Irish Two-Handed Spear Fighting Combat Guide
( contribute to this at: http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dhkcrbf6_1g7sdjj )

The spear - good for beginners, fun for the experienced.

The spear is a good basic weapon, and is recommended as the first weapon anyone learns with. Its sheer weight helps to build upper body stamina and strength. Its length keeps beginners back from the heat of the battle. It is also cheap, and effective. The basic concepts of combat, once learned safely on the spear, can be transferred to the sword and the other pole-arms (quarter-staff, glaive, pole-axe).

Kill shots, in real life

The spear was primarily a stabbing weapon. True kill shots would be to the face, the throat and groin. Against enemies with shields, often only the top of the head and shins are exposed. Against mounted enemies, the spear could also be dug into the ground, and supported their with an instep, to try and break a cavalry charge.

Kill shots, in re-enactment

Combat Re-enactment is not like the real thing. We don't recommend stabbing people in the face, throat, groin or shins. Until you are very competent with the spear, we recommend against stabbing anywhere except muscular parts of the arm and legs. Where possible, you should stab *past* your opponent, and drag the spear back along their body, so they know you could have killed them.

People in armour will rarely consider such 'soft' attacks as kills, and may ignore the hit. In that case, try stab at weak points in armour: elbows, underarms etc. Experience is the best teacher. As usual, if someone doesn't acknowledge a shot (they may be armoured), try hitting a little harder next time.

Protection

You can still get hurt when fighting with a spear. You'll get your knuckles of your lead arm smashed, your forearm and your shoulder bruised. Head, hands and body are the important areas to protect. Start with a heavy wool hat or arming cap; it can turn a bruise into a quickly forgotten knock, a cut into a bruise, and fractured skull into concussion. Helmets with brims offer extra protection to the fact and eyes.
The bare minimum hand protection is heavy leather welding gloves. Don't get brightly coloured ones, and try dye them with scuff kote - go shopping, and get natural coloured ones. Gloves will turn a graze into a bruise, but won't stop you having fingers broken. Depending on your budget, sew leather off-cuts to the back of your soft gauntlets, make a cheap pair of stiff leather over-gauntlets, or proper metal ones. It is always cheaper to buy the natural coloured ones than to dye the wrong coloured ones.

Body protection starts with a heavy woolen jumper. Don't train in a t-shirt because you are too warm....you will eventually be asked to do two hour long battles in 35C heat, in a gambeson and armour. Get used to heat, sweating, panting and energy control as soon as possible. The basic body protection an aketon or gambeson that goes down to mid-thigh. For Vikings, see about making one of the fabled reindeer-skin jackets, if you can't afford mail. If you want to start adding better armour, try make a coat of plates.

A blunt spear is still dangerous

Just in case you didn't notice, one to three kilos of pole with a blunt metal spearhead is still lethal. Every time you pick up your spear, remember this. When thinking of how you are going to attack, be aware of what may go wrong - the other person may block your shot up, and into their face. They may be pushed forward onto your spear. You might be pushed forward into theirs.

• Keep your spearhead below neck level.

• Never stab up.
• If you feel exhausted, back down - tired people make mistakes
• When turning about, always start to lift the spear tip vertical before you start to turn.
• You can accidentally hit someone behind you with the "blunt" end of the spear; if you leave a lot of spear behind you, be watchful.
  

Where a spear is effective

The spear is a very cheap weapon. Everyone should have their own spear, no excuses. In battles in England its easy to pick one up for £30 - after all its a stick with a piece of metal on the end. Its also cheap to employ - unlike the sword or axe, you don't need to spend a fortune on armour, as you are back from the heat of the battle.
As mentioned before, the spear is good against cavalry - hopefully something you won't have to worry about often. Its also good against lightly armoured troops: they can be taken out before they get to you. In a line, or a block, the spear can even hold its own against heavily armoured knights, if employed as an impromptu fence by some spear-men, while someone else pulls the hapless knight to the ground.
A spear-man on his own is soon dispatched. Keep close to the rest of your army.

Positioning & footwork

The first thing to learn in any martial arts is footwork. If your feet aren't in the right position, you can be slow to move, easy to push over and find it hard to attack - or all of the above.

