Cold Steel to Sokyra

A few weeks ago a took the head off of my CS Norse Hawk and put it on a  hickory sledge hammer handle I had bought just just for this purpose. After trimming the handle it measures at 35″. I took the handle itself to a belt sander and while it already had an oval [...]

E-tool clip

Here is a short clip I made showing the basic defensive motions I use when working with the e-tool. All these motions will work just as well with a hatchet sized axe.

Mountain axe at SS!

Small class like last year but that is ok…I would prefer to have enough axes for everyone rather than have someone not able to do it for lack of a trainer.
We concentrated on the various figure-8 patterns this year. We also talked about using these motions with a larger Dane style axe rather than just [...]

Mountain Axe at SCA Saxon Summer again this year.

I will be teaching a workshop on the mountain axe again this year at the local SCA event called Saxon Summer on September 12. I believe the event is being held in hubbard Ohio again this year but will post the address when I get it.
Should be a good time. Last year it was pouring [...]

Axe galore at the RV Weekend!

We got to play with all sorts of axes last weekend at the 5th annual Recreational Violence Weekend here in Northeast Ohio.
Medieval pollaxes, tomahawks, entrenching tools and our beloved moutnain axe were all featured in classes this past weekend.

Photo courtesy of Kirk Lawson
The first axe class was on the use of the knightly pollaxe taught [...]

Mountain Axe at the Recreational Violence Weekend!

Recreational Violence Weekend V
June 11-12 here in beautiful Northeast Ohio..we will have a variety of axe classes including a class Sunday on the mountain axe. I am picturing this as the most people ever swinging mountain axes in one place outside of the Carpathian mountains ever…or at least in a very long time. Should be [...]

Janosik!!!!!!!!!

Here is the teaser trailer for the upcoming Janosik movie.

Mountain axe at ISMAC

On saturday afternoon I taught a 1 1/2 hour course on the Carpathian mountain axe. While taught a shorter course at a local SCA event last year, this marks the first complete class of this kind ever taught by me using this material.
IIRC we had 12 people in the class…for a while it looked like [...]

Four engaging ways to deal with an incoming attack

Just a short video clip as promised a few posts back.
1. Parry with the poll side of the axe.
2. Parry with the cheek or side of the axe or shaft.
3. Direct block with lead edge then turning to attack.
4. Direct stop with the head of the axe, best done on their hand or forearm.
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Blocking with the poll

Soe just what is the poll you may ask? The poll is the butt or back end of your axe head. A good reference site to keep handy for names of axe parts weapon or tool is the Gransfors site.
So now that we know what a poll is why do we want to use it? [...]