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icarusFirst posted on The Barrow-downs as 'Marileagorifurnimaluim.' Yes. And those of you who've seen my email, that's 'Maril' for short.
As you can well imagine there's a lot to swordfighting. For those of you interested - whether you're sick and bloodthirsty or needing a bit of realistic info for fantasy stories, here are few basics of two-handed broadsword fighting.
Note I say Two-Handed. These swords are heavy. Use one hand and you drop it. One hand is up by the cross of the pummel, the other is lower, by the base of the grip. You are literally pulling this lead-heavy chunk of metal with one hand, while the other is pushing, to get that swing. They're sooo bloody long, it's like fighting with a 50 lb. broom handle (though no, it's not 50 lbs.).
Obviously there's offense and defensive moves.
Let's Attack!
The offense is much simpler than the defense. So we'll start with the Offensive moves.
These all have their own technical terminology, but I'll avoid that here for bloodthirsty clarity.
There are Cuts (that's actually the technical term this time).
There are Circular motions, windmilling. You saw Aragorn do a lot of that. Deadly, even though they travel a longer distance - it's hard to reverse the direction of a 5' swinging blade.
Cuts -
There are six Cuts. Why six?
Well there are two downward diagonal 'eyebrow to cheek' slices.
One to the left.
The other to the right.
There are two upward diagonal 'cheek to eyebrow' slices; right and left.
Then there's the good old fashioned 'head chop', left-to-right or right-to-left.
Of course you can do these up high at the head, mid-way to the body, or down low to wipe out the guy's legs.
The strokes to defend against these are basically the same, only higher or lower as needed; one type of stroke defends from comes at you from the left. Another protects your right.
The difference matters a lot when you're defending. There are different strokes to defend against each, so that you get the angle right. Get the defensive angle wrong, and all you do is deflect the blow to some other delicate part of your anatomy.
You winced just now, didn't you?
'Circles' -
Okay, the Circular 'windmill' moves slice up the human body in the same way, only you complete the motion in a full circle.
All strikes to the right side are counterclockwise; all strikes to the left are clockwise.
That diagonal downstroke, right-ear-to-left-shoulder that's counterclockwise (I mean your left and right, staring at your victim). Pick up a pencil. Strike the air with it in a spin. Of course it's counterclockwise. Nothing else would work would it?
The other side, left-ear-to-right-shoulder is clockwise.
90% of attacks are diagonal downstrokes to the right, right-ear-to-left-shoulder (left and right is from the attackers point of view). Because most people are right-handed. And down is easier than up. Most people lead with this stroke automatically, too.
This means when you're defending, you're constantly defending your left.
Watch out for lefties. They're backwards. A left-handed hero has a double advantage. Not only do they attack from an unexpected direction, they are strongest defending their left side, where most people attack.
Then there's the diagonal upstroke upper cut to the chin or gut - circling (clockwise), left hip to right shoulder. Or the other way, right hip to left shoulder, (counterclockwise).
Coming soon: how the heck do I defend myself from this whizzing steel?
That said, time to Defend!
Parries -
Well you can just stick your sword out randomly and hope it a) Connects with what's coming at you and b) Doesn't just deflect it to someplace worse. Or you can know exactly what to do.
Three things are important -
Your grip.
Your stance.
And of course height, putting your sword high or low according to what's attempting to deprive you of your life.
Since everything's coming at your left anyways, let's defend the left!
Grip: left hand on top, by the hilts. Right hand by the base.
Stance: balanced, right knee forward, slightly bent.
Explaining the grip
Time to hold that pencil again. Put your left hand on top, right hand below, and defend your left.
See how your left arm is perfectly set to brace for a blow? And the pencil is angled away from you.
Now let's do the incorrect grip. Right hand on top, left below. Hold it up to defend the left.
Weak as a noodle, isn't it? Your right arm is awkwardly stretched across you, unbraced, easily bent, and yiiiiiiii your sword is angled toward you. A hard enough blow, and it could chop your own head off.
Explaining the stance
Why is this important? Because Wham! someone's gonna hit you with all they've got, and you want to keep your balance.
The knee's bent as a shock absorber.
You have your right knee forward to balance the chunk of metal you're holding to your left.
You have your bent knee forward because you want your weapon closer to their face. Heh. And having it back leans your whole body back, off-balance.