Stand perpendicular to your opponent, with your feet shoulder width apart. Turn your body - not your hips - and your "leading foot" (the foot near your opponent) more toward your opponent. You are aiming to provide a narrow target to your opponent. Think of how hard it is to kick a closed door, compared to one that is open, and just presenting its edge to you. A 'back foot' perpendicular to your opponent gives great strength, and can be used as a spring to attack suddenly. Bend your knees, to lower your centre of gravity. This will make you harder to push over. Move your weight to the balls of your feet. The extra concentration will keep you alert, and the change in weight distribution will allow you to move more suddenly.

Only now, think of your spear. With your back hand, leave an inch or two of pole sticking out behind your hand, in case someone tries to pull it from your grip. Have your lead hand a shoulder-width apart from the back hand. If the distance between the two is increased, the spear is easier to move, but not as long. You would be better off using a smaller spear. If the distance between the two is decreased, the spear is no longer possible to wield safely, as people can push it out of their way with on sharp smack.

You want the spear to protect your whole body. By pointing at their rear shoulder, the spear is canted in all three axes - forward, toward the opponent in a threatening manner. From their shoulder to your waist, protecting you from shoulder to waist. From your rear hand, to their rear shoulder, protecting you from one side to the other.

After any movement - defensive, attack or just positioning, return to this sideways crouch with a neatly positioned spear; the Default Position. Keep your knees bent, and keep weight on the balls of your feet does not mean you should lean forward when attacking. This is an excellent way to get a face full of spear. You are also off-balance when you lean forward - the opponent can grab you and pull you off your feet. You will also find it very difficult to step back, if you are counter-attacked. Keep your back straight. If you are wondering about your position - at any time, you should find it as easy to stand solely on your back or front leg.

Use your whole body with every shot, not just the arms, or you will tire yourself out. Never lean forward to get extra range, when thrusting; you put yourself off balance, and make your face the nearest body part to the enemy spearhead.

Basic commands

The basic commands your commander will give you are:

• Glac Scíth (rest weapons)
• Suas Airm (raise weapons)
• Ina Sheasaigh (port weapons)

Glac Scíth means put the tip of your spear into the ground, while maintaining your shoulder width grip on the weapon. You can lean into the weapon for support. However, you should be ready, to swivel from that resting position into your Default Position, with the call of "Suas Airm".

When marching, you'll be asked to port your spear. This means bring it straight up into the air, rear hand about a foot from the bottom of the spear, the lead arm a shoulder width apart. The spear should be vertical, in the center of your body, almost touching your nose. Keep alert. Don't jerk your head around like you think someone is stalking you: coolly look around, ready to deploy your vertical spear in the direction of any threat.

Holding a spear

Many people will offer advice on how to hold your spear. There is no One True Way. Anyone that tells you otherwise is selling something or is just too rigid in their beliefs. There are some general tips; after that, choose whatever makes you comfortable.

• Your rear hand is always above the spear. Your front hand can be either under, or over the spear. Hence, you can hold it 'underhand' or 'overhand'. 'Underhand' is a defensive posture. The attacker cannot knock it from your hand with a strong down-stroke. Your forehand can be left loose, so your spear can swivel freely. 'Overhand' allows much more control while attacking, and allows for strong downward stabs. However, 'overhand' allows 10cm less range than underhand. Practice with both.
  
• Try and keep your lead arm steady. If it swings, even a little, your spear tip will swing wide. Your spear is supposed to be pointed at your enemy - not off in the distance!
• Keep the tip up, around chest level. Never let it come over neck level. Beginners can leave the spear point lower, but though it is slightly safer for your opponent, it is more dangerous for you.
  
• When starting, keep your lead hand under the spear. The reason is that your grip will not be very strong, and it's harder for someone to knock your spear down out of your hand when you support it. Feel free to switch from hands-under to hands-over as you see fit. Some blocks and shots are easier with hands-over.
• Don't grip a spear too tightly. This will tire you more quickly and actually slows down your responses in both attack and defence.
  

