History UsefulNotes / HistoricalEuropeanMartialArts

** ''The Term 'Arming Sword':'' It is important to note that the term "Arming Sword" -- from the French espées d'armes -- did not come into use until the 15th century. This coincided with the natural evolution of armor and the accompanying change in both weapon choice and tactics. The descendants of the Viking sword, with a companion shield, served well into the late 13th century. Only at the very end of the Middle Ages did the sword transition from a main weapon to a side weapon. Similarly the terms "knightly sword" and "knight's sword" are retronyms.

* ''The Two-Handed Sword:'' The largest of the European sword types which ranged about 140-170 cm (55-67 in.) in total length and weighed 5-7 lb. Their straight, double-edged blades were about 100-130cm (40-50") long and often featured a ricasso with parrying hooks at the base, while their hilts were usually very large and featured grip lengths and cross-guard widths of about 45 cm (18 in) each on large examples. Because of its size it could only be practically wielded on foot using two hands. It was favored by elite mercenaries and bodyguards, as well as anyone facing multiple opponents. German Landsknecht mercenaries used the biggest versions, which were called ''"Zweihander"'' (two-hander) and weighed 7-8 lbs. The famous Scottish two-handed claymore (more properly called ''claidheamh dà làimh'' or "two-handed sword" to distinguish it from the one-handed Scottish basket-hilted broadsword) is also an example of this type.

* HammerHilt: Related to below. European swordfighting, especially in the German ''fechtbucher'', included half-swording techniques that involved gripping the blade and using the hilt as a warhammer.

* '''The Quarterstaff''': A SimpleStaff made of ash or some other hardwood, usually round in cross section and 6 to 8 feet (1.82-2.74 meters) long. George Silver calls this the "short staff". Joseph Swetnam, writing in 1615, distinguished between the "quarterstaff" of 7 or 8 feet (2.1 or 2.4 meters) and the "long staff" of 12 feet (3.7 meters). Despite what you usually see in Robin Hood movies, rather than being held with both hands in the middle and used to strike with either end, it was more effectively used with the lower hand on or near the butt end and the forward hand near the middle, and used for thrusting like a spear as well as for striking. Compared to the polearms of war with their points, edges, and [[BuffySpeak nasty bludgeony bits]], a mere wooden staff isn't as lethally efficient at inflicting harm, even if a well-placed thrust can poke out someone's eye or smash a couple of teeth. There's not much that it can do against significant armor, either. What it ''is'' useful for is brawling and self-defense, since compared to the restrictions on swords and pole weapons there's practically no jurisdiction where you aren't allowed to carry a walking staff, and the reach advantage over an attacker wielding a sword somewhat compensates for the reduced damage potential. The staff was also used as the main training weapon for other polearms, as the techniques learned on the staff translated equally well to spear, halberd, polehammer, and other more complex weapons. Silver went so far as to praise it as being one of the best weapons in his estimation.

* '''The Lance''': A kind of spear adapted to mounted use, usually at least 10-12 feet (3.04-3.66 meters) long, and the primary weapon of heavy cavalry. It was gripped in one hand near the butt end of the shaft and couched under the armpit before impact to prevent it from slipping back, in order to transfer as much of the force as possible into the enemy. The lance was used in the initial charge, but usually broke or became unwieldly once the melee was joined, in which the rider would discard it and draw a short weapon such as the sword or mace. In the Early and High Middle Ages there was not much difference between spears for use on foot and on horseback, except that the hoseman's lance could be a bit longer and heavier. By the 13th and 14th centuries, distinct features appeared such as a disc-shaped flange made of wood or leather near the butt end called a "graper" which helped to brace the shaft against the armpit, and a funnel-shaped metal handguard called the vamplate. Starting in the 14th century it became more common for heavy cavalry to dismount and fight on foot, in which case the lance could be chopped down to a shorter length such as six feet and used in two hands as a spear. By the fifteenth century the wooden shaft of heavy lances had a tapered profile that got thicker near the butt end, and had an hourglass-shaped handgrip; at the same time, more spear-like light lances continued to be used by light cavalry. In the late 14th century a lance arrest was added to the breastplate to brace the lance even better. From the mid-sixteenth century the lance had to compete with the wheelock, and after 1600 they were mostly discarded by cavalry in favor of sword and pistol.