This move at shoulder height defends from someone trying to slice you like a pizza, 'left-eyebrow-to-right-cheek'. Lower, defends from the 'head chop' from the left. Way up high, protects from those axes of Lanniae's, or a vertical chop aiming to slice you in half.
Personal note: defense is good for two things - keeping life and limb intact, and giving you time to plan. But you want to defend as little as possible, unless you think you can wear your opponent out by sheer stamina. While you defend, that brick of metal weighing down your arms is getting heavier and heavier.. and you're getting slower, your breath is coming in gasps. And you've made no progress in winning.
Let's Do It
Okay all you bloodthirsty fiction writers and sword-fans, here's some more realistic info to chew on.
Now we switch grips (right hand on top, left on bottom) and do the same to the right. Your hands should be separated by several inches, depending on the length of your hilt.
Remember to switch your stance as well.
Yep, left knee forward, bent.
No, make sure your weight is forward, over that knee. When the shock hits, you want the force to carry to that knee, not your back leg, which will throw you backwards.
Defend!
Whoa! First time you have steel coming at you, you want to back off. You have to lean into it, like skiing.
Don't worry about it kid. Everyone leans back like that the first time. This goes against your every instinct for self-preservation. You feel like you're putting your face closer. You're really putting your only defense, that blade, closer.
Let's try again.
-- A downward diagonal cut to your right shoulder - Clang! Got it. Felt that to your elbows, did you?
-- Now don't hold it up straight up and down like that. Angle the point towards your opponent. Keep me back and on my toes.
-- A 'head-chop' to your neck (right side) - Clang! Got that, too. Yep slightly higher, just so.
-- A vertical slice-n-dice from above - Clang! Braced way up high. That's gonna take some practice, you're a little weaker, holding that weight up there. Remember that. Others will be too.
-- Now let's do a head chop to the right.. aaaand now the left.
Gotcha. You couldn't switch grips fast enough, could you? Aren't you glad I went slow?
*Maril leans on sword (remember to never do this by the way, dulls the blade)*
Generally, you will use only one of these two grips, always with your strongest arm on top. For obvious reasons. Most of you, it will be your right hand by the hilt.
A new Parry - the technical term is Tierce, let's call it Angled Parry
How do you defend your other side, without switching grips?
Angle -
Get out your swords (i.e. pencils) again. Something longer will help this time. Hold them out again as you have been, braced.
Now angle your sword diagonally (if you're right handed, right hand on top, you'll tip it to the left), until it's almost at a 90 degree angle, almost horizontal. The point is still up slightly. If your forearms touch, you've gone too far.
You'll feel it balance, suddenly your right arm will feel strong, braced, at this angle.
You also feel your balance has shifted.
Your stance is now all wrong.
The bigger the sword, the more important the stance. Naturally. You're balancing a heavier weight.
You're almost falling over to the side now.
We're gonna do this from the righties point of view (sorry, majority rules).
Stance -
Bring your right knee forward, bent.
Same knee as the side the side of the arm holding the sword.
Your left leg is back.
Now this position is naturally more awkward, weaker, less stable than the previous move. So your back foot position is vital to balance.
If you have your feet both pointed forward, a blow Will tip you, left or right. Mostly left. If your back foot is angled out, making a wide L, suddenly you find you're braced solidly again.
Now you have a Second Chance - Defend!
Head-chop from the left - Clang! Now ANGLE, step forward - shift that left foot -
Head-chop from the right - Clang!
You got it. Now get faster. (Gradually. Be exact.) No one strikes the same side twice in a row. Law of physics.
[ May 20, 2002: Message edited by: Marileangorifurnimaluim ]
As you can well imagine there's a lot to swordfighting. For those of you interested - whether you're sick and bloodthirsty or needing a bit of realistic info for fantasy stories, here are few basics of two-handed broadsword fighting.
Note I say Two-Handed. These swords are heavy. Use one hand and you drop it. One hand is up by the cross of the pummel, the other is lower, by the base of the grip. You are literally pulling this lead-heavy chunk of metal with one hand, while the other is pushing, to get that swing. They're sooo bloody long, it's like fighting with a 50 lb. broom handle (though no, it's not 50 lbs.).
Obviously there's offense and defensive moves.
Let's Attack!
The offense is much simpler than the defense. So we'll start with the Offensive moves.
These all have their own technical terminology, but I'll avoid that here for bloodthirsty clarity.
There are Cuts (that's actually the technical term this time).
