Hello,

I need to keep this brief due to time constraints, but does anyone know of any available resources for studying the
footwork used when dealing with axe or otherwise general pole arm combat? I'm not a practitioner myself, but I believe
the mechanics that apply to sword-based combat would be different when longer weapons with more outward mass is introduced.

Thanks in advance,
Emil Andersson

When it comes to the earlier material, the footwork actually is pretty much the same. Its part of the art- the same body mechanics would be used for longsword, dagger, sword and buckler, poleaxe, unarmored, armored etc etc.
The only thing with long weapons is difficulty crossing the body in guard changes

And not just for the earlier material. The footwork for sword and staff combat tends to stay parallel with each other even in later periods. There are of course some minor differences, as Chris alluded to, but by and large these differences are pretty easy to overcome once you've learned your foundation.

Wouldn't you do this by studying sources on fighting with the pollaxe and other staff weapons? Like Le Jeu de la Hache, Fiore, and the Bolognese teachers. There is not a lot of broad comparative work out there in WMA right now, so you usually have to start with the primary sources.

Thank you for your input, everyone.

It's interesting how you say that the general principles hold true for all/most types of armed combat, although I can certainly see how that is preferable in a practical sense. I have a copy of Paulus Hector Mair's book on Polearms that I bought from Paladin Press some time back, and the same kind of feet postures that you see in sword fencing manuals is shown there as well. It was due to the longer handle and more concentrated weight on these weapons that I figured the body mechanics would behave differently, though I guess that's not necessarily the case.

@Douglas, like Christopher pointed out I was mostly alluding to the longer kind of axes, with a specific one in mind being a sparth axe with a total length of 57''.

Do you know if there's anywhere to view the treatises of axes and polearms online?

Thank you,
Emil Andersson

My personal experience with the long daneaxes and glaives is that there is less large steps with these weapons.

Countrary to what might seem logical, practical fighting with cutting polearms does not feature large, sweeping blows as a standard attack. When faced with a pole armed or agressive opponent, these attacks are simply to slow.

Instead of swinging the weapon around your head, you turn it in your hands, and use body mechanics to deliver fast, hard blows from a head forward guard.
The main disadvantage of this guard is that the heavy head of the polearm makes it to slow to "fence" with spears. Once the head is lifted of center, the spearman slips to the side, and stabs you in the face.
For this reason, you frequently see polearm guards with the cue(shaft) forward, in order to block and bind the opponent, before landing a blow.

At 142 cm, your sparth is a bit short for the polearm techniques, but they should give you a decent idea. Two handed sword techniques might also give some clues. (I have a personal theory that two handed swords are seen early and freqently in scandinavia is because the scandinavians are used to the broad grip of an axe.)

Yes, I did not say or imply "just look at the sword in two hands and staff weapons and ignore everything else." A few weeks ago I suggested the reverse (learn the basics of the whole system then find a focus) to someone who wanted to skip straight to sword and rotella in the Bolognese sources. Its annoying when I find myself arguing on the Internet with someone I basically agree with over phrasing and emphasis.

Me either Sean. The "you" in my comments should be considered generic.

i don't know if everybody could see this and i wished there was a youtube version but here's a movie of Ban Van Koert and Arne Koets fighting with pollaxes in a tournament. to me personally this is one of the coolest fights i've ever seen!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1426359735711