* '''The Partisan''': A cut-and-thrust staff weapon with a double-edged triangular blade, often with two lugs or smaller blades at the base. These tend to be about eight feet (2.43 meters) long.
* '''The Musket and Bayonet''': Not necessarily the first thing people think of when they hear the phrase "historic polearms", the musket or rifle did actually function as a kind of spear when fitted with a bayonet. In the early days of pike and shot, musketeers were obliged to either use the butts of their weapons as clubs, or to fight back with a sidearm such as a sword. Bayonets were catching on by the second half of the 17th century; the early ones were "plug" bayonets with a handle that was inserted into the barrel, meaning that you had to give up the ability to fire bullets in order to turn your musket into a spear. Around the turn of the 18th century, the problems of mounting "socket" bayonets that fit under the muzzle had been ironed out, and European armies quickly abandoned the pike and halberd in favor of equipping all of their troops with muskets and bayonets. Fencing and drill masters have been instructing soldiers in the ways of fighting with the bayonet ever since; despite its ever-smaller tactical role and many changes in the form and use of the bayonet over time, it is still issued and taught in the 21st century.

Axes and maces were weapons of war, meant for use by men wearing armour or at least using a shield, but nobody carried around an axe or a mace to defend himself with in his street clothes because such weapons couldn't match the number of ways a sword could be used to butcher an unarmoured man, and were not self-sufficient in both attack and defence the way a sword was. A spear or similar polearm might beat a sword in an unarmoured fight using reach--at least provided it wasn't in some narrow alleyway or indoors where the spear would be too long--but nobody carried a spear for civilian self-defence either because they were treated as military weapons and their dimensions made them too cumbersome to carry about one's business. A sword in its scabbard could be worn comfortably at the hip on the same belt as one's purse and dagger. A self-defence weapon is only worthy of the name if you have it with you when you need it, and if your enemies surprise you on the road or in the street, your sword is a better weapon that your spear or your battleaxe if for no other reason than it's the one you happen to ''have''. It also goes nicely with the small shield called a buckler, which unlike a full-size shield is small enough to wear on a belt with your sword. If the sword was so well-suited to unarmored combat, it may seem strange that it was also worn by men in full armor who expected to fight their social and military equals, but it was good for a man in armor have a tool for cutting down the less protected foot soldiers, and even a mounted knight would be in trouble if his unarmored horse was wounded or if his reins were cut by his opponent's sword. Techniques using the point could pierce the gaps in armor, strikes with the pommel could have a mace-like concussive effect, and the sword could be used as a lever to wrestle an enemy to the ground. The sword may not have been specifically suited for every challenge, but as a JackOfAllStats the sword was so useful that there was little reason not to carry one.\\

** ''Sword and shield:'' Exact construction depended on the time period, but the shield was almost universally made of layered wooden planks faced with linen or leather. The rim could be either leather or iron. Early shields were held using a center grip in the manner of a buckler, with an iron boss to protect the hand. Later, leather straps called "enarmes" were used. Many shields could be carried on the shoulder using a sling called a "guige". Shield shape evolved and varied throughout the time period, from the round shields most common in the Migration Era and Early Middle Ages, to the kite shield with its elongated tip to protect the leg, to the classic knightly "heater" shield[[note]]so called because it's shaped like the bottom of a clothes iron[[/note]]. The increasing prevelence of plate armor had largely rendered the full-sized shield superfluous by the 15th century, so that it came to be rarely used except by specialized troops. Most fighters grew accustomed to using the longsword and other two-handed arms such as the halberd on the battlefield, and the easier-to-carry sword and buckler for personal defense off the field.

