Weapons Training
Wychwood uses the following weapons during our training sessions and public displays:
- Seax
- Sword (with and without shield)
- Langseax
- Axe
- Two-handed (long) spear without shield
- One-handed (short) spear with shield
- Dane-axe (long, two handed axe)
Some of these weapons are more difficult to handle safely than others, so you may need prior training on another weapon before you can start to train. If you join Wychwood without any prior re-enactment combat experience, this is the training progression you can follow with the usual length of time taken to complete each type of training in brackets: :
You may need to take longer than the specified time to finish a stage of training or (especially if you have prior experience of similar sports like fencing or other martial arts) you may be able to finish more quickly. It is important that you come to training every week – we recommend that you don’t miss any training sessions during term, but most people can miss one or two and still be ready to take a competency test at the end of term.
In your first session with Wychwood, we will teach you to use the seax – a type of knife which every free Anglo-Saxon would wear on their belt, and which was usually reserved for eating but could be used for fighting in a pinch. The trainers will demonstrate the other weapons used in the society, and you can start thinking about whether you want to focus on sword or spear for your first term of training. For the first two sessions you will be able to try some exercises with both sword and spear - you should usually decide which weapon to focus on by the end of your second session and then stick with it for the rest of term.
Normal training sessions will be a mixture of games designed to teach battlefield awareness and acting skills, and drills to help you gain the muscle strength and skill required to wield your chosen weapon. The sequence of exercises we use is designed to lead you smoothly from never having picked up a weapon before, to feeling ready for your first fight in front of an audience! This is what you can expect to be doing:
- Drills – you will progress through these in the order below:
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- Static drills – hitting your opponent and blocking their hits while you are both standing still
- Distance gauging – moving back into the correct fighting range for your weapon after your opponent moves away
- Moving drills – a combination of the above two exercises where your opponent will move away from you, and you will step back into range and immediately land a safe hit (and your opponent can practice blocking). You will do this slowly at first, and gradually get faster until all movements are at full speed and seamless.
- Free fighting – once your moving drills are at full speed you can start free fighting – moving over a wider area and incorporating the acting skills you learned in the weekly games.
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- Games – usually each session will begin and end with one or two games from the list below. Before you are able to free-fight with your weapon you will play these games using soft or wooden weapons:
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- Circle of Honour/Treachery, Valhalla, and Zombies – These games are designed to give you lots of practice fighting with your weapon, and teach you to be aware of a wider battlefield with many possible opponents and obstacles
- The Bridge Game and the Princess Game – In these games you will be fighting on a team and in a more restricted area and so you will have to acquire a different kind of awareness of your surroundings
- The Dying Game (more fun than it sounds, we promise!) – This game will give you an opportunity to practice your insults, finishing moves and dying gurgles – a vital part of a public combat display!
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Competency Testing
At the end of your first term of training, you will usually be ready to take a competency test in your chosen weapon. When you have passed, you will be eligible to fight in public shows and to start training on another weapon if you choose. The competency test is a series of exercises similar to what you will have done during training sessions, followed by a series of free fights both with trainers and other trainees. The other trainees and trainers at the session will be your audience, and provide moral support! In your test you will be expected to do the following:
- Static tests:
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- Demonstrate safe hits on a shield held by a trainer
- Demonstrate safe hits on the target areas of a trainer’s body
- Demonstrate safe blocking of trainer’s hits
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- Free fights:
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- Against another trainee using the same weapon as you
- Against another trainee using a different weapon to you
- Against a trainer using the same weapon as you
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During the free fights your trainers will be looking firstly for safe handling of the weapon – this is the crucial part and the only aspect which could lead to you failing a test. Anything extra such as fancy moves and superb acting will earn you bonus points but it should not be your priority.
After your competency test
Once you have passed your test on your first weapon, you will be able to come to the trainers’ practice session which will take place in the morning before regular Battle Practice. This is the time for you to learn more advanced skills with your first weapon or take up a new weapon. In the afternoon sessions we will still be running training for sword and spear, so we recommend that for your second term with us you practice your first weapon in the morning sessions and get trained on the second one in the afternoon.
The morning sessions are also a good time to learn to use more advanced weapons such as the axe, as the afternoon sessions focus on teaching the sword and spear. If you choose to train with a new weapon, you can expect the training to be similar in structure to the list above.
Once you have passed a test in both sword and spear, and both you and your trainers feel comfortable, you will be able to become a trainer yourself if you choose and help the next generation of Wychwooders take their first steps with re-enactment weaponry.
