Posted on 09/16/2008 10:08:51 PM PDT by Ramius
Sword Post 2:
Woohoo! It’s time for Tuesday night Sword Pron!
Today’s topic: Guards.
“Guards” are essentially stances. They’re places to start and places to end. They are ways to hold the sword to begin fighting, and curiously enough, most of the strikes that one will take with a sword are merely a progression from one “guard” or “hut” to another.
To wit:
There are 4 basic guards. Since the vast majority of the surviving source material is in German, they are named in German. The picture is from a 14th century Fechtbuch (fight book). They are (in the order of the picture: “Alber” (fool), “Vom Tag” (from the roof), “Ochs” (Ox), and “Pflug” (plow). These were the four taught by master Leichtenauer in the 14th century. Leichtenauer is pretty much the reference standard for European Longsword. Later masters almost always referenced him as the first original source.
The guards are symmetric… that is… there are left foot forward and right foot forward, left or right hand analogues of each guard, with the sword on either the right or left side.
Alber
The fool. Called this, most think, because it baits the unknowing opponent into thinking that with the sword low they are open to an easy attack. Don’t get stuck on stupid. Alber is possibly one of the best defensive postures to take. And an awesome offensive posture too. One of my favorites. It’s a killer.
Vom Tag
From the Roof. This guard actually includes many variations of the “high” guard. It can be up over one shoulder, as well as being up high over the head. The essence of it is that the sword is cocked back overhead, usually over a shoulder. This is the most powerful place to start a downward strike. Of course.
Ochs
The Ox. A wonderfully versatile guard. I’ve found in practice and sparring that I end up in Ochs much of the time, and both left-hand and right-hand. There’s lots of good strikes that end up in Ochs, and lots of good strikes that start in Ochs. So… it’s a very useful place to be.
Pflug
The Plow. A middle guard with the sword pointed at the opponent. Hands near the hips and sword pointed up toward the opponent’s face. A natural starting place, but not a strong place to strike from, other than the lunge forward.
A fifth guard, not in Leichtenauer: Nebenhut.
The tail guard. An additional guard, found in later studies than Leichtenauer, but well preserved. This is a wonderfully useful guard. Many strikes end up in Nebenhut. It gives the illusion of vulnerability, like Alber, since the blade is back and pointed away from the adversary and yet it is a very powerful place to strike from, especially with the short-edge of the blade. There is a powerful Unterhau (under strike) and of course a powerful Oberhau (over strike) from this position.
Next, we’ll do a short class on Unterhau, Oberhau, and Meisterhau. (Under strikes, Over strikes, and Master strikes).
Preview: A “Meisterhau” is a “master stroke” and it is defined as being at once offensive and defensive at the same time. It is a strike that defends first.
LOL... you’re right about Silver. Didn’t like Italians much, at all. :-)
What’s interesting about Silver to me is his discussion of the “times”. The “time” of the hand, body, foot. It’s his commentary on body mechanics that I think is interesting and very useful.
There are certain universals in swordplay, regardless of the weapon in hand. Time, measure, position, balance, leverage, etc. Silver’s system is a very effective synthesis of those elemental concepts. However, they can be used just as well with a rapier or a longsword as with Silver’s sidesword.
See also Giacomo DiGrassi’s comments on body mechanics.
Thank you for your information. However, I am interested in the real thing...an authentic medieval sword or other weaponry.
My son has quite a collection of good quality reproduction swords. They are nice to look at but just don’t turn me on much.
Albion makes very good reproductions. They are a great bunch of guys, and I would agree that you will get your moneys worth buying from them. They also do a lot of fantasy stuff and one of their workers (can’t remember his name...) does very good quality helms. My son and I were graciously granted a factory tour last spring. You medieval enthusiasts would love these guys! They look like they just leapt out from medieval times... :)
If you get up near New Glarus, Wisconsin be sure to drop in...New Glarus is a great little town in it’s own right as well.
Oh, one last thing, for the interested, Albion does a lot of the movie swords...they have quite a list of movies they provided swords for. Some are big money movies.
bttt
I used to be a member of ARMA, it’s a great historic European martial arts org.
Maybe the best.
“European martial arts org”
On another forum there was a discussion if there was a medieval martial arts form. Is that what you are describing or is this organization just for weapon play? There is a huge pent-up demand for Christian/European based Martial Arts as oppose to the Taoic based Asian Martial Arts. Medieval soldiers must of have developed hand to hand combat skills just like the Eastern Asians.
Oh and thank you for the link. I was looking into taking up Fencing by summer time (after I start ballroom lessons), but I may look at this instead if they have a group in DFW.
Yep.
The DFW group is one of the best in the nation.
Please add me to your sword Pinglist.
Thank you.
Done. (it’s a fairly low-volume pinglist, but every now and then there’s a good thread).
Thanks! Yes, I’m an ARMA member, but only for a little over a year now. I’m still very much a novice, but I’m getting better. :-)
Nice ... add me to the ping list .... your illustrations look like my 15th century Gothic two hander.
Good weapon under 300 and much FASTER than anyone thinks.
Schweet. Added.
bttt
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bkmk
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