Zornhau

15th Century

The 15th Century Zornhau is a tactical application of the Oberhau which is accompanied by several "Plays" describing subsequent fencing actions.

Application 1 - Zornhau

The fundamental opening to the Zornhau plays is described as a "simple peasant strike" (ie. a natural Oberhau) which is used to oppose an incoming Oberhau from the opponent. The cut is achieved without any explicit additional parrying, and cuts across the centreline and over the blade of the opponent.

Teacher	Student
Vom tag, left leg forward	Vomt tag, left leg forward, at measure
Cut an Oberhau to the upper left opening with a Passing Step of the right foot	As soon as the opponent is within range, cut an Oberhau with a turn of the hip, displacing the blade and ending with a Passing Step. The blade should either hit the opponent's upper left opening, or end on-point with the opponent, depending on interpretation and position.

16th Century

In Meyer's text this is written as the Zornhauw and is a more generic usage of a diagonal cut.