Vom Tag Device 1

The First Part

And firstly when you come before your opponent and, while striking out or otherwise pulling your sword back (to downstrike) to bring it high above you, he strikes just then to your left at your head, then burst full away from his strike against his left and somewhat toward him, and strike with an outward flat against his incoming strike to meet his sword strongly on the strong so that the forward part of your blade will swing inward over his sword to his head, which is then certainly hit. When you slash at the same time as him and your sword comes to be over his, to hit or not on his strike, then twitch your sword off over yourself again, and strike diagonally upward from below to his right arm, in this strike step out with your left foot full against his right side and arc yourself with your head fully behind your sword’s blade, from there nimbly twitch again upward and flit the short edge to his left ear, if you see that he will wipe against this, then don’t let the impact fail or flow off, but soon cross your hands in the air (the right over the left) and slash him with the short edge deep to his right ear and then traverse over and pull out. Mark here when he would nimbly follow after the Understrike just taught and thus would be hard onto the roof so that you can’t come to flow off, then pay attention just then if he would twitch off from your sword, then follow after him with a cut to the arm.

What the Device Teaches Us

• Parrying against a Zornhauw with another Zornhauw
• Using the flat to flick over and harass him then rebounding around to cut to the opposite opening (Prellhauw)
• Cutting to the openings while withdrawing (Abzug)

Interpretation

This deconstruction takes out some of the redundant text and renders the sequence in point form.

• When you come before your opponent while striking out or otherwise pulling your sword back (to downstrike) to bring it high above you. [ Vom tag ]
• He strikes just then to your left at your head [ Zornhauw ]
• Burst full away from his strike against his left and somewhat toward him, and strike with an outward flat against his incoming strike to meet his sword strongly on the strong so that the forward part of your blade will swing inward over his sword to his head. [ Passing Step forward right, Zornhauw with outer flat ]
• Then twitch your sword off over yourself again, and strike diagonally upward from below to his right arm, in this strike step out with your left foot full against his right side and arc yourself with your head fully behind your sword’s blade. [ Passing Step laterally left, Unterhauw up to lower right opening ]
• From there nimbly twitch again upward and flit the short edge to his left ear. [ Zwerch to upper left opening ]
• If you see that he will wipe against this, then don’t let the impact fail or flow off, but soon cross your hands in the air (the right over the left) and slash him with the short edge deep to his right ear. [ Sturtzhauw ]
• Then zwerch over and pull out. [ Zwerch, Passing Step back ]
• If he follows after the Understrike just taught and thus would be hard onto the roof so that you can’t come to flow off, then pay attention just then if he would twitch off from your sword, then follow after him with a cut to the arm. [ Schneiden ]