

Photos of the sword display I had at last weekends excellent Auckland Blade and Knife show.

Was great to see meet with New Zealand's very talented knife makers showing off their work. Truly inspiring works of art.

For my display I opted to have a selection from the collection that covered a broad range instead of focusing on the one topic.

It was also my first use of the new boards I made after the last show. These are on their own stands giving me more table space.

Despite being a bit rough about the edges (remember folks, measure twice, cut once 🤣) they worked well. The next challenge is to improve on how the swords are mounted. Cable ties work great, but they're fiddly to pass through the cloth backing while trying to hold up a sword at the same time.

My thanks to The Auckland Blade Show for organising such a great event and for allowing me to participate. Shows like these are key to showing people just what is available and possible.

[cutecuttlefish]

The sword of the day is the spadroon.

This is a European and American sword that was in use in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It is a midpoint of sorts between the smallsword, which had no sharpened cutting edge, and the much heavier broadsword. As a fairly light sword, it is able to make quick and agile cuts while also maintaining an excellent profile for thrusting. After falling out of use as a military weapon, the spadroon continued to be used in a ceremonial capacity as an officer’s sword for quite some time.

[paig-does-it]

name soundalike

[kultofathena]

Check out our epic Cold Steel sale - 20% off select products! What's included in this sale?

Emperor Double Edge Katana

Large Parrying Dagger

Competition Cutting Sword

Officer’s Five Ball Spadroon – Left Handed

Mizutori (Crane) Wakizashi

Dragonfly Wakizashi

Gold Lion Katana

Mizutori Crane Katana

Gold Lion Wakizashi

Imperial Series Wakizashi

1796 Light Cavalry Saber – Leather Scabbard

[awallofswords]

Why Sabers dominated over Smallswords & Spadroons for Infantry Officers

[hemapilled-fioremaxer]

Some shots of me, and many others, at a recent event

We did some napoleonic navel boarding and lots of duelling

Also featuring me holding a spadroon

[peashooter85]

Officer's spadroon with ivory hilt and engraved blade, British or American, 18th century

from Sofe Design Auctions

[blue-and-gilt]

What happens when a friend and fellow sword collector comes round to talk swords, collecting, rifles, books and generally chew the fat.

[c-jay-s-head-canons-only]

Schnee family sword names have had my interest for quite some time now. So here, I'll be figuring out what they look like, along with their names.

Up first, we have Nicholas Schnee.

This man is quite literally a knight in shining armour. But his sword isn't one of the Oakeshott typology. According to The World of Remnant Short, Nicholas actually uses a sabre and pistol.

Contrary to what may be popular belief, there is a discipline for this style of fighting in HEMA, and yes, it involves using a sabre - specifically either a spadroon or a boarding cutlass according to David Rawlings.

Regarding what sword he would use, I believe his hands are very big. He was a miner, after all, and he's clearly shown wielding a pickaxe as well.

Therefore, I think his sword would be a two-handed sabre, like this.

More specifically, it would have the swept hitl guard, and the grip. But I picture the blade being a little wider, and the pommel having a more 'flowery' shape. Something like this.

Separate thought here: take note of the pommel in the picture. Does it look a bit familiar?

I think so. :3

Regarding a name, I think this sword is called Wurzel, which is the German word for Root.

The reason being that Weiss explains how her father wasn't the man who started the Schnee family, and she also refuses to be the last of it.

I agree. Her motive is honorable. Jacques was a jackass after all.

But something tells me that the true Schnee legacy doesn't go back much further than Nicholas himself. Therefore, I view Nicholas as the Root of his family tree.

Incidentally, I believe the sword was forged using part of a meteorite, which landed in the mining areas in Mantle, hitting a vein of ice and absorbing the power from it.

From the unique metal combined with the ice dust, the blade was especially good at freezing through objects and other weapons. The sword was retired from service not long before Nicholas died and has seen no action since.

[major-toast]

Monday Snippet

Thank you for the tag @del-stars <3 Since I don't have a new project to currently work on, let me shamelessly self-promote the first chapter of Forget Me Not, which you can read here.

“Is this your spadroon poking me in the back? Or are you just happy to see me?” Fuck. “It’s my spadroon”, Remus hisses back, unable to come up with a better excuse. Tightening his grip around the prince’s mouth, he watches intently as the soldiers finally pass by. Once their footsteps and chatter recede and their surroundings can be deemed safe again, Remus finally allows himself to breathe. Only for the prince to lick squarely across his palm. “What the-“ Appalled, he draws away his hand, shaking off the saliva. “You’re worse than fucking a dog, actually”, he grumbles. The prince cackles as he saunters away. “So, I’m told”, he replies, grinning way too pleased with himself for someone behaving like a toddler. However, it does have something endearing to it.

Couldn't resist joining in on the funny scenes. Here is @del-stars 's snippet if you want to read it. It cast a big grin on my face.

np: @magicbeings and whoever wants to.

[historicalfightingguide]

An interesting example of one way to go about solo flow drills for Meyer rappier(applicable to swords we may call rapier or sidesword or even spadroon type weapons I’d argue to a degree). You could also try different starting and ending positions than the ones shown in this solo flow, as well as play with the rhytm and distance of the moves themselves.

Another way to bring more variety to it is to try it on different surfaces as well.

Generally going through the motions like this may not be enough to prepare you for fighting effectively against others, at least not on its own without also drilling, sparring and everything in between... however it can be a very effective way to build proprioception, understanding of where which part of your body is as you do a certain move or hold a certain position, how to seamlessly go from one to another and add variety to it all. All of which are useful skills to have when you are fighting against other people, be it in a friendly club sparring session or at a tournament or wherever.

