Hanging parry set

In which the 'student' demonstrates their knowledge to the 'teacher' of various parries inspired by the devices against attacks at various openings.

Note that the cut sequence oberhauw/zwerch/mittelhauw/unterhauw is carried through all of the parrying sets, however variations on each of the parries can be performed against other cuts (the "response to an oberhauw" for example, can equally be used against a zornhauw or other attack). These movements aren't intended to be used "as is" in free-play, but rather teach body movement and important sword handling principles.

1. Response to an Oberhauw

A hanging parry against an oberhauw, this is intended to provide a general high cover, as well as demonstrate the following handworks:

• Flowing off (Ablauffen)
• Cutting around (Umbschlagen)

Meister	Lehrling
Vom tag, left leg forward	Alber, left leg forward
Passing Step Oberhauw	Passing Step forward & well to the right with the rear foot Hangetort parry and allow the blade to flow off (Ablauffen)
Fall through to Alber	Triangle Step right with the rear (left) cut around (Umbschlagen with a Zornhauw)

2. Response to a Zwerch

A hanging parry against an zwerch, this is intended to provide a general high cover, as well as demonstrate the following:

• Sword taking

Meister	Lehrling
Vom tag, left leg forward	Alber, left leg forward
Passing Step Zwerch	Hangetort parry with the blade almost vertical, Lead leg Gathering Step forward if necessary
	Reach forward with left hand and grasp crossguard/schilt
	Passing Step back with left foot, twist Teacher's sword out to the left and cut over with a single handed cut with the right hand.

If the defender is close enough and the opponent's arms low enough, the defender can also use a wrapping of the opponent's arm rather than a grabbing of the schilt. This is usually more useful if the attacker has used a zornhauw or mittelhauw rather than a zwerch to initiate the exchange, as shown below:

3. Response to a Mittelhauw

A hanging parry against a mittelhauw , this is intended to provide a general parry to the side, as well as demonstrate the following handworks:

• Reversing (Verkehren)
• Wrenching out (Außreissen)
• Doubling (Duplieren)

Meister	Lehrling
Zornhut, left leg forward	Alber, left leg forward
Passing Step Mittelhauw	Hangetort parry with the blade angled, Gathering Step forward if necessary
Maintain the Bind	Reverse blade (Verkehren) so the point is to the right and lays over their sword and wrench right (Außreissen).
	Cut behind their blade to their face (Doplieren).

Optional advanced movement continued from the previous technique (not for grading, but for completeness):

Meister	Lehrling
Lift hands up to counter the reversing.	Release the left hand, allow the blade to flip back around to point left, underneath their sword.
	Grip blade with left hand in a half sword.
	Move blade up under forearms and hand pressing (Hendtrucken).
	Triangle Step to the left, slice over the arms with the halfsword grip (Schneiden).

An alternative variation of the technique replaces the reversing with an overgripping (Ubergreiffen):

Meister	Lehrling
Zornhut, left leg forward	Alber, left leg forward
Passing Step Mittelhauw	Hangetort parry with the blade angled, Gathering Step forward if necessary
Maintain the Bind	Overgrip the blade (Ubergreiffen) so the point is to the right and lays over their sword or arms and wrench right (Außreissen).
	Pommel strike or other attack.

4. Response to an Unterhauw

A hanging parry against a low attack , this is intended to provide a general parry to the side, as well as demonstrate the following handworks:

• Snapping around (Umbschnappen)

Meister	Lehrling
Nebenhut, left leg forward	Alber, left leg forward
Passing Step Unterhauw to lower opening	Schranckhut parry.
	Passing Step forward with the right foot, bring pommel forward and rotate sword from beneath the Meister's and over his arms, into his head with a snapping (Umbschnappen).