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 there would be 3 but people straggled in…better late than never really applied here. Few things worse than teaching to an empty room. As it was, the number of participants perfectly fit the room.

I went over the 3 basic stances with variations and talked about the reasons and origins of each. We also went over a large amount of figure eight motions with more of a focus on how to move with the weapon rather than fit techniques.

Of course we did do some set plays to illustrate the use against a like weapon. I would have really liked going over it’s use against saber and bayonet but with only and hour and a half I wanted to get as much of the basics of movement down as possible.

Everyone seemed to grasp the material quite well, which is not surprising in the least since for the most part everyone in attendence at ISMAC tends to do a lot of weapon work…still I need to polish the presentation and work out a few kinks in how things are explained. I will get a chance to teach it again this year at the Recreatioal Violence Weeked in July.

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 George translates the caption as: “There were hordes of you, weren’t there? Well, that’s the lot! That’s what you were up to, trying to hack your way through; in future you won’t give any trouble!”

Not really on topic but a very cool period illustration as long as your idea of cool is split open craniums:)

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.

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 interesting setting. Long handed mountain axes make several appearances in the film. Not saying that we should look to this film for anything more than entertainment…just nice to see a ciupaga or three in a film.

• 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

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 felling a third and laying it across the end, and so we safely crossed.

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:)

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.

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.

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 on the back and a short but very very stout blade, more of a smasher than a cutter really but strong, as a logging tool should be.

The head is double pegged for extra strength. The haft is very stout, a bit too stout infact, but with a rasp, I brought it down quite a bit but would like to lighten it a bit more in the future.