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 [...]

Russian peasant in 1812 British Caricature

From wiki
A redrawn version of a Russian caricature (on Napoleon’s 1812 campaign in Russia) by British artist George Cruikshank. A Russian peasant holds a bloody axe above Frenchman’s head, ready to strike. On the ground are the bodies of two French officers, whose skulls have been split by the Russian soldier’s axe. British caricature. Dorothy [...]

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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Stara Basn

Stara Basn…When the Sun was God. Pretty nifty film. Definitely did not win any major awards nor should it have but still fun to watch for self styled warrior types who swing axes around:) 
Set in pre-christian times in the land that would become Poland…Stara Basn tells a familiar tale of greed and betrayal in an [...]

Zbojnicki Dance

 

The Dances of Podhale (Poland)

Joseph Needham
Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Dec., 1937), pp. 117-119

 

The Cornhill Magazine 1879

The Cornhill Magazine
By George Smith, William Makepeace Thackeray
Published by Smith, Elder and company., 1879
At one place we had to cross the river, and found the wooden bridge gone. The guides seized their axes—in this country every one carries an axe—and hewed down two trees long enough to span the stream, which they made firm by [...]

Another mountain axe clip

Threw this together yesterday at the end of our regular training session. After watching this it was evident to me that i am no good at pretending to have my axe knocked out of my hands…..I look like I throw it:)

Mountain axe and entrenching tool clip

Here is a short clip that first shows two techniques with the mountain axe then some quick work with the entreching tool. I like the e-tool since i can easily carry it around in the car, definitely during the winter plus it makes for a good substitute for a short belt axe.
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Singlehanded thrust

Here is a short clip of me performing a single handed thrust using the mountain axe. First off a pass forward, then a pass backward.

Pickaroon to Fokos

My good friend Randal gave me a great logging tool called a pickaroon made by Peavey Manufacturing this summer that I modified just slightly as far as the handle profile to make it more fokos-like. This particular model is called a Katahdin w/Brush Cutter Head. It can be seen here: Peavey Manufacturing. Nice curved spike [...]