Required reading for any future Harnas!
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On the High Uplands
Posted on January 31, 2016 by oprishki
Cold Steel’s new poly Walking Axe!
Posted on January 30, 2016 by oprishki
Not had a chance to try one of these out yet but I will at the first chance I get. I have a few other of Cold Steels poly products and they are tough, maybe a bit heavy but really tough. This particular piece looks a bit lighter than their normal fare.
Filed under: Merchants, Uncategorized | Tagged: Axe, Ciupaga, cold steel, sokyra, valaska, walking axe | 4 Comments »
NEOHEMAS session 12-15-13
Posted on December 16, 2013 by oprishki
Chris and I along with a new guy this week.
2 rounds shadow boxing
1 round boxing
1 round savate
The new guy seemed trustworthy and capable so we let him spar with us…he did fine, good control, which is always nice.
As usual when there is someone new, we end up talking and doing more demo work than actual working out. We went over and demoed most our empty had skills and then went over our weapon work. We went through the first three masters of Fiore’s spear just to let him see some of what we are currently working on.
His commute is a far one so we do not expect to see him every week but a few times a month until he can get something in his area started.
Business as usual next week, hopefully with a Thursday session if my luck holds out.
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Rabanica
Posted on September 18, 2013 by oprishki
Info from ,y Polish friend Jakub…
‘Rąbać’ means ‘to chop’, ‘rąbanica’ could roughly be translated as ‘chopper’, ‘the tool used for chopping’. Used mostly for chopping steps in snow and ice but also for wood chopping, climbing and fighting. Sort of like and ice axe but with more uses it seems. Spike at he and of the handle most likely to aid in climbing but mighty useful for fighting as well.
Average dimensions:
80cm long
4,5cm wide
the blade ~13cm long
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Oops, a big hello and some Polish axeheads
Posted on September 16, 2013 by oprishki
Looks like I managed to post a non-oprishki type post here last time around. not sure how i managed that but I did:/
According to wordpress, the Oprishki blog has been blowing up with hit the last few days. Why is that? If you are one of the new viewers, drop me a note and let me know why you are here, just curious.
Lastly, I found the following illustration via google. I have no other info about it and have never heard of a rabanica…so any of my Polish readers could do me a huge favor and fill me in.
Filed under: Info, Martial culture, Polish | Leave a comment »
NEOHEMAS session 8-4-13
Posted on August 5, 2013 by oprishki
Chris, Gary , Jason and I today…
After restarting my kettlebell program this past week my legs hurt so bad that I could barely move…but that did not stop me from trying.
We have Gary heading to the Sambo Nationals on the 17th so we started the day with sambo. Nothing too hard, working more on tactics that actual technique this week. Set ups and combination throws were the order of the day. Way too close to the event to attempt to learn anything new to use technique wise. Should be a pretty big event but sadly i cannot attend to offer support since I am headed up to Canada for the World Shillelagh Championship to teach a pugilism class.
We ended the session boxing using headgear and boxing gloves…some pretty hard contact today but with the big gloves it felt like getting hit by pillows. I am not a fan of the big gloves but every once and a while I think it is good to go nice and hard using them. Switching up the training gear keeps us from getting used to one set and playing to them.
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A couple of interesting axe pictures.
Posted on July 12, 2013 by oprishki
Here are a couple of interesting pictures that recently showed up on the Facebook group Carpatho-Rusyns Everywhere.
Both show axes with very long handles, in fact both look like wood axes put on a longer handle than normal. Both are from the USA in the 20th century as well. Don’t really know what to make of these photos but the axes are clear.
The first is from Pennsylvania 1939.
The second is from Buckner Illinois 1925.
Filed under: Carpathian Culture, History, Rusyn | Tagged: ax, Axe, Carpatho-Rusyn, Rusyn, slavic martial arts | Leave a comment »
Kupala
Posted on July 2, 2013 by oprishki
Kupala…the traditional day of jumping over the fire with axe in hand! This day did not go unnoticed in our home as my youngest daughter and I built a bonfire and hung around it with axes. She did no leaping, I on the other hand am not so w
ise…
Filed under: Carpathian Culture | Tagged: Kupala | Leave a comment »
Hungarian whip
Posted on June 29, 2013 by oprishki
The above pic is a link to the worldwidewhips.com site . Some really great pictures, video clips, links etc…can be found there.
A nifty video about 10 minutes long using traditional Hungarian whips…technique traditional? No idea but the whips sure are.
Here is another video showing a traditional technique the Hungarian Pig Drover Crack:
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: hungary, kanaz, magyar, martial arts, western martial arts, whip | 1 Comment »
An update
Posted on June 28, 2013 by oprishki
It has been well over a year since my last post. Does that mean I have given up? No, just got busy with life things ands let this site slide. I ams till an active axe man:) Here are two of my latest finds on ebay:
A nice small brass fokos head.
A real nice Hutsul topirets.
Filed under: Hungarian, Info, Rusyn | Tagged: Axe, fokos, magyar, Rusyn, slavic martial arts, sokyra, topirets, western martial arts | 1 Comment »
The Oprishki 