Breathing

It sounds stupid, but an easy way to let the other person beat you is through bad breathing. In through the nose out through the mouth. Attack as you exhale. As you exhale your body is strong the muscles are tense and you are better able to withstand a blow. While inhaling, your body is at its most vulnerable. If you take a hit while inhaling, especially in the belly, you can be winded. Spear fighting is very physical; keeping the body full of Oxygen will keep fatigue at bay for longer giving you an advantage. When you are not engaged with an opponent stay alert but rest and breathe. Breathe deeply, but keep it controlled, don’t pant. Open your chest muscles wide and inhale deeply though the nose. Then exhale slowly through the mouth. 5 deep breaths in this manner should restore energy to the body. Martial arts breathing is a skill that can be practised almost anywhere.

Some other bits & pieces to think about..

• Don't move your forearm when blocking, it's doing enough work holding the spear.
• Don't stab directly at someone, stab slightly to the side so an over-powered thrust slides by, rather than impales them.
  
• Don't raise your spear above chest level, teeth don't grow back.
• Don't concentrate all your attention on the spear tip when fighting. Look at the person, and others around you - everything in your field of vision.
• Initially, a lot of your concentration should be about choosing where to put your spearhead in advance, and then being exact about where it goes. This will mean you "telegraph" your movements to your opponent, but that is not a bad thing for a beginner.
• Keep movements quick and sharp, block and immediately attack; he who hesitates is lost.
• Keep the spear head moving, especially when fighting skirmishers, the second it is stationary it give the short-weapons opponent a chance to slip past the tip and attack you. Don't let your movements become predictable - unless you do it on purpose, like a 'feint' to make someone attack in a manner you want!
• Remember economy of movement - too little and you are a sitting duck, too much and you will get tired. Try work out tricks to make them move more than you, and make them tire quickly.
• Always keep the tip of the spear pointing at your opponent, otherwise they can just run through you.
• Don’t get into a 'test of strength' with your opponents. The big guys will almost always win the first one or two, until they get tired too. Use speed and skill to overcome brute strength. If you are smaller than your opponent, try get into a test of strength. As soon as they commit, go around their spear!
• Don't be too frenzied in your attacks: It expends too much energy too quickly. This may work for real combat (which lasts seconds) but is not good for sustaining a fight for minutes. Some fighters try to make their opponent work hard, to tire them out. This is especially useful when fighting someone with a heavy spear or a top-heavy pole-arm like a glaive.
• Don't attack the opponents weapon; attack the opponent. A skilled fighter won't bother blocking unless you take a shot to their person. It's ineffective in a competition fight, and it looks dumb during a show fight. A skilled fighter will slowly and irregularly move their spear point around, to entice an opponent into trying to bat their spear away. This can tire and distract a inexperienced opponent.
  
• Smaller people often pretend to get into a test of strength on purpose - to draw bigger, over-confident people to them.
• Get a decent pair of gauntlets, and vambraces that cover to the elbow. Nothing can ruin your day quicker than a ten kilo thrust to the funny bone, and your elbow is always sticking out when using the spear. Where possible, keep vambraces under a tunic when doing pre-1300 combat, so they aren't visible.
• Hold onto the spear. Don't let go with one hand, just to get extra range. You can lose your spear or injure someone. A skilled opponent can flip a weakly held spear down your spear line.
• A spear can be heavy, so it has a lot of momentum when swung. If your grip is weak you opponent can strike your spear and knock it out of your hand. Be ready for this, by building up your grip, or being ready to move the spear away when they attack your spear.
  
• If you move your spear into the blow, it can also help your grip, by weakening that of your opponent's.
  
• If you keep your grip too tight, your hand will cramp.
• Stay low. If after fighting for 5 minutes your thighs aren’t burning you are standing too high.
  
• If you train fighting low when you stand up in combat you are much faster.
  
• A low stance makes for a harder target. When you bend your knees to stay low, your hamstrings become a spring, your weight is automatically moved to the balls of your feet.
• Try and work out how much range your opponent has. Sometimes, they will "shorten their grip", by feeding the spear out behind them, or increasing the gap between their hands.
  
• A skilled opponent can suddenly shrink the gap between their hands, and come up with an extra foot of spear - and hence range - out of nowhere.