[jessaustin]

Have you actually trained in any of the sword disciplines? If you do, you'll find that technique, speed, grace, and mental toughness are more important than size or strength. Ceteris paribus, of course, size and strength are advantages, but you'll find that ceteris are rarely paribus. Swords are tools, and human beings using tools are capable of surprising things.

I guarantee you, if you've played kendo at any decent dojo, you've had your ass kicked by an unassuming Japanese lady, or possibly her granddaughter. Even if you are like a Mountain, whatever that's supposed to mean.

[jafaku]

I don't want to be a dick, but have you actually had a real sword fight? Have you pierced someone's armor and make him bleed? Of course you haven't.

The Mountain is a fictitious character from the popular TV series Game of Thrones. He uses a huge sword that you wouldn't be able to stop the same way you stop your fake swords brandished by girls. And I only dared to use him as an example because all of this is basically just that: a game, a fantasy.

If I had to pick a guardian, I would choose a newbie sword man from the middle ages over your instructor (who has never had a real fight) any day.

If you think Kendo is real, see what the guys from Iaido have to say about them: When they pick a real sword, they simply can't handle the weight, and the ones that can don't know how to actually cut stuff, because all they have learned is to win points in a game similar to tag.

[jessaustin]

Do me a favor and figure out what you're complaining about. Is it that the interviewed HEMA "girl" enjoys the fact that size is less important in her sport than in some other sports? Is it that her sport is not as "real" as your favorite HBO program? Are you instead complaining about getting downvoted for those obnoxious opinions? Maybe you don't like my opinions about sports I've played? Perhaps you'd like to put some words into my mouth? Oh, now I see, you're an iaido fan. After all the other stuff you've said, that's just cute.

[jafaku]

> Is it that the interviewed HEMA "girl" enjoys the fact that size is less important in her sport than in some other sports?

With a very serious face she said exactly this: "It's a serious martial art". Then the narrator says she's already a champion (with just 3 years of training? while studying/working as an engineer? lol) that fights opponents twice her size. And then she goes on with her fantasy: "It's hard for me to fight small people because I'm SO used to fighting with people taller than me or larger than me" (yeah right, that totally makes sense, lol). And then (some context huh?) she says that size shouldn't matter. I have seen this sort of delusion in many activities, including but not limited to religion and "martial arts". And let me tell you, it's all fun and games until someone crashes against reality.

> Is it that her sport is not as "real" as your favorite HBO program?

I specifically said both are fantasy. But it's hilarious that you out of all the people try to mock me for this. By the way, I'm pretty sure the actor who plays the Mountain got more training than you. I would bet my life-savings to him in a fight where he used only armour (no sword) versus you or your "champion" with armour and a real sword. It will probably end like this:

http://youtu.be/pRY4Mpmfk1o?t=3m19s

That's not the Mountain by the way. Check him out: http://media.joe.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/gameofthrones... . But don't worry. What does it matter that his arm is the size of your torso? You are very fast and skilled. It's not like he wouldn't cut you in half with a single swing, right? Because size doesn't matter.

> Oh, now I see, you're an iaido fan.

No, you don't see ;), because I'm not a Iaido fan. In fact I've never even tried it.

> After all the other stuff you've said, that's just cute.

Is it. I think you are cute.

If it was seen just as a sport or a game, kind of like cosplay, I wouldn't mind. But the girl in the video truly believes she's a warrior and that can't end well.

[pluma]

> But the girl in the video truly believes she's a warrior and that can't end well.

Does she? For all one can tell she seems to believe she knows what she's doing when she's using a sword in HEMA. Does an experienced kendo, aikido, taekwondo, <insert established MA here> fighter think of himself as a "warrior"?

I'd sure hope not. In fact I'd hope nobody today really thinks of himself as a "warrior". A soldier maybe, but even then it seems a bit antiquated and out of place. And worrying, if they would carry that notion over into their civil life.

If you're trained to disarm actual attackers in actual violent conflicts in actual life-or-death scenarios (not staged fights where both fighters use a formal style and fight with any kind of ruleset), maybe it's somewhat understandable you'd think of yourself as a warrior. But that is no more applicable to her than it is to a participant in any other martial art.

You seem to project some kind of anachronistic grandeur onto the notion of being a real "warrior". It's a sport. Like the vast majority of martial arts today already are.

You're right, an HEMA "world champion" (or whatever) likely couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag in a realistic life-or-death situation. But that holds true for any martial art taught as a sport.

And unless your day job (or geographical circumstance) involves an extremely high chance of getting into those situations, there's no reason this should matter. And if you do have a high chance of getting in those situations, why the fuck would you care about what kinds of martial arts are performed as a sport?

Aside: in any HEMA fight I would rather bet my money on the one with the better reflexes and legwork. And although I've seen big guys with almost feline grace, generally big blokes tend to overvalue their size/strength advantage and underestimate the importance of speed and balance. And I'm not sure I'd ever bet any amount of money on a paid actor who has been taught what kind of moves look good to a television audience. We're talking about free fighting, not choreography here.

[jafaku]

That "paid actor" has a Strongman career. See his personal records:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafth%C3%B3r_J%C3%BAl%C3%ADus_...

If you think your "leg work" can save you from someone who can lift 400+ Kg, you live in fantasy land. Unless you mean you will run like hell.

There is a reason why contact sports like Box or MMA have weight categories. Size matters! And swords aren't such good weapons that they remove the strength factor. If we were talking about guns, or even bows, then sure, dexterity beats everything else. But in close combat you don't want to fight someone who can literally crush your body with his bare hands.

Edit: A picture with Arnold, for comparison:

http://www.dv.is/media/cache/0c/10/0c10973a39a53647327481c60...

And Arnold didn't focus on strength when he trained, but this man did. Imagine that.

[jdmichal]

> If you think Kendo is real, see what the guys from Iaido have to say about them...

Wikipedia has some interesting reading on this:

> Iaido encompasses hundreds of styles of swordsmanship, all of which subscribe to non-combative aims and purposes.

Well, that's a not a good start at all, is it?

> Iaidoka are regularly prescribed to practice kendo to safeguard that battling feel; it is normal for high positioning kendoka to hold high rank in iaido and the other way around.

Oh dear... They not only allow, but maybe even encourage them do both?! What is this world coming to?

[jafaku]

I never said they were good fighters, just that they practice with real swords, while in Kendo they don't. But of course they fight even less than the guys from Kendo, because nobody wants to get a scratch nowadays. So people only have two options: "fight" with fake swords, or learn to use real swords but without fighting. I'd take the second option, but I think both are pretty much useless.