** ''The Term 'Arming Sword':'' It is important to note that the term "Arming Sword" - from the French espées d'armes - did not come into use until the 15th century. This coincided with the natural evolution of armor and the accompanying change in both weapon choice and tactics. The descendants of the Viking sword, with a companion shield, served well into the late 13th century. Only at the very end of the Middle Ages did the sword transition from a main weapon to a side weapon. Similarly the terms "knightly sword" and "knight's sword" are retronyms.

Most swords were worn in wooden-cored scabbards covered in fabric or leather and metal fittings, suspended from a sword belt of matching material with two straps to hold it at an angle. Right-handed people usually wore their sword on the left hip so they could draw it across the body, but Roman legionnaires always wore their swords on the right, and there are multiple medieval depictions of warriors wearing their swords on the sword-arm side. It can be more convenient to draw from your dominant side in some circumstances; for instance, if you are carrying a shield, drawing cross-body tends to either be slower or involve swinging the shield out of the way - a bad idea in combat for obvious reasons! In the late 16th and early 17th centuries when rapiers were at their longest, special "hanger" belts helped to keep them suspended low and at a more horizontal angle. By the mid 17th century it was common to wear rapiers, smallswords, and hangers tucked into a waist sash or held at the hip by a baldric across the shoulder. In the early 19th century, entirely metal scabbards became common for military swords such as sabers, which were more durable but not as good at keeping the edge sharp.\\

* '''The Ear Dagger''', with two ear-like projections on the butt of the handle.

While few people today are familiar with ''bloßfechten'' techniques, which were meant to be used on an unarmored or lightly armored adversary, even fewer are aware that there was a separate repertoire of techniques specifically for fighting a well-armored opponent. By the end of the 14th century--which is around the time when the first manuscript of Liechtenauer's verse is thought to have been created--full plate armor had developed to cover almost the entire body of the wearer. Full plate is basically impervious to strikes or cuts with the sword's edges, removing this from one's list of options. However, the longsword can do more than just cut. Not only does it have a point, but the crossguard and pommel are weapons as well. Better still, it is essentially a length of metal about four feet long that you can grip in several different ways and use as a short staff or spear to wind and compete for leverage, potentially setting your opponent up for a nasty fall.\\

* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTC_1HRgbuo Although the practicality of this technique is far more situational in real life than what the trope name would imply]]. While a sword ''could'' be thrown as a spear - and more easily than it would appear - it falls short of viability by virtue of the user losing their main weapon upon throwing it, in addition to the low velocity of the sword being easy to deflect at longer distances. At best, this would be a DesperationAttack with a RangedEmergencyWeapon, especially when facing against a ranged combatant.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Thibault was going to follow part one of his ''Academy of the Sword'' with a second part on cavalry, but died before he could finish it.

** Christians don't have a monopoly on their authorship either, since there are wrestling techniques in the Liechtenauer tradition credited to a wrestling master named "Jud Lew", or Lew the Jew.

As happens in so many other fields, media and popular belief lag behind the latest advances in expert knowledge. European swordsmen get a bad rap, though thankfully you'll occasionally find a work of fiction whose creators did a bit of research. In stark contrast, Eastern swordsmanship -- especially Japanese -- is given deific significance and abilities, with many people actually believing ludicrous urban myths that say a [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] is capable of [[ParryingBullets stopping a bullet]] or [[AbsurdlySharpBlade penetrating tank armour]]. While there is no doubt that such swords and their martial arts were and are formidable, their Western counterparts certainly match them in both potential and practice. Observant students of European and Japanese swordsmanship will also note a remarkable amount of similarity in the techniques utilized in both styles. To learn about the virtues of Japanese swordsmanship, see {{UsefulNotes/Kenjutsu}}; here we're going to talk about the Western tradition on its own terms.

