Tuesday, 08 June 2004
Advanced Techniques for Arming Sword and Heater ShieldJust as most techniques in the fencing manuals are not the basics, (most) of these are not the basic techniques with this weapon combination, but ones to give you a better, fuller repertoir. As master Vadi said, "He who knows many strokes brings poison with him, he who knows little encounters much trouble, and in the end is conquered."
Skilled shield use has been conspicuously absent in the historical martial arts community as compared to the single sword, but it's one of the most representative weapons styles of the early western martial arts. I think that for too long, historical fencers have "gotten by" with shield use exploring the aspects that are illegal within sport or play organizations, giving them the advantage so to speak, but result in inferior technique otherwise, "between the neck and the knees". Many of these techniques are methods you can use and build on for getting around the shield, rather than striking above and below it. The more techniques you know, the more formidable any martial artist will be. The following is a list of aspects of this weapons style that may be useful in certain situations, or give you a starting point for principles you may not have explored in this context. Many are by no means common techniques, but they may give you ideas for options aside from cutting the lower leg and head indes. The usefulness of some may of course change depending on blade form and armours. These are all assumed to be vs a like weapon combination.
On the shield, binding, or winding on the shield.
Strike a zornhau or true edge zwerch to your opponents head, at or above his eyes. When he defends, do not twitch or recover, but leave your blade on his shield. As he recovers, thrust into his face. Depending on his recovery, immediately wind into ochs and thrust to his face.
Left side round strike.
Go to a hanging parry on your left while traversing to your left. This may be a defense or a simple coverta. Turn at the hip while bringing your hilt to your hip, and cut to his right thigh. This should result in a fluid and powerful cut.
Left side striking thrust
This is very similar to the previous technique. Do it the same, but cut vertically with your point into his body. Once your blade hits, thrust into his belly.
Cutting under the shield
Step in very close to him, checking inside his sword with your shield, and checking his shield with your hilt. Punch just inside his shield with your shield rim, making a small upward looping motion. Simultaneously, make a tight round strike with your true edge, cutting steeply under his sheild with a shortened unterhau. This should result in a cut to his elbow, or a cut to his armpit. Immediately recover via a strong slice to his side or armpit.
This also works well to circle your point to pflug inside his shield and thrust to his body.
Pinning the shield
Close quickly, covering your left with your shield. Punch his shield, pinning it to his chest with your shields rim. Simultaneously cut to his lower leg, or cut his head with a true edge zwerch hau or thrust to his face, on his shield side.
Taking the shield
Pass and traverse around his shield side, covering your left with your shield and a hanging parry. (You may or may not need to drop one or both of your weapons) With your left hand, grip the upper forward or rearward corner on his shield. With your cross or right hand, grip the bottom corner of his shield. Rotate his shield quickly and forcefully counter clockwise. If you turned it with your cross, finish with a roundstrike from your left to his neck. This should result in an arm lock, and is good when he binds you closely with his shield or attempts to push you with it.
False and cut to the arm
This technique works well on those who defend their head above their shield by using a hanging parry.
False a zornhau to his head. As he goes into hengen, pause your strike in vom tag, then cut his arm.
If this doesn't incapacitate him, immediately shield strike with your rim into an elbow push against his sword arm, then roundtrike to his neck from your left or thrust into him from ochs.
Coverta with the sword/Shield hook
From zuefechten, thrust your point into the flat of the leading edge of his shield so that you are pinning it to him in long point. Pass forward, lifting your hilt into ochs, then covering yourself in hengen while taking over the pin with a shield strike with your rim. Free your point into a round strike, to pommel his face. From here, strike down behind the upper rim of his shield with your pommel, tearing it downwards while placing your edge on him. Follow with a hilt strike to the face, or a cut to the head.
Coverta with the sword to pin his weapon
This works well as an entry on those who lay in pflug or langen ort.
