Vier Versetzen
The Four Displacements
Not to be confused with simply Versetzen (parrying).
15th Century
The Vier Versetzen describes how specific guards from the Vier Leger should be opposed by the cuts.
There is much debate about what is meant by "breaking", specifically it could mean:
- When an opponent stands statically in a guar position using this recommended cut brings them out of that guard while still remaining covered.
- When a opponent enters a guard position as part of another movement the fencer should immediately chase them (see Nachreisen) with the particular cut to force them to rush a defence.
- When a opponent executes an attack from the guard position the fencer should use the recommended cut to simultaneously parry and counter.
In free-play a combination of these typically obtains. Some find that the first of the three breakings (against Ochs, Vom Tag, and Pflug) work best as oppositions to an attack launched from a given guard position, while the fourth (Alber) works best as the person moves into Alber as a kind of chasing.
The notion that we are opposition attacks directly from the Vier Leger lends credence to the argument that when told the guards should not be unknown to us, it is in fact referring not simply to knowing the guards ourselves, but knowing when and how opponents typically launch attacks from these guards.
The specific oppositions between guards and cuts are:
This section also contains advice on parrying and on being parried.
16th Century
There is no exact analogue of the Vier Versetzen found in Meyer, however the same oppositions are found embedded within the broader text.