* Strike in such a way that you close off their line of attack while hitting them with your own attack. If you attack first and keep the initiative, you fight in the "vor". If your opponent attacks you first, and your response is a move where you defend and attack in the same motion, you are fighting in ''indes'', which in this context means "in-the-moment".
* Void or parry your opponent's strike in a way that creates an opportunity for you to hit your opponent with a counterattack in the next moment, thus regaining the initiative. This is defending in the ''nach'' or "after".
* Void or parry in a way that merely neutralizes the immediate threat, without threatening your opponent or taking the initiative from him. (It is him who should be pushed into defensive.)

Liechtenauer's philosophy is based on taking the shortest possible path to victory and keeping up the pressure on your enemy with a proactive offense. There are no techniques in the manuals that are ''purely'' defensive in nature, as the Germans advocated either responding to an incoming attack with a move that contains a simultaneous defense and attack (in modern terms, a single-time counterattack), or responding with a defensive void or parry that enables one to follow up with an immediate counterattack (in modern terms, a double-time counterattack). Ideally, one strikes before the adversary, takes initiative and presses that advantage to end the fight quickly. This is called fighting in the ''vor'' or "before". However, this cannot be relied upon, so there are various techniques for binds[[note]]Whenever sword blades meet, be it for an instant or in the case of BladeLock[[/note]], voids[[note]]Dodges, essentially, although they can be as simple as stepping out rather than committing oneself to a hop[[/note]] and other occurrences. In any sword fight, the most "perfect" action to the least "perfect" action is as follows:\\
\\

Liechtenauer's philosophy is based on taking the shortest possible path to victory and keeping up the pressure on your enemy with a proactive offense. There are no techniques in the manuals that are ''purely'' defensive in nature, as the Germans advocated either responding to an incoming attack with a move that contains a simultaneous defense and attack (in modern terms, a single-time counterattack), or responding with a defensive void or parry that enables one to follow up with an immediate counterattack (in modern terms, a double-time counterattack). Ideally, one strikes before the adversary, takes initiative and presses that advantage to end the fight quickly. This is called fighting in the ''vor'' or "before". However, this cannot be relied upon, so there are various techniques for binds[[note]]Whenever sword blades meet, be it for an instant or in the case of BladeLock[[/note]], voids[[note]]Dodges, essentially, although they can be as simple as stepping out rather than committing oneself to a hop[[/note]] and other occurrences. In any sword fight, the most "perfect" action to the least "perfect" action is as follows:

If a fighter is overly defensive, and only wards off their opponent's blows without threatening them in return, Chritian Tobler notes that they will be vulnerable to feints. If you are attacking a person who is always trying to anticipate where you're going to strike so they can block that opening, then all you have to do is feint at an opening so that they move to defend there, but redirect your attack to instead strike a different opening which they've exposed in the process. If someone is attacking you, you want to make sure that your defensive move includes a threat towards your opponent which they will have no choice but to react to. This way they will not get a chance to attempt mind games or manipulation against you, and your knowledge of which techniques can counter the threat you're presenting will help you avoid being caught by surprise.

German swordsmanship also has a tendency to feature the false edge[[note]]On a double-edged sword, the false edge is the edge that faces yourself if held out in front of your body. The true edge is the one that faces the opponent. Sometimes, the "false" is called the "short" and the "true" is called the "long".[[/note]] as an offensive tool more often than its foreign equivalents. Generally, the true edge is a superior offensive tool, but the false edge is marvelous for sneak attacks and other, more tactical applications. For instance, one may employ the false edge under the assumption that their strike will be parried. If this is the case, one's hand is held differently to when a true edge strike is made, allowing for different options when it comes to binds and redoubled strikes.\\

* Strike in such a way that you close off their line of attack while hitting them with your own attack. In this case, your strike is both a deadly offense and indomitable defense. This is striking in ''indes'', which in this context means "in-the-moment".