It can also be a great way for some light training if you have an active injury you need to be mindful of, or a great solo workout if you want to do it intensely as a fun form of HIIT or if you do it for longer as a form of steady state cardio.

It can also look cool and be quite fun.

For more details about Meyer in general, here’s a ‘masterpost’ of sorts on his works.

And here’s another older post about Meyer’s approach to one handed weapons with some simpler but more specific drills.

For anyone who hasn’t yet seen the following links:

Some advice on how to start studying the sources generally can be found in these older posts

Remember to check out  A Guide to Starting a Liberation Martial Arts Gym as it may help with your own club/gym/dojo/school culture and approach.

Check out their curriculum too.

Fear is the Mind Killer: How to Build a Training Culture that Fosters Strength and Resilience by   Kajetan Sadowski   may be relevant as well.

“How We Learn to Move: A Revolution in the Way We Coach & Practice Sports Skills”  by Rob Gray  

Another useful book to check out is  The Theory and Practice of Historical European Martial Arts (while about HEMA, a lot of it is applicable to other historical martial arts clubs dealing with research and recreation of old fighting systems).

Worth checking out are this blogs tags on pedagogy and teaching for other related useful posts.

Consider getting some patches of this sort or these cool rashguards to show support for good causes or a t-shirt like to send a good message while at training.

And stay safe

[qsycomplainsalot]

if you could have any sword you've ever drawn which would it be? (other melee weapons count too)

That's a little tougher because as much as I love the look of the weapons I draw, I don't think I'd like having them around THAT much compared to firearms and especially random little objects from the 19th century. I recently bought a WW1 trench lighter made from shell casings, that's what I love to just own. If I had the opportunity and means to own a proper cool sword it would probably be something I haven't had the opportunity to draw yet, aka a smallsword/spadroon because I low-key want to get into that type of fencing .w.

[deranged-cheese]

Commissioned art of a character from one of my older projects, Iyesari. This is Cheqalt Thekajey, the captain of the Tiangese Royal Guard in its capitol, Naltze. He is of an amphibious reptilian species called the Matzshei and has retractable claws and fangs, a metabolism that varies based on the temperature, the ability to breathe underwater, an a life expectancy of 120 years.

Captain Thekajey is of a poor background. His father was a construction worker and spend eight years on the team which built the greater Naltze harbor network. His mother rented a squalid room on the second floor of a row house in the old part of town, washing neighbors’ laundry to pay for food when her husband drank too much of his wages. His mother had no property and no legal clan or surname, but she told Cheqalt he was descended from Scoiluth, so that is the surname he used during his childhood. Since the Tiangese pass property along from mother to daughter, Cheqalt’s mother had nothing to give a daughter. However, the biological sex of a Matzshei is determined by the temperature their egg is incubated at. For this reason, she raised all sons. Cheqalt is the third of five boys and learned the basics of fighting from a young age at home; his brother and he fought one another for the sake of boredom or settling disputes, since their parents were often too busy and stressed to be referees and they could afford few toys or games.

He spent most of his time away from home. While frequenting a public plaza, he was motivated by religious preachers there and began studying Qyrissism, a faith which fostered a strong sense of justice in him. Furthermore, clan Scoiluth was famous for its military lineage. Men in Tiang can’t own property, instead men marry into their wife’s family, live in a work commune, or join the armed forces. And lastly, Cheqalt admired the local soldiers and guards from a young age and was dissapointed in the petty crime of the old city. He practiced polearm fighting with shovels behind the granary with his friends from school and frequently asked a retired soldier in his neighborhood for advice.

As soon as possible, he joined the guard at the bottom. At twenty two, he was a mere baliff. During his time as a baliff, he fell in love with a juror named Numeij Thekajey, whom he would eventually marry. Numeij Thekajey is the matriarch of clan Thekajey, a moderately wealthy cattle family on the edge of Naltze

Cheqalt was dedicated to his job and took discipline very seriously and ascended through the ranks fairly quickly. He was a jailer at 26, a patrol guard at 29, a patrol officer at 31, a corporal at 36, a sergeant at 40, a district commander at 49, and lastly, after a review and appointment by the city council, the captain at 60. Cheqalt can be described as honest, disciplined, incorruptible, and skilled. He can also be described as arrogant, uncompromising, stubborn, and proud. He put his eldest son Roluthé through officer school (despite his protests), and Roluthé is now an ensign in the Tiangese navy. Cheqalt is both proud and jealous of his son because Roluthé already legally outranks him and has a navy issue toggle action rifle, which Cheqalt cannot obtain because it is not for commercial sale. His daughter Maqot is attending a private school in Falme to learn etiquette, finance, and law so she can inherit the Thekajey estate someday.

Seen in his standard uniform in this image. Tiang is pretty stuck in its traditions, so even though it has used steel armor for three hundred years, it still paints the armor to look like the traditional bronze armor which Tiangese soldiers have worn for over two thousand years. He is seen with his spadroon and .43 double action revolver.

Cheqalt was drawn by Tagalongfox, who can be contacted at tagalongfoxcomissions@gmail.com

Their other art can be viewed at their page on deviantart.

[blue-and-gilt]

Playing with different backgrounds for displaying swords on. The blue is quite a cold colour, especially with all the bare steel. And at times the bluing also gets lost. I think the burgundy works well, so I will probably use that for the coming display. The top two swords are Georgian era non-regulation infantry officers swords. While the bottom two are 1796 Pattern swords, the one with the boatshell guard is for General Officers or Dragoon Officers dismounted service while the one with the Pas d’Ane guard is for infantry officers