When his point is forward of his shield and along side it, place your sword against the outside of his, holding his blade against his shield edge. Leap forward, freeing your blade and pinning his more strongly with your shield edge, while moving into hengen on your left. Round strike to his exposed right of his head or neck. Or, move into ochs instead of hengen and thrust to his face.
Arm break with the sword and shield
Move into him using a zornhau. As he defends it with his shield, move in, pinning his shield with your hilt. When he seeks to strike your head, defend it by catching his wrist with the cron, on your cross/ricasso, with your point to the left. Your forearm will now be checking his shield. Use your cross to push his wrist to the left, while using a shield strike against his elbow to the right. This should disarm his sword. Follow it by disengaging your hilt to result in an elbow push with the shield.
Plunging cut
The false edge oberhau or falso fendente cuts at a steep angle, allowing it to bypass many defenses.
Strike a zornhau to his head, while slightly closing the distance. Recover through a hengen position on your left up to vom tag, cutting vertically downward again, rotating it into a plunging cut with the false edge. If this falls short but strikes his defense or upper shield rim, thrust into his face.
If you are body to body, you can use this cut to any available target (head, neck or hamstring/back of the knee) while pinning his shield to his chest with a shield strike.
In the close range context, I think it needs special mention, as this cut may be recognizable by some as the infamus SCA "wrap strike", and it shouldn't be dismissed as such, but it is simply a very close range false edge cut, good for bypassing his defense, and the only way to deliver a percussive cut to an upper body (if not any) target so closely. Depending on your target and your skill with this strike, it may be far more useful to grapple, hilt or shield strike, or strike up his heels, etc. Generally you'll be able to do something more effective, but as with any technique, it has its time and place, and shouldn't be casually discarded.
Hilt strike and face cut
If you bind or are close to him, strike the leading edge of his shield to your left with your cross, in a motion as if you were striking the left side of his jaw with your pommel. Your sword should be protecting the left side of your head. If you can, hook the top of his shield down slightly with your cross as you sweep it to the left. Immediately cut back along the same angle across his face, drawing out your cut with a shnitt.
Changing a cut to a thrust
Move as if your were going to cut him from above with a zornhau. As he moves to defend, use the cut to whip your sword into ochs, and thrust to his face without pause in your motion. This takes practice to become accurate.
Shield strike to the sword arm
If he cuts from above with his true edge, trying to overwhelm you, defend with your sword in hengen or cron, and strike upwards against his wrist with your shield edge, then cut to his arm.
Another shield strike to the arm
If he cuts at you vertically or from his left, defend with your sword, point up, and punch to your right with your shield edge against his wrist or forearm, stepping forward to your left.
Spreading his defense
Attack with a zwerchhau from your right (true or false edge) and then left, and then cut vertically downwards, between his sword and shield, with your point. Whether it strikes him or not, immediately thrust.
Kick
When you defend an attack to your upper left opening, immediately kick with whichever leg is best to do so against his lower leg, target of choice. Or use a thrusting kick to his lower body or the bottom (weak) of his shield, followed by a cut to his upper openings.
Feint
False a cut to his upper left opening of his head. As he recovers, immediately strike again to the same target with a true edge zwerchhau. This is basic but I thought it worth mentioning.
Duplieren
Strike to his head with a zornhau. When he defends, leave your sword on his shield. Immediately cut outward across his face along the top edge of his shield. If he feels you at his shield, raise your sword to ochs and cut outward and upward across his face, then downward to his leg
Hilt strike to the knee
When he cuts to your leg, step in and crouch, defending it with your shield, keeping your shield diagonally in front of you to check against a shield strike. Simultaneously strike to his kee with your hilt and recover quickly with a shield strike/push or a thrust into his upper openings as you rise.
Krumphau
If he attacks to your lower shield side opening, crouch and defend with the lower point of your shield, simultaneously cut his arm with a krumphau in front of your shield. This only works if he doesn't cover his arm.
Another method is to leap forward and to your right, attacking with a krump hau to his head, over his shield. |
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Monday, 05 January 2009
