Royal Armouries I.33 Sword and Buckler Sequence (c.1300)
This sequence illustrates the basic attack and
defense from the earliest known European martial arts treatise,
Royal Armouries MS I.33, written in Germany during the high Middle
Ages.
Basic Attack
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Black (on the right) adopts
First Ward; Red (on the left) adopts Halfshield. |
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Black [steps out to Left]
falling under Red’s sword and shield [to bring sword in
position for a follow-up attack to the head or perhaps the arm
if the Red does not respond promptly]. |
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Red binds on top of Black’s
sword to close of his line of attack. |
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Red follows up by
pass-stepping forward to Black, delivering a shield-strike, and
cutting to Black’s head. |
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The counter to this sequence
begins as above. As Red passes forward, Black
passes back and counterbinds, bringing his own sword on top. |
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Black follows up with a shield-strike, [passing
forward], cutting to Red’s head. |
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