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Meyer 26r.1b Device Illustrating Attack,
Handwork, and Withdrawal
A (on the right) begins in Ox guard. B (on the
left) begins in Change guard.
A goes up High to deliver a cut to B's head.
B brings the sword up and around to deliver a Thwart cut. A
turns his high cut into a parry.
A tries to seize the
initiative, but before he can, B threatens first his face
and then his head. To defend, A must turn his cut into a
parry. Before contact is made, B
strikes around to deliver a Thwart to the other side of A's
head. A catches to parry.
A classic German longsword
technique is to attack first to one quarter, and then to
another. Here, B pulls her attack and cuts around to the
other side. B wrenches and delivers a Clashing
cut to A's head. A brings his blade up to catch.
B forces A's blade out of
position and uses the momentum to come around to deliver an
attack to A's head. Withdrawing, B delivers a Middle cut to A's neck. A and B
retreat into guards. In
the German longsword tradition, combatants are advised to
limit their exchanges to only a few maneuvers before
retreating into a guard to begin the fight again. B delivers
a cut to cover her retreat. Meyer 34v.2 Device from the Wrath Guard
B (on the left) begins in Ox guard. A (on the
right) begins in Wrath guard.
B delivers Middle cut. A catches with a
Hanging parry.
B tries to
seize the initiative before A can deliver the threatened
Wrath cut.
A winds under B's sword to threaten B's head.
B brings the point up to block, and A forces upward.
Instead, A seizes the
initiative back from B by winding, a classic German
longsword technique. As A winds in, B must follow or risk
complete loss of control of her blade.
A flips his sword down for a feinted blow at
B's side with the flat of the blade. Before the blade hits, A brings his
blade back up and delivers a Clashing cut to B's head. B
parries.
A's feint draws
B's defenses in entirely the wrong direction. In earnest
combat, it would be very hard for B to avoid being hit by
A's cut to the head. A and B retreat into guards. Meyer 61r.3 Example Concerning Grappling
A (on
the right) begins in Longpoint guard. B (on the left) begins in
Side guard.
A lets the blade sink and springs forward to deliver a
High cut to B's ear. B parries with an angled Middle cut.
A's High cut puts B on the
defensive right away and is a common opening gambit. A
lets the blade sink as if for a Low cut. B steps forward to
deliver a Middle cut. A ducks below B's cut, adopts Half-sword and presses his true edge against
B's forearms.
With this maneuver, A
completely changes the dynamics of the fight. He moves from
striking distance to grappling distance, with his sword
ready for close-in work, while B is still set up for
fighting at a distance.
A
winds in with the point at B's head. B forces her arms
upward to avoid this attack. A winds around to hook B's
left arm with his pommel. B releases her hand from the
pommel and grips the sword in the Half-sword position. B
shoots her pommel over A's right arm and forces A's blade
backwards and over his head. A must let go of his sword; the
alternative is falling over
or suffering a dislocated shoulder. B releases her hand from her hilt and
seizes A's sword. With her superior leverage, B can wrench
A's weapon away from him. |
