Red Weapon University

[Soong]

After fifteen years of primarily Florentine fighting, (my first two years were two handed axe) I am switching to great sword.
I'm getting older and my shoulders can’t handle the punishment that Florentine or sword and board (Which I really just don’t love) dish out.

I’ve been using a nice hefty 5 footer for about a month now and I'm starting to feel confident wielding it, however, I’m really interested in bringing my skills up to par with my old dual wield skills.

What I'd like to do here is start a dialogue with other dedicated great sword, glaive, and general twohander specialists to talk about the finer points of the craft, come up with some common language regarding this weapon style, maybe get some links up to two hander videos and generally compile practice and implementation information on the weapon.

For example, my biggest problem at the moment is closing maneuvers when dealing with a shieldman. I'm more of a stand and deliver type fighter and I prefer NOT to back peddle alot, concentrating more on sidestepping, round stepping and weapon defense. I have a hell of a time with good shieldmen who know how to close off a two hander but I KNOW I can get the moves down, but I need to figure out the foot work/blade placement.

So, have at it red weapons specialists! Show me what you got!

[Izareth]

Hey Soong, are you on the new board? I know that Xiao has addressed this question, and he is a superb fighter with red, also Soth.

They will probably be reporting directly to the new board, so you might hit them up there.

I can say that those guys generate POWER, this is a big part of their success, it is difficult to advance on them, because their swings can bring your whole shield side down.

Also, I was once against the selling of weapons, being an old hand at this, but I"d like to say that the reds and other weapons sold by Edhellen are quality, and you might look into a red from their shop. Their pricey, but a sword from them can last me about a year. I'm not sure about the Reds, but they have a tight construction design that produces weapons that don't really hurt, but probably wouldn't have passed when we were fighting each other.

[Soong]

Thanks Izzy, I'll direct the discussion over that away. I like the red sword thread that's already going, but wanted to expand on it. Think I'll start a new thread over there...
Oh, and I think the Edhellen swords are very nice but I'm a dedicated foamsmith myself and have already built my new reds.
I can't wait to use em at EQ!
Woooo!