Medieval combat experts such as Tobias Capwell and Roland Warzecha believe that Early Medieval civilizations such as the Vikings and Anglo Saxons must have had refined fighting techniques to match the finely crafted weapons which have been discovered by archaeology, but unfortunately we do not know and may not ever know for sure exactly how they fought. Tantalizing descriptions of combat appear in epic poetry and the sagas, but besides the fact that the sagas were composed long after the events they describe and may contain artistic license, they only offer glimpses without laying down a comprehensive and organized system. The fact that human biomechanics remain the same throughout history and that the form of weapons can offer clues about how to use them has encouraged many who seek to reconstruct Viking Era combat or high medieval sword and shield as an exercise in experimental archaeology. These groups and individuals have offered compelling theories about what such combat may have been like, but that is beyond the scope of this article. Instead, we will deal with the fighting systems for which we have actual instructive texts.

''work in progress''

Royal Armouries Manuscript I.33 (pronounced "one-thirty-three"), also known as the Walpurgis Fechtbuch, is a sword and buckler manual of anonymous authorship from Franconia, Germany and dates from ca. 1300. The manual is written in Latin with certain fencing terms in German, and consists of 64 pages illustrating wards, counters, and plays with sword and buckler between a priest and his student. The last part features a woman named Walpurgis demonstrating a certain counter, hence the alternate title. The instructions are for the most part clear and well organized, but there are some problems of interpretation. While the sword, buckler, and hand positions are clearly illustrated, accurate depiction of footwork and distance between the combatants is largely neglected by the artist. To some degree those details have to be conjectured from other period artwork as well as later manuals. There is nothing undeveloped or primitive about this system of fighting, and it has all the ingredients of the later systems: footwork, guards, counters, tempo, measure, techniques from the bind, a combination of cuts and thrusts, and integration of sword fighting with wrestling and unarmed combat,

The combatants wear simple robes with the hem tucked into their belts (so as to avoid tripping) and wield simple cross-hilted arming swords with round bucklers. The buckler may have a spike on it to make it more dangerous as a punching weapon. They wear thin-soled leather shoes, putting most of their weight on the balls of their feet. The correct stance is to start with one's feet about shoulder width apart and take a generous step back with the rear foot, sinking into a stable stance with both knees bent. The lead foot and knee face toward the opponent, while the back foot and knee are turned about forty-five degrees outward for balance. An attack is made with a passing step forward, where you bring your back foot into the lead position, and then turn your new back foot outward, all in one smooth motion. Like other forms of fighting, there are essentially three distances: close distance, where the opponents could hit each other without taking a step forward; wide distance, where you cannot reach your opponent without taking a step forward; and out of distance, which is any distance farther than that. Generally the combatants approach each other until they are in wide distance, at which point they adopt a ward or counter, and the ensuing attack or bind will bring them into close distance.

* '''Head (capiti)''', where the buckler is held out in front and the sword high above the head with the point back. This is chambered for a vertical descending strike.\\

There are also a series of defensive postures (obsessiones) each of which is used to counter one of the seven wards by defending against the most obvious attack from that ward, and usually allowing an advantageous attack . The first example is Half-shield, in which the sword and buckler are held out together with the point 45 degrees up. It is the position from which to counter Under-arm, but it is so versatile that it can also be used against most of the seven wards. Some of the other counters are more specific.

The first task for the buckler is to protect the sword hand, which is the most forward and vulnerable target when you attack. The buckler should follow the sword hand into the initial attack so that you have a unified defense, not allowing the opponent to slip their blade between your blade and buckler. If neither of the initial attacks connect, then the opponents will generally be in a bind: their swords and/or bucklers are bound together, and they are trying to get around or through the opponent's defense while preventing their opponent from doing the same. You want to make your opponent over-commit to the defense of one opening so that you can attack the one that they necessarily leave vulnerable, and the only way to know what your opponent is going to do is to pay close attention to the pressure you're feeling through the bind. Which direction are they pushing in, and how hard? Are they preparing to disengage and attack the opening you've left vulnerable, or are they doubling down on their defense? You cannot just deal with your opponent's sword or buckler in isolation, but have to think of how you are going to get around them both without leaving yourself open to attack.

