The combatant on the left (Blue) has just completed a Clashing Blow to his opponent's (Red's) left ear. The Clashing Blow is one of the secondary blows in the medieval German longsword tradition and is a false-edge cut delivered horizontally across the attacker's body, with hands held high to protect the head.

An example of the use of the Clashing Blow is described in a combat sequences in Joachim Meyer's 1570 fight manual. Earlier in the sequence, Blue delivered a feint to Red's right side. Red took the bait and stepped to his left and brought his sword down to his right to avoid and to suppress the blow that he thought was coming to that side. But instead of cutting to Red's right, Blue delivered a Clashing Blow to Red's left, a quick and powerful blow delivered in a corkscrew-like motion. Red, having responded to the feint, is in a poor position to defend. His body is fully exposed. In stepping away from the feint, he has stepped directly into Blue's attack. And Red's sword is in a useless position near the floor. In competitive combat, Blue's blow would hit Red's head. For the Guild's public demonstrations, Red throws himself to the side and brings his sword across to his left in order to block so that the demo doesn't come to a premature conclusion.

Meyer describes the feint and following blow in his manual as follows:

Strike him (yet such that your hands remain up) with the inward flat at his lower right opening; and as soon as he slips after to parry, then do not let it hit, but pull back up, and strike a Clashing Blow at his left ear; and, in this stroke let the blade swing deep in overhand, and withdraw yourself thus swiftly away from him.

The Clashing Blow seems to be named explicitly only in Meyer's manual, although earlier German fight manuals commonly use it. Meyer illustrates a Clashing Blow in his manual in Plate N:

In the photo, Blue is wearing clothing in the style of the last quarter of the 15^th century, while Red is wearing mid to late 14^th century style clothing.

The combatants are using modern reproductions of the practice longswords used during the medieval era. The blades are thicker than normal to withstand the abuse of practice, but are cut down in width to maintain a reasonable weight and balance. Illustrations in Meyer's manual show the practice weapons in use.

The Guild's practice longswords are based on a surviving pair in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and are manufactured by Arms and Armor. They weigh just under 3lbs (1.3kg).

Translation ©2001-2010 Dr. Jeffrey L. Forgeng