Basic Information

Revision as of 15:54, 26 June 2016

4 Openings (high/low)

Meyer differs slightly from earlier masters in his division of the human body. Whereas earlier masters divided the body into a simple four quarters (upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right) Meyer also divides the head into four quarters.

One can speculate that this represents a focus on blows to the head in 16th century fechtschulen as a means of “scoring”, though it may simply be a natural extension of older terminology to provide more accuracy/precision in practice.

Notice that the openings are specified from the point of view of the target's frame of reference, so the upper left opening referred to the target's upper left, rather than the upper left from the point of view of the attacker.

Parts of the weapon

Meyer divides the sword further than previous masters. As you can see in the image above, aside from the usual true/false edge, he divides the blade into four sections:

• The “bind” or “haft” which includes the pommel, crossguard etc.
• The strong - the lower half of the blade (green)
• The middle - lying between the first quarter and the last quarter of the blade (marked in blue)
• The weak - the upper half of the blade (red)

Types of Attack

It may seem obvious, but there are a number of ways to attack with the longsword beyond simply swinging it at someone. The masters in the German tradition describe three basic ways of attacking with the blade; the cut, the thrust, and the slice. They also describe additional attacks using the haft of the blade, and grappling techniques with the sword.

Hauen (Hewing): the Cut

The cut is the most obvious and natural of movements with the longsword. In fact the von Danzig folio describes one of the main cuts with the sword as being “nothing other than a bad peasant strike” This gives us an idea of how natural this mode of striking is, though as the fencer becomes more experienced they realise there are actually many subtleties to a good cut. Cuts are the most common forms of attack in Meyer’s text and are carried out with both the true and false edges of the blade, along various angles of attack.

Stechen (Stabbing): The Thrust

The second most obvious method of using a sword. Earlier masters make extensive use of the thrust as a technique which often follows an initial cut or defence. By the 1500s the style of fighting was broadly cut-centric with Meyer pointing out that it is no longer the custom to use the thrust, except, perhaps, when making war on others. The reasons for this could be debated at length, but factors might include the greater safety of the cut over the thrust in schulefechten (thrusts were banned in competition), as well as changes in the use of the longsword for self defence, with German street-fighting laws of the time forbidding thrusts. Several of artistic depictions of longswords from this period are noteworthy for their rounded point, as a contrast to the very sharp points of some earlier blades, so it seems that the prevalence of the cut over the thrust carried across to enstfechten at this time also.

What we do know is that the commonly heard maxim that the thrust is more effective in a fight than the point is not well supported by the evidence, be it literary or archaeological. Indeed some battlefield remains suggest that the cut was the more common cause of deaths in battle; though perhaps those stabbed died later from their wounds elsewhere.

Despite all of of this, however, Meyer still does actually describe defences against the thrust using the longsword, and also uses the point as a way of keeping the opponent at distance.

Schneiden (Slicing): The Slice

The last of the three wounders is the slice. Slicing is exactly what this attack does; the blade is placed on an exposed region and drawn along the flesh to cause a lacerating wound. The slice can result from a cut or thrust which has not hit its intended target; for example a thrust which was deflected to the side, but still manages to run the sharp edge along the target somewhere), or as an intentional action.

Meyer typically uses slicing on the arms of the opponent whenever they take the sword away from the bind in an attempt to strike to another opening. In this cases he advocates rapidly laying the edge on the exposed arms of the adversary with a slicing motion.

The slice is certainly not as deadly as the cut or thrust, but the psychological effect of a large wound which would no doubt bleed profusely is not to be underestimated.

Pommel Strikes

Striking with the pommel or crossguard is a reliable fallback technique which can daze or injure an opponent and give the fencer valuable moments to follow up with a deadlier attack, or withdraw to safety.

Within schulefecthen the pommel was frowned upon, and pommel strikes in competition attracted harsh penalties, including what some people would describe as percussive behavioral correction. As such Meyer makes little use of the pommel for striking, but he does make considerable use of the pommel and crossguard for levering and wrenching at the opponent’s hands in order to hinder their movements and provide openings to attack with the blade or grappling.

Ringen: Wrestling

Wrestling is one of the oldest competitive fighting arts to be found in literature and finds a natural fit in schulefechten. Wrestling is both effective and safe and it is no surprise that a the works of Meyer and earlier masters describe diverse wrestling techniques. These techniques include arm locks, throws, disarms, and various other grappling techniques either “at the sword”, which is to say using the sword for leverage, or at the body of the opponent.

