Shield style help

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Shield style help

Postby Halbrust » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:15 pm

I'm just finishing up my shiled.

It's a lense shape (similar to an African Zulu shield), almost 4'6" tall, and only 22"wide.

I've had a few veteran fighters tell me I'll need to "keep it out in front of me" more than with a more standard shield. Why is this? I didn't want to question them until I'd fought with it a time or two.

I'm loving the way it feels! Haven't fought with it yet, but it moves around beautifully. It's apunch shield with two handgrips. Both centered left-to-right. One centered top-to-bottom and the other about half way between that handle and the top of the shield.

The upper handle leaves teh bottom of the shield just an inch or so off the ground when my arm is hanging at a 90 degree angle.

Any suggestions for maximizing my effectiveness with this shield?
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Brennon EH » Fri Apr 17, 2009 2:10 pm

Have you considered how such a large shield will affect your shot selection predictability?
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Michael » Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:57 pm

How much does your new sheild weigh?
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Nibenon » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:11 pm

just a little heads up that shield is kinda tall and you might run into trolls at events that would fail it becasue the the 18 inch rule, just a heads up...

(2.3. The maximum height of a shield is 18 inches less than the height of the wielder.) --book of war--
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Juicer » Fri Apr 17, 2009 5:33 pm

as long as he's 6' tall he's golden.
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Thomas MacFinn » Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:07 pm

Halbrust wrote:Any suggestions for maximizing my effectiveness with this shield?


Hold both grips. You won't kill anything but your shield will be amazingly effective. :)


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Re: Shield style help

Postby Halbrust » Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:09 pm

Brennon EH wrote:Have you considered how such a large shield will affect your shot selection predictability?
It's tall but not really big. I've yet to throw a shot over my shield (maybe that's a good shot, but I haven't done it) so I don't think it's going to hamper me at all.

Michael wrote:How much does your new sheild weigh?
Haven't weighed it, but I'm guessing 5-6 pounds. My red war hammer is 4 1/2 and my shield weighs a little more than it does.

Nibenon wrote:just a little heads up that shield is kinda tall and you might run into trolls at events that would fail it becasue the the 18 inch rule, just a heads up...

(2.3. The maximum height of a shield is 18 inches less than the height of the wielder.) --book of war--
I fight mainly Dagorhir.

Juicer wrote:as long as he's 6' tall he's golden.
I'm 6'1" so I'm OK for both sets of rules.
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Dane » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:09 am

Halbrust wrote:I've had a few veteran fighters tell me I'll need to "keep it out in front of me" more than with a more standard shield. Why is this?

You'll need to hold it out away from your body to cut off shot angles. Since your shield is narrow (22"), you won't be able to rely on it for static defense.
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Arrakis » Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:14 am

And flails may eat you alive.

But yeah, it's too tall for my taste, but it sounds like a pretty neat shield. Post pics!
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Halbrust » Sat Apr 18, 2009 11:52 am

Thomas MacFinn wrote:
Halbrust wrote:Any suggestions for maximizing my effectiveness with this shield?


Hold both grips. You won't kill anything but your shield will be amazingly effective. :)


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Wow that's the perfect combination of hilarity and awesomeness.

I could totally do that with my shield! Not sure why I would? But I could.


I'll post pics of it when I get it covered.
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Jerlaine Trefenwyn » Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:24 pm

there's no question flails will eat you alive.
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Roland Demox » Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:16 am

Jerlaine19 wrote:there's no question flails will eat you alive.


Along the same lines, wrap shots will be your bane
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Izareth » Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:06 am

Winfang is using a smaller oval shaped shield with a handle grip. He angles it and is aggressive, hold on, let me get a video here...

He's fighting about 4:49-5:30 note the tilt of the shield and the invasion of space, this should discourage casual wraps.

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Re: Shield style help

Postby Winfang » Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:18 am

The shield is not that thin, 22" is only 1" shorter on each side then a normal 2'x3' punch. A good fighter can fight with a 12" buckler and not be chewed up by flails or wraps. Mainly because most flail fighters suck and cannot get good control over the ball.

The best thing to do is to get into guard and understand what your shield covers and what it doesn't cover when you're in this position. Remember that your guard includes your weapon as well. I cannot stress it enough, it's very important to know what your shield covers in a static guard and what it doesn't!

No matter what shield size or configuration you use you will always have openings. You need to be aware of your openings how to block them while minimizing any new openings you've created. Have a buddy throw some slow shots at you so you can what if anything needs to be done to provide coverage. Use Brennon's and Spyn's latest video as examples of shots to throw.

I've just started fighting with a punch shield again (about 4 months ago) and this is my 1st experience with a round punch shield. I'm still experimenting with the placement of my shield. I've got several different placements that I've tried:
-Local Practice Videos (Early Jan): My shield is canted and high almost covering my shoulder. This is a very typical guard in Ohio for punch-shield fighters.
-Wolfpack Videos (Late Jan): My fists have lowered as they're around my bust level and my shield is still canted so it almost rides on my forearm but no longer covering my shoulder. This is very similar to the guard I use in SCA.
-Beltaine Videos (Late April): My fists are in the same position but instead of canting my shield, it's is more flat against my opponent.
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Halbrust » Thu Apr 30, 2009 1:16 pm

Awesome guys!

I fought with it for the first time last weekend, and I love it! It's heavy as hell (about 10 pounds) but I can move it fairly effortlessly because it has real good balance. I'm using the center(lower) grip except in rare instances.

My shoulder is fairly open, and something I'll have to work on protecting. Later in the event I started implementing a doorknob style turn with some good results. I'll have to try it more to see if it's truly effective.

I use the upper handle mainly against legged fighters. I kick the bottom of the shield forward and put it to teh ground right at their knee(s). Protects my legs and lower torso beautifully, and leaves me plenty of opportunity to come over teh top corners with offence.
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Izareth » Fri May 01, 2009 7:17 am

Say hello to Mordrauchk and Vida for me!
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Isk » Fri May 15, 2009 2:08 pm

Sorry to rez this, but Halbrust you have PMs blocked. Enable it and I'll happily get back to you.
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Re: Shield style help

Postby Sir Anastasia » Fri May 15, 2009 4:50 pm

Izareth wrote:Say hello to Mordrauchk and Vida for me!


They are good guys aren't they. Anduril is going up to see them this weekend.
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