[Greg Griggs]

Hey all,
Seems to have been the weekend for cutting. Received the tatami mats on Friday and with Patrick managed to make a mess of my back yard.

Finally: had the chance to cut with the St. Maurice. Oh my! Yes it is a brute of a cutter.....once we figured out the proper techniques. There is so much mass in that blade, you have to either take a two-step and or do a wind-up to get it to speed. Once up to speed though it was the sweetest cutting thing you could imagine. Tatami mat? What mat? With proper form it was like nothing was there as it sliced it's way through! No doubt in either of our minds that this was the ultimate horseman's sword. With a moving steed I think you could have merely held the blade out and it would have cut through anything. 'Twas also found not to be a weak nor small man's weapon, but one which when used by someone with a lifetime of practice would have been devastaing in any arena. As you could possibly tell....I love this sword!

So much for that. Now on to the rest.

Patrick was able to bring several of his blades and we have fun trying them all. I didn't try his two single-handed blades, his "Big Johnsson" and the Reeve, but he used both to good affect. The BJ is actually heavier than the Maurice, but the dynamics are completely different to make it feel a pound lighter in the swing. He also brought his Baron, Sempach, and Regent. We found the Sempach to be a fair cutter and the regent probably capable of doing serious damage to an unarmed man in the cut, but would go through anything in the thrust. The Baron....now there is a cutter! Neither of us could believe the control and the pure cutting abilities of this blade. It is a large sword that probably handed the most forgiving and the easiest of nearly any blade there. All in all, it was a great amount of fun and a true learning experience for us both, myself in particular. Of course, now I am chomping at the bit for the next opportunity to do it again, and to get more experience handling such wonderful blades, the St. Maurice especially, hehe.
Be well all.

[Joe Fults]

Photos?

[Kenton Spaulding]

Hey Greg, good to hear you are putting that beast to good use. I must say, I was suprised to read that the Big Johnsson was heavier than the St M, really goes to show how much planning and effort must go into creating swords with specific handling goals in mind. Really interesting stuff.

Was this your first time cutting? Did you learn anything that might be helpful to somebody about to try cutting for the first time this weekend? Any technique advise that might be helpful for a semi-similar sword (Gaddhjalt)?

Maybe you should take some Barry Bonds vitamins so you can use her to her greatest extent??? Either that or get a horse!

Have fun,

Kenton

[Greg Griggs]

Joe: Well.......ummmmm.....you see..........we had the camera, it was ready to go. Unfortunately after we finally got the stand situated in working order and made the first few cuts.......gosh, how to say this.....we both completely forgot to take pictures because the cutting was too fun.
You can stop laughing any time now. Sad thing is, I had promised Mike @ Albion that I would send him some pics and now I'm probably in deep do-do.

Kenton: This was only my second time cutting and it was a big learning experience because the first time was just playing around with someone else who was as clueless as I. Patrick of course has cut several times before and was a great help in teaching form and stance, not to mention the ideas of how to get all that mass moving without straining the muscles. The biggest help on advise with this type of sword I can give is to remember that it doesn't take everything you have to make a good cut, and control of the blade is really important. I didn't actually shank any cuts, but it was easy to tell when the blade was in perfect alignment and when the velocity was right on. The Gaddhjalt is a somewhat smaller blade than the St Maurice, so it should be easier to get to speed without a windup. One thing I would suggest that helped me, if you have any problems, is to take two steps into the cut. Don't know why, but when I did this the blade would literally sing through the cutting media with not a whisper of complaint. Best of luck with your cutting fun and let us know how it goes.

All in all, the St. Maurice was a surprise in many ways. It cuts so much differently than any of the other blades we tried, because of all that mass expended so far out the blade, yet once proper techniques were used it cut like nothing I could ever have dreamed of. To say I'm pleased with this sword and what Peter and Albion did to create such a fine work of art would be a huge understatement.

[Brian M]

I have the SoSM and the Baron as well and I completely agree with your evaluation. The SoSM has a lot of inertia to overcome for a single-hander. In it's true role (cavalry sword) the horse, and gravity, would be doing most of the work to provide velocity to the blade. On foot, you're doing the work.
And the Baron is a sweet-handler for such a big sword. It really feels alive in two hands.

Brian M