LARPING?
- Thread starter FriedRice
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Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
I know what LARPING stands for, but not what it means. Is it choreographed?
Anarax
Master Black Belt
LARP(Live Action Role-Playing) has very little to no overlap with real sword fighting/weaponry. LARP foamed weapons weigh very little and lack any type of representation of what a real weapon will be like. LARP is more focused on having fun and playing games. You'll find other LARP participants know very few sword techniques. If you want to learn European Sword Fighting take HEMA.
drop bear
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I think a lot of people who do one do the other.
I think there are just some hinkey external rules for larp. So we would still duel. But I may have a magic weapon and so where you have to score three strikes I only have to score two.
That sort of thing.
Depends. There are some people doing LARP who really try to focus on good technique. There are others who wave their +5 Vorpal Sword of Infinite Destruction around.
drop bear
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You will need the Vorpal sword if you fight a Jaberwoki.
That, or the Great Glowing Staff of Iwin.
hoshin1600
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I think there are a lot of martial arts schools out there who are LARPING in their own way.
Jacky Zuki
Yellow Belt
I have LARPed (briefly) and I have studied WMA and there is a little overlap between the two and although WMA will make you a better LARPer, the reverse isn't really true. The main thing is that WMA weapons are heavy and still hurt quite a lot when you get hit so the incentive to not get hit is tangible. LARP weapons can be twirled around with quite surprising speed, a bit like the katana in Japanese movies which used to be made of foil-covered bamboo for faster moves. A hand & a half sword is heavier, slower and once it is going in one direction it takes a lot of persuading to change tack, you build up forearm muscles like popeye. If you are used to foam and fibreglass the difference can be quite an eye opener. Things you can learn from LARPing are things like footwork and distancing which do not depend on the material of the weapon and both of which are very important to get right early. So while I wouldn't advise LARP as part of a WMA training regime, it is a great way to let off steam and use the stuff you learned if you already know a bit.
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FriedRice
Master Black Belt
- Thread Starter
- #10
Ok, so I've been watching these LARPERS and it looks fun. They consider themselves "full contact" fighters and don't like being called Larpers, which was pretty funny b/c they're still geeky as hell and I thought that my athleticism alone would beat them; plus my agility and weapons training (although only knives and escrimas). Kind of true, I was way more athletic and it helped, but it wasn't that easy. Against their Noobs, I was winning about 7/10. Intermediate, 5/10. Expert 2/10. Their Experts were kicking my *** soundly....and there were many of them, some with 15+ years of playing this ****.
Most of them were overweight and I wore them out by making them chase me on an open field, but then they just stayed put and waited for me. Moving in constant circles made them dizzy and that worked, but my circles were much wider/more energy spent. Just swinging fast & hard, they'll block my shot and return for their kill shot. I resorted to mostly running around and taking cheap shots from behind.
DAMAGE: Get hit in a limb, lose it. Lose 2 limbs = death. 1 hit in the torso = instant death.
WEAPONS: Clubs are 10-15oz, so about the same as escrima sticks. They are foam padded, and much fatter so it takes more effort to swing them. Two Handed Swords are 32-44oz. Real sword from Medieval Ages seems to start at 40oz. Real Rapiers are 30oz? So the swords are a little lighter, but again, they're fluffy, fat and much less aerodynamic; so takes more effort to swing.
ARMOR: Can take 1 hit from melee weapons and swords swung w/1 hand. 2 handed, heavier swords, goes through armor w/1 hit as do spears w/2 handed thrusts. Seems fair as armor weighs them down and very hot in 90+ degree weather. Armor has to be real leather of certain thickness or certain metals....no rubber, synthetics, plastics, etc.
HEALERS: Only magic it seems. They can bring someone back to life by laying hands on them and reciting some geeky *** poem like 5x or so. They can be attacked though. So far, I've chosen death (and wait for the next reset round) rather than call on one.
Basically this...there are certainly strategies that look pretty legit.