Gripping the weapon

It seems obvious that in order to use a longsword you must first learn to hold it properly, yet often little thought is given to the many ways of gripping a longsword and the difference it makes to the execution of a cut or other technique.

First then, some general advice for gripping the sword:

Generally a longsword is not held in the lead hand with a tight perpendicular grip (the kind of grip you would use to swing a hammer). This kind of grip causes stiff movements and poor edge control through a cut, and doesn't allow us to use the point well. Instead grip most strongly with the last three fingers of the hand, with the index finger and thumb not gripping tightly at all this grip is slightly angled so that the wrist does not fall perpendicular to the grip, but instead allows a natural extension of the arm. Keep the grip supple; choking the haft leads to stiff and clumsy techniques. Usually the grip is fairly soft until the moment of impact, at which point it becomes tighter and more secure.

If your wrist is bent at a sharp angle during a particular guard or cut, then chances are you’re doing it wrong. Generally the structure of the wrist and hand should be aligned without excessive flexion or extension of the wrist. Sharp wrist angles weaken one’s grip on the sword and afford opportunities for the opponent to use wrist locking movements.

Taking these points into account, we can now identify specific gripping methods to which we might apply them.

The Orthodox Grip

The leftmost plate in the series depicts what we would generally describe as the orthodox grip for the longsword. In this grip the lead hand is close to the crossguard, with the thumb just touching/overlapping the guard slightly.

The rear hand can either grip the pommel, or hold the grip just above the pommel itself. Which particular grip you use depends on your personal style and preference. However gripping the pommel usually permits easier winding and levering movements of the blade, while gripping the haft above the pommel seems to improve cutting alignment in larger cuts. As with all grips, a firm but gentle hold is in order for the gripping of the pommel. Dobringer, the 15th century fencing master, advocates the use of the grip above the pommel for strong cuts, suggesting it makes cuts faster by creating a balanced pendulum action saying “And you will also strike harder and truer, with the pommel swinging itself and turning in the strike you will strike harder than if you were holding the pommel. When you pull the pommel in the strike you will not come as perfect or as strongly.”

The cutting motion for major cuts with the orthodox grip should use a levering action. The lead hand becomes a moving fulcrum for our lever and the rear hand imparts the force by drawing the pommel in opposition to the lead hand. This means that the rear hand is really doing all of the work of turning the blade, while the lead hand casts forward and creates a solid centre of rotation for our cut. While cutting the wrists should be rolled inward so that they’re pushing it from behind; this prevents the wrists from bending on impact and avoids losing control of the sword. It also helps keep correct alignment of the blade.

Throughout the acceleration phase of the cut the grip should be supple on the hilt, if cutting through the target the grip will firm at the point of impact, while if cutting “to the point” (that is to say halting the blade with the point in line with the target), there will be a notable tightening which almost “snaps” into position to lock the grip and arrest the motion of the blade.

The Thumbed Grip

The thumbed grip is seen more often in German longsword techniques than in other longsword arts. Most often it is used for cuts which use rotation involved in crossing or uncrossing the arms. These are largely known as “crooked cuts” because they allow angles of attack which are off centre or not in line with the basic cutting lines.

In the thumbed grip the front hand holds the blade with the fingers while the thumb itself is pressed against the forte of the blade to create a rigid rotational structure. The thumb should usually be facing inward toward the sword wielder, rather than outward at odd angles, during a thumbed cut or block.

The rear hand in the thumbed grip is most often seen on the pommel, though this is just a general guideline and a haft grip can be used if preferred.

The Ball & Socket Grip socketGripThis rather unusual grip is seen in Meyer in situations requiring the pommel of the sword to be moved around with maximum freedom. In this grip the lead hand is in the orthodox position, but the rear hand is held over the pommel forming a kind of ball-and-socket joint which allows unmatched dexterity in manipulating the pommel. This grip is seen in techniques which rely on winding or manoeuvring the blade using the pommel. It provides a fairly poor structure for normal cuts, but for winding and pivoting movements it is an excellent alternative to the orthodox position.

Crossed Hands Grip crossedGripThe crossed hands grip is essentially the orthodox or thumbed grip just performed with the wrists crossed. When at the extremes of motion the crossed hands grip may require the pommel to be held quite loosely with the rear hand in order to maintain good wrist structure.