There are Circular motions, windmilling. You saw Aragorn do a lot of that. Deadly, even though they travel a longer distance - it's hard to reverse the direction of a 5' swinging blade.
Cuts -
There are six Cuts. Why six?
Well there are two downward diagonal 'eyebrow to cheek' slices.
One to the left.
The other to the right.
There are two upward diagonal 'cheek to eyebrow' slices; right and left.
Then there's the good old fashioned 'head chop', left-to-right or right-to-left.
Of course you can do these up high at the head, mid-way to the body, or down low to wipe out the guy's legs.
The strokes to defend against these are basically the same, only higher or lower as needed; one type of stroke defends from comes at you from the left. Another protects your right.
The difference matters a lot when you're defending. There are different strokes to defend against each, so that you get the angle right. Get the defensive angle wrong, and all you do is deflect the blow to some other delicate part of your anatomy.
You winced just now, didn't you?
'Circles' -
Okay, the Circular 'windmill' moves slice up the human body in the same way, only you complete the motion in a full circle.
All strikes to the right side are counterclockwise; all strikes to the left are clockwise.
That diagonal downstroke, right-ear-to-left-shoulder that's counterclockwise (I mean your left and right, staring at your victim). Pick up a pencil. Strike the air with it in a spin. Of course it's counterclockwise. Nothing else would work would it?
The other side, left-ear-to-right-shoulder is clockwise.
90% of attacks are diagonal downstrokes to the right, right-ear-to-left-shoulder (left and right is from the attackers point of view). Because most people are right-handed. And down is easier than up. Most people lead with this stroke automatically, too.
This means when you're defending, you're constantly defending your left.
Watch out for lefties. They're backwards. A left-handed hero has a double advantage. Not only do they attack from an unexpected direction, they are strongest defending their left side, where most people attack.
Then there's the diagonal upstroke upper cut to the chin or gut - circling (clockwise), left hip to right shoulder. Or the other way, right hip to left shoulder, (counterclockwise).
Coming soon: how the heck do I defend myself from this whizzing steel?
That said, time to Defend!
Parries -
Well you can just stick your sword out randomly and hope it a) Connects with what's coming at you and b) Doesn't just deflect it to someplace worse. Or you can know exactly what to do.
Three things are important -
Your grip.
Your stance.
And of course height, putting your sword high or low according to what's attempting to deprive you of your life.
Since everything's coming at your left anyways, let's defend the left!
Grip: left hand on top, by the hilts. Right hand by the base.
Stance: balanced, right knee forward, slightly bent.
Explaining the grip
Time to hold that pencil again. Put your left hand on top, right hand below, and defend your left.
See how your left arm is perfectly set to brace for a blow? And the pencil is angled away from you.
Now let's do the incorrect grip. Right hand on top, left below. Hold it up to defend the left.
Weak as a noodle, isn't it? Your right arm is awkwardly stretched across you, unbraced, easily bent, and yiiiiiiii your sword is angled toward you. A hard enough blow, and it could chop your own head off.
Explaining the stance
Why is this important? Because Wham! someone's gonna hit you with all they've got, and you want to keep your balance.
The knee's bent as a shock absorber.
You have your right knee forward to balance the chunk of metal you're holding to your left.
You have your bent knee forward because you want your weapon closer to their face. Heh. And having it back leans your whole body back, off-balance.
This move at shoulder height defends from someone trying to slice you like a pizza, 'left-eyebrow-to-right-cheek'. Lower, defends from the 'head chop' from the left. Way up high, protects from those axes of Lanniae's, or a vertical chop aiming to slice you in half.
Personal note: defense is good for two things - keeping life and limb intact, and giving you time to plan. But you want to defend as little as possible, unless you think you can wear your opponent out by sheer stamina. While you defend, that brick of metal weighing down your arms is getting heavier and heavier.. and you're getting slower, your breath is coming in gasps. And you've made no progress in winning.
Let's Do It
Okay all you bloodthirsty fiction writers and sword-fans, here's some more realistic info to chew on.
Now we switch grips (right hand on top, left on bottom) and do the same to the right. Your hands should be separated by several inches, depending on the length of your hilt.
Remember to switch your stance as well.
Yep, left knee forward, bent.
No, make sure your weight is forward, over that knee. When the shock hits, you want the force to carry to that knee, not your back leg, which will throw you backwards.