Although there were masters and schools of fence all over Europe in the years 1300-1500, most of whom left no record of their techniques to posterity, the German school is by far the tradition for which we have the largest number of surviving texts. This bibliographic richness makes it one of the most straightforward to reconstruct, hence its high popularity among medieval fencing groups.

Most German fencing manuals at least include Liechtenauer's ''Literature/{{Blossfechten}}'', which is the most fundamental part of the martial art. It means "unarmoured fighting", being at its most effective when used against an adversary with light or no armour. The Bloßfechten is not quite that limited, however, as the techniques and concepts taught reappear throughout later sections and students are encouraged not to use just one part of the manual, but to use concepts from different parts together. Prime examples of masters who wrote based on Liechtenauer's ''merkverse'' are pseudo-Hans Dobringer, Sigmund Ringeck, and Hans Talhoffer.

German manuals mostly deal with the longsword and messer, although sometimes sword and buckler techniques are also included. While they also include spear, dagger, wrestling and general unarmed techniques, they are directly related to the teachings on swordsmanship, working in unison to produce a holistic martial art for combat with any weapon or none at all. Remember, however, that it is necessary to comprehend and practise the unarmed aspects of the martial art for true competence, as sword fights were often resolved with the assistance of wrestling and grappling.

German swordsmanship also has a tendency to feature the false edge[[note]]On a double-edged sword, the false edge is the edge that faces yourself if held out in front of your body. The true edge is the one that faces the opponent. Sometimes, the "false" is called the "short" and the "true" is called the "long".[[/note]] as an offensive tool more often than its foreign equivalents. Generally, the true edge is a superior offensive tool, but the false edge is marvelous for sneak attacks and other, more tactical applications. For instance, one may employ the false edge under the assumption that their strike will be parried. If this is the case, one's hand is held differently to when a true edge strike is made, allowing for different options when it comes to binds and redoubled strikes.

A strike should come from your stronger side (ie. right if you are right-handed), either from above (''oberhau'') or below (''unterhau'') and go together with footwork. There are four openings at which you can aim your strikes, which can be visualized if you imagine your opponent divided into quadrants: The first is the upper-right side of the opponent's body (upper-left from our perspective), the second is the upper-left of the opponent's body (upper-right from our perspective), the third is the lower-right of the opponent's body (lower-left from our perspective), the fourth is the lower-left of the opponent's body (lower-right from our perspective). In all fights, it is your goal to cause your adversary to over-commit to the defense of an opening and strike at whichever opening is both closest and undefended.

Both combatants are attempting to land a hit while covering the opening that is likely to be attacked by their opponent. For this reason, it is inevitable that often the swords will cross and neither combatant will immediately hit what they were aiming at. This creates a bind between the swords, and actions that proceed from this stage of the bind make up most of the plays and advanced techniques in the system. The correct way of dealing with a bind is not for both combatants to engage in a pushing match as you often see in the movies, hoping to stagger the other and strike when his guard is down. That reduces the fight to a mere contest of brute strength, which is not in either combatants' interest. Instead you must use strength against weakness, and weakness against strength. This means both understanding what the strong and weak parts of your blade are useful for, and sensing your opponent's intention through the pressure signals that you are feeling through the bind between your swords, the concept of "feeling" (''fühlen'').

Firstly, leverage. The strong (''starcke'') is the half of the blade closest to the hand, while the weak (''schwech'') is the half closest to the point. They are so named because of their relative strength in the bind. The farther away from your own hand you make contact, the less you will be able to exert leverage. If you bind against his weak with your strong and start to push his point aside, he will not be able to push you back no matter how physically strong he is. Conversely, if you bind against his strong with your weak and try with all your might, you will not be able to budge him an inch. Sometimes winning is as simple as realizing you have an advantage and pressing it. If you strike ''zornhau'' against your opponent's ''oberhau'' and feel that he's soft in the bind, you can simply thrust to his face from the bind as you close the line with your strong against his weak. One technique for gaining leverage over an opponent who is trying to push you around is ''winden'', meaning "winding". That technique involves raising your hilt and twisting your blade without leaving the bind so that your strong has been brought to bear against his weak, leaving your point free to thrust him in the chest or face. However, if he knows what he’s doing he may counter-wind, using his strong to push down your weak and thrusting you in the belly.

