Windthauw

Longsword

A composite strike which combines an unterhauw wound back down into a slice back down on the opposite diagonal. This strike uses a form of “setting aside” (absetzen) and involves “winding” (winden)

Execution

The canonical description of the technique is performed thus:

• Beginning from wechsel on the left, against an attacker striking an oberhau/zornhau rechts.
• Step forward with the left, cutting up with an unterhau, stopping their blade with an ochs position..
• Side step backward to the left, winding your sword down to your lower left, striking him across the arms (see the image)
• Continue the movement through schranckhut
• Continuing the motion, cut back over with a sturtzhauw to the head or krumphauw to the hands.

Notes

In the winding movement it is useful to flick the tip to the side, imparting a little momentum on the opponent's blade and opening their arms to attack more easily.

The winding reversal can also be used from a high bind from below in this way.

Note also that the wind can be a smooth slicing action over the arms/head, or can be a wind which looks more like a tight Krumphauw over their arms in a thumbed hewing motion.

Applications

In which the 'student' demonstrates their knowledge to the 'teacher'; the technique is simplified in many areas to the unterhauw winding to a slice, and this simplified version forms the application for this technique.

Application 1: Windthauw

In this application the initial Unterhauw is a Taker in the Onset, followed by a Zornhauw to the head or arms as a Hitter in the Middle then stepping away with a Krumphauw as a Taker in the Withdrawal. In this case the fencer is acting in the Nach at the beginning of the technique.

Teacher	Student
Vom tag, left leg forward	Wechsel, right leg forward
Passing Step forward with the right leg, Zornhauw	Turn the hip to a cross stance and Unterhauw parry up to ochs or Einhorn, catching the blade high. Note: a passing step may also be used.
	Side Step out to the side with the left leg, wind pommel low left for a Zornhauw/slice from above to the arms or head.
	Keep the blade moving through to the left through schranckhut, Passing Step backward with the right leg, Krumphauw to the blade/arms as you withdraw.
	Withdraw (Abzug) with a defensive high cut or a guard.

Dussack

The winding cut with the dussack is a generic winding in the cut. The canonical version is described as follows:

• Cut a high cut from the left
• Halfway through the cut wind the hand to the low left so that the cut winds down toward the other diagonal.