Kenric Lee has been studying both the eastern and the western swordmanship for years and has started to teach in the recent year, at his club Nobilis Ars Dimicatoria - Historical European Martial Arts. He was invited over by Taiwan HEMA club Lionheart Historical European Swordsmanship to do a seminar. After that, he came over to Hong Kong to pay us a visit. We had a blast sparring with him.

We let him practice test cut first, since the laws in Singapore was very strict on swords. It had been a long time since he had cut, and the first time he cut our favorite target: soaked newspapers rolls. The target took away much of the sword speed upon impact, unless he "fajing" to power his cuts. So it requires not only good blade alignment and speed, but also a certain amount of power too.

Once the floor was wet by the water bottles, he suddenly realized why I would often practice "fajing" without solid footing, as much as just sitting there to cut or using single leg standing. The floor can become VERY slippery!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej90dLRtfPY

After that, we had our sparring sessions. Along with the Japanese koryu teacher Takara Takanashi, Kenric Lee was the best swordsman I've sparred this year. Quick, powerful, accurate, good distance management, timing and reach, all made him an extremely challenging sparring partner. Since I observed that his shoes did not provide much grip on slippery ground, I volunteered to stand on the wet floor on the first session. On the second session, the floor had dried out and I could dance along with him. ;) We were doing "unarmored sparring" and the boundary was only there for reference, not strictly enforced, to let Kenric excel better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu5SgN5uF3Q
Lancelot vs Kenric

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bht1TZOj4j4
Kenric vs MK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVkaeoMhbfc
Eric vs Kenric

Kenric had never faced twin Dao before, which Eric used. It was a spectacular experience for Kenric!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmINnbR3ZiY
Kenric vs Hon Wing

Our neighbor happened to be on the rooftop doing his stuff as well and he helped us taking the photo.
[ Linked Image ]

Nice suit, Lancelot.
Which one is Kenric Lee in that photo?

Lancelot, yes Kenric is making you work hard and he does manage distance and timing very well, he also " USES " the historical HEMA techniques which is something a lot of people seem to completely forget about when doing bouts and they revert to improvised reflexes.

Many times improvised reflexes do work but if one never tries to use good technique in practice sessions or bouts one will never actually learn to use them well and gain the advantages of knowing the techniques in a fight ( Simulated or not fights ). ;) :D

One has to accept losing lots of " PRACTICE " bouts trying to use the techniques properly rather than trying to win every bout at the cost of not trying. ( There is a difference in approach between practice and training bouts/duels versus a competitive bout, or real fight, where winning is everything ).

Also Merry Christmas ..... :D


Oh, my old Longsword master has restarted a new group so I'm having fun training again after a 5 year break from training.

I don't seem to have forgotten much so I can build from what I knew and not so much have to re-learn everything.

Merry christmas and agree with what you said. :D Glad to hear that you can get back to practice again too. Seems all is working well over your side. :D

Jean Thibodeau wrote:

Lancelot, yes Kenric is making you work hard and he does manage distance and timing very well, he also " USES " the historical HEMA techniques which is something a lot of people seem to completely forget about when doing bouts and they revert to improvised reflexes. Many times improvised reflexes do work but if one never tries to use good technique in practice sessions or bouts one will never actually learn to use them well and gain the advantages of knowing the techniques in a fight ( Simulated or not fights ). ;) :D One has to accept losing lots of " PRACTICE " bouts trying to use the techniques properly rather than trying to win every bout at the cost of not trying. ( There is a difference in approach between practice and training bouts/duels versus a competitive bout, or real fight, where winning is everything ). Also Merry Christmas ..... :D Oh, my old Longsword master has restarted a new group so I'm having fun training again after a 5 year break from training. I don't seem to have forgotten much so I can build from what I knew and not so much have to re-learn everything.