Zornhau

"Your martial art is all very well, but it's useless against somebody not fighting within the system...(Oof!)"

I've heard it many a time on the reenactment circuit - albiet without the resounding exhalation of breath as 4 ft of steel buries itself in the speaker's chest. It is, of course, bollocks for German Longsword and its cousins.

Granted, some duelling-orientated sword fighting systems may also reflect complex social customs and niceties, but the Medieval martial arts traditions existed and evolved in a brawling free market of ideas. If North Bratislavian Slugfechten got you killed, people would stop learning it.

In fact the truth is quite the opposite of the opening quote: it's a lot easier to fight people who don't know your system.

Generally, when we DDS "Marxbruder" face off, we each know what the other will try to do. I'm thinking: "I'll Zornhau and Take Off," and he's thinking ""He'll Zornhau and Take Off." What you end up with is a lot of smart ass moves, aborted attacks, and techniques jammed at half-cock before they go off.

Until tonight, that is.

The_Hat and I started with edgy tricks and counter-tricks, and collided doing some of the obvious moves. Then something clicked. We clambered to the top of nearly 3-years of study and plunged into an atavistic bath of technique, which is to say that towards the end, we flowed. Nothing was predicable because, at last, there were simply too many choices.

The_Hat fought like a dream, and together we wallowed in ersatz murderous play for what felt like hours, but was mere minutes.

And, the blades didn't dance like in some crap fantasy where each of charactyr namys sports a Y" and the races have a'postrophes. Nor did we probe for openings, see one and go for it - whatever the hell that is supposed to mean.

Rather, the steel flowed and whirled, like nightmare leaves spiralling through a haunted ruin by the light of forgotten moons.

Oh, I scored a hit with a Kurtzhau. :)

The thing about swords by Mark Vickers (St George Armoury) is that they feel real – and I should know, since I’ve handled originals. Better yet, they sing for at least a minute after combat.

I bought a greatsword with a 40-inch blade. Beats the heck out of buying a Harley Davidson and growing a 'tache...

Somebody over at absolutewrite kicked off a thread on useful information for writing Fantasy combat.

Way back in the 80s, a friend of a friend mine was walking across Edinburgh's Meadows one night, and was jumped by "casuals" - think updated versions of the old 60s Mods. 

Being a martial artist, he thought "I'll throw in a few punches while I work out WTF to do."

I broke two swords last night. 

We modern swordsmen ask a lot of our weapons. However, I doubt a real knight's sword could have been the much-loved mojo object beloved of Fantasy and Legend. Don Pero Nino - for example - regularly finished his battles with his blade looking like a meat saw. Sooner or later a sword ends up in the bin, or - if it's the Middle Ages - perhaps tarted up on a church wall.  There really is no way around this.

 

It's frankly terrifying spending so much cash on ebay, especially when a sword may turn out to have been "repaired" in such a fashion as to make it unusable, but here, for better or for worse is my as-yet-to-be-delivered 1822 Pattern Infantry Sergeant's Sabre. A few weeks from now, I shall be fighting with a real as in historical weapon!

( See the pretty smitey thing... )

An amazing session last night!

Last week, we got the hang of Traveling After - a neat technique where your blow lands after the other chap misses, or as he pulls back for the strike - see right - with hilarious results.

That was dead easy. 

Unfortunately, we then wasted an hour wrestling with Tobler's (modern) interpretation of Outer Taking... a cunning extension of the Traveling After which ends up with your sword buried in the other fellow's head etc.

The snag was, that we couldn't make it work consistently. 

While preparing for this week, I checked other historical sources. And, guess what? I found a better description in Goliath (www.schielhau.org), plus an illustration! 

Tobler's version does work of course, but you need the just the right set up, and the Devil's own timing - not what you expect in core technique. 

I call this "Jedi Syndrome"; in a nutshell, "A good swordsman can make all sorts of crap work, but that doesn't make it good technique".

So, now, Kurtzhau - aged nearly 3 - knows how to displace an Oberhau with halfsword, and then pivot in and deliver a blow with the pommel.

So, Kurtzhau - aged nearly 3 - and myself are exchanging manly strokes of the longsword. 

My little son unleashes a fierce assault, battering at my knees like a miniature flail tank. 

The blades a little bendy, so I shift my left hand to the blade.

Kurtzhau stops. "Not like that Daddy! It's a sword!"

Me: "It's a legitimate technique."

Kurtzhau: "No Daddy. You not hold it like that."

Me: "OK. Why don't we look in a bishbash book to see if it's OK."

Kurtzhau nodds. "Yes. That's a good idea, Daddy."

So, I take down my copy of Talhoffer. Looking solemn, Kurthau joins me, and we're both lieing on our tummies on the hearth rug, examining the book like seasoned swordspeople. 

Pretty soon, I find an illustration*.

*Actually, not quite this one, for obvious reasons. It's funny how swords are OK - you can buy them at the PC early learning centre - but guns are horrid. If you leave off considering the technique in the above picture, it shows a pretty gruesome pair of combat outcomes.

"Here you are", I say. "These men are holding the sword by the blade. It's works as long as you're very careful. It's called halfsword. So, am I allowed to do it?"

Kurtzhau considers. "Yes Daddy. You hold blade." He bounces to his feet, hands me my sword. "We bish bash now."

And, we do just that.

A nice bit of Talhoffer's 15th-century halfsword work, lifted from www.schielhau.org. 

Three things are immediately obvious:

• You can grip the swords by the blade.
• Nevertheless, the swords are sharp.
• My eyes are watering.

You'll also note that where the right hand remains on the grip, it's pointing the correct direction, with the thumb towards the blade.

God's Teeth!

Good thing we can't see the chap's face. WTF does he think he's doing? He can't land a proper cut from that position. He's got precious little leverage, so not only can't he use the point properly or defend himself, he's also at risk of the sword being knocked off to hit some other fighter.

When I see reenactors fighting like this I mostly hit them lots and lots.

Seriously, there's no provenance for this guard. It only 'works' under certain unrealistic reenactment combat rules. Please don't use it on the field or in fiction.

For an idea of real longsword play, see www.schielhau.org.

Some things are just beautiful. Like the Battle Abbey Sword.


It's deadly, simple, subtly decorate... perfect. I can't press my nose to the display case without wanting to close my fingers around the well worn grip.

You just know that - with your body behind it - the point should punch through mail, padding, cheap plate even. And the diamond-section blade should be stiff enough to take off limbs and break bones through mail, parting the rings as it slices.

In times of trouble, I limp up the back stair of the National Museum of Scotland and listen to the sword's secret siren song of steel and mahyem.

Update: Here's the Battle Abbey sword's grandchild in action in the hands of yours truly:

It's Friday!

“What the greatest swordsman fears most is the unpredictable unskilled opponent – the enthusiastic ignorant..”

Note, "unskilled opponent", not "suicidal unskilled opponent" or "naturally talented opponent with no formal training, who’s survived long enough to make up his own martial art" .

God knows where this glorious piece of folk wisdom comes from, but people keep quoting variations of it at me. Years ago, when I was lamentably unskilled and unpredictable, I put it to the test.( Read more... )