Most of them were overweight and I wore them out by making them chase me on an open field, but then they just stayed put and waited for me. Moving in constant circles made them dizzy and that worked, but my circles were much wider/more energy spent. Just swinging fast & hard, they'll block my shot and return for their kill shot. I resorted to mostly running around and taking cheap shots from behind.
DAMAGE: Get hit in a limb, lose it. Lose 2 limbs = death. 1 hit in the torso = instant death.
WEAPONS: Clubs are 10-15oz, so about the same as escrima sticks. They are foam padded, and much fatter so it takes more effort to swing them. Two Handed Swords are 32-44oz. Real sword from Medieval Ages seems to start at 40oz. Real Rapiers are 30oz? So the swords are a little lighter, but again, they're fluffy, fat and much less aerodynamic; so takes more effort to swing.
ARMOR: Can take 1 hit from melee weapons and swords swung w/1 hand. 2 handed, heavier swords, goes through armor w/1 hit as do spears w/2 handed thrusts. Seems fair as armor weighs them down and very hot in 90+ degree weather. Armor has to be real leather of certain thickness or certain metals....no rubber, synthetics, plastics, etc.
HEALERS: Only magic it seems. They can bring someone back to life by laying hands on them and reciting some geeky *** poem like 5x or so. They can be attacked though. So far, I've chosen death (and wait for the next reset round) rather than call on one.
Basically this...there are certainly strategies that look pretty legit.
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FriedRice
Master Black Belt
- Thread Starter
- #11
This looks legit. Those swords look a lot lighter but made more for their Larping looks. The fake ***, rectangular swords with cubed edges, made out of thick foam are much heavier I bet. I think you can get a better feel for the real thing with them.
The foam Larping swords allow full contact during sparring, which I think is a big plus. Although they don't allow head shots, which is weak sauce. I mean light headshots should be ok. They allow kick at the shield but not at the body, and they cried a lot when I kicked them.
Kind of, I mean they are using weapons and have contact... so it's got that going. I suppose in some sense the rules about hits and health and death aren't all that different from the point fighting "one hit, one kill" stance a lot of "real" martial arts schools take.
You'd probably be better off with a sword after spending a lot of time larping then you would with a sword and having not done anything.
But you'd be better of looking into HEMA, which is in a sense similar, but without the fantasy aspects that are used in place of spending time on actual technique.
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FriedRice
Master Black Belt
- Thread Starter
- #13
I'm probably going to get into that later. There aren't many of these HEMA schools around, and they're not cheap. Plus the equipment. Don't those suits of armor go for $5000 at least? I know I'd want a really good fencing helmet that would protect against accidental power thrusts to not lose eyeballs.
I guess it depends how you approach it. If you also practice with a properly-weighted weapon, so you know the mechanics and limitations, even LARPing could be useful. Most effective practice? Probably not, but still useful.
If it ain't vorpal, it ain't dead.
I think many of us are guilty of a bit of that from time to time.
Sounds like goood, geeky fun, man.
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FriedRice
Master Black Belt
- Thread Starter
- #18
There seems to be different types of Larping. They generally all use foam padded weapons. What's different is the level of force used and how much magic is involved, if any. The one where I've been larping, then it's full power swings, but it doesn't really hurt, just a slight sting. A thrust to the ribs can hurt though. No head shots allowed, and they cry a lot when they get hit in the head. They allow kicks to the foam shields, but some also complain when I'm kicking the **** out of them too often...it's basically similar to someone holding a kicking shield at the gym and I'm trying to see how far I can make them fly. Grappling is allowed, but I haven't done it yet b/c they're already complaining a lot about my kicking their shields.
Like the one that's most ridiculed is probably due to this video....which these types of Larpers do not like the full contact Larping. One high level, maximus supreme, super-duper Larper showed up one day and boasting about his skills as a Larper in many historical settings including the Civil War, etc. The next week he came back in full regalia that was incredibly impressive. But after 1 war, he never came back. And he was like 6'5" about 190-200 lbs, so a big strong dude.
Surely that can't be true!
You know, I was too lazy to post that earlier . Thanks for filling the gap, Tez!
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