Defend!
Whoa! First time you have steel coming at you, you want to back off. You have to lean into it, like skiing.
Don't worry about it kid. Everyone leans back like that the first time. This goes against your every instinct for self-preservation. You feel like you're putting your face closer. You're really putting your only defense, that blade, closer.
Let's try again.
-- A downward diagonal cut to your right shoulder - Clang! Got it. Felt that to your elbows, did you?
-- Now don't hold it up straight up and down like that. Angle the point towards your opponent. Keep me back and on my toes.
-- A 'head-chop' to your neck (right side) - Clang! Got that, too. Yep slightly higher, just so.
-- A vertical slice-n-dice from above - Clang! Braced way up high. That's gonna take some practice, you're a little weaker, holding that weight up there. Remember that. Others will be too.
-- Now let's do a head chop to the right.. aaaand now the left.
Gotcha. You couldn't switch grips fast enough, could you? Aren't you glad I went slow?
*Maril leans on sword (remember to never do this by the way, dulls the blade)*
Generally, you will use only one of these two grips, always with your strongest arm on top. For obvious reasons. Most of you, it will be your right hand by the hilt.
A new Parry - the technical term is Tierce, let's call it Angled Parry
How do you defend your other side, without switching grips?
Angle -
Get out your swords (i.e. pencils) again. Something longer will help this time. Hold them out again as you have been, braced.
Now angle your sword diagonally (if you're right handed, right hand on top, you'll tip it to the left), until it's almost at a 90 degree angle, almost horizontal. The point is still up slightly. If your forearms touch, you've gone too far.
You'll feel it balance, suddenly your right arm will feel strong, braced, at this angle.
You also feel your balance has shifted.
Your stance is now all wrong.
The bigger the sword, the more important the stance. Naturally. You're balancing a heavier weight.
You're almost falling over to the side now.
We're gonna do this from the righties point of view (sorry, majority rules).
Stance -
Bring your right knee forward, bent.
Same knee as the side the side of the arm holding the sword.
Your left leg is back.
Now this position is naturally more awkward, weaker, less stable than the previous move. So your back foot position is vital to balance.
If you have your feet both pointed forward, a blow Will tip you, left or right. Mostly left. If your back foot is angled out, making a wide L, suddenly you find you're braced solidly again.
Now you have a Second Chance - Defend!
Head-chop from the left - Clang! Now ANGLE, step forward - shift that left foot -
Head-chop from the right - Clang!
You got it. Now get faster. (Gradually. Be exact.) No one strikes the same side twice in a row. Law of physics.
[ May 20, 2002: Message edited by: Marileangorifurnimaluim ]
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no subject
Date: 2004-01-04 01:49 am (UTC)But what you forgot to mention is this: Broad Sword fight is furious and short- the damn thing is heavy, you are heavy (covering in protective armour) and the adreline is rushing through your veins.
It was not uncommon for people to fight for a total of maybe 5 minutes before stopping, tootired to move. Most cuts were done when the engaged enemy was too tired to defend himself.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-04 03:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-04 11:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-04 10:29 pm (UTC)Both facinating and amusing.
However, as I'm about 5'3", I think I'll stick to fencing and light blade. ;)
no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 08:06 pm (UTC)... I've only picked up an epee once in my life. For about five minutes. This is all from researching 16th century texts (and a vivid imagination).
Hey. I can visualise other things besides sex.
Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 08:08 pm (UTC)Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 08:12 pm (UTC)I'm also surprised to hear from the fencers on my f-list. My best friend Anna was a fencer (not to bad either) but I never was. This is partially from my hanging out waiting for her during her lessons (the fencing instructor had something of a 'name'), but mostly from researching 16th century texts on the subject.
And a vivid imagination. But I'm very pleased that I got it (though I already knew that from when this was posted at the Barrow-downs. I heard from the sword-fans there, too).
Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 08:14 pm (UTC)I'm not a fencer, this all from my imagination. But it worked.
Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 09:37 pm (UTC)Now, that is an imagination- and I still salute you. your research skills are non pareil, to be so very descriptive.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 09:55 pm (UTC)All gone now though. I've learned: always save a Word copy of interesting stuff on the internet.
Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 11:55 pm (UTC)especially for a snowy night!
no subject
Date: 2004-01-07 12:06 am (UTC)Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-01-07 08:47 am (UTC)Will have to try that one at work sometime soon. ;)