You have to know how to deal with an opponent who's trying to push you around, either by pushing hard against you in an attempt to overwhelm your defense or by resisting your attack with a hard displacement. The axiom of Judo that you should use your opponent's strength against him is also true in a sword fight. The weak of the sword may have less leverage, but it moves much faster than the strong and can be easily disengaged from the bind either by snapping back or making a small circle under your opponent's blade. In the former case, you can let your opponent's blade slide off your weak as you step to the side, harmlessly redirecting his attack past you and charging your sword with momentum for a counter strike, which he will be vulnerable to as he recovers from his over-committed attack. If you are trying to thrust at him from the bind and he is committed to displacing strongly, you can "change through" (''durchwechseln'') with your point, slipping out of the bind and thrusting the opening on the opposite side of his blade before he has time to get his sword back in motion. Over-committing in either attack or defense is something you should avoid, and which you should exploit if your opponent does it.

While few people today are familiar with ''bloßfechten'' techniques, which were meant to be used on an unarmored or lightly armored adversary, even fewer are aware that there was a separate repertoire of techniques specifically for fighting a well-armored opponent. By the end of the 14th century--which is around the time when the first manuscript of Liechtenauer's verse is thought to have been created--full plate armor had developed to cover almost the entire body of the wearer. Full plate is basically impervious to strikes or cuts with the sword's edges, removing this from one's list of options. However, the longsword can do more than just cut. Not only does it have a point, but the crossguard and pommel are weapons as well. Better still, it is essentially a length of metal about four feet long that you can grip in several different ways and use as a short staff or spear to wind and compete for leverage, potentially setting your opponent up for a nasty fall.

* '''Fourth''': In this guard, the hilt is raised to the side of the chest near the armpit while the point is held forward. It is analagous to ''Vom Tag'' in that, while not a cutting guard, it is the most aggressive of the four. In purpose it is like a mounted knight couching his lance in a braced position so that his whole body is behind the point. If your point finds a gap while working from one of the preceding three guards, you should transition into the fourth guard and push your opponent back mercilessly.

A point can potentially force its way between two plates and wound the person inside. A stiff point with a lot of force behind it can penetrate mail by entering a ring and bursting it open, and even if the rings hold, a very narrow point might be able to poke through far enough to draw blood. Mail also doesn't protect as well against blunt trauma as plate does, and a sword point can deliver a lot of that through the mail, especially to a sensitive area like the throat or groin.

Half-swording and other techniques for fighting in armor can also be useful against unarmoured adversaries at short distances or in confined spaces where swinging a sword is not possible. There are also a variety of miscellaneous instances where such techniques may be useful, even in an area where regular sword technique is entirely applicable. For instance, a sword may imitate a staff with half-swording; by pulling on one's own blade with the off hand during a bind, they can make a second strike to the same side of their adversary, this time with the pommel. While risky, such a technique can also take one "inside" the enemy's sword, a range too close in for their adversary to effectively wield it. Manipulating range like this is also an important technique against polearms, which are generally better at defeating armour than swords.

''Work in progress.''

The wrestling element of the German system covers the whole spectrum of unarmed techniques, including strikes, grapples, throws and locks. In general, though, there is far more grappling than striking. The explanation is probably that almost everybody in the 14th-16th century carried some kind of knife or dagger: punching was of no use to a person using or defending against a knife, such that it didn't make sense to train in a whole elaborate system based on it, but being trained in wrestling could help you in almost any situation either in the street or on the battlefield. Being predominantly a warlike martial art for the knightly class, most unarmed techniques in the German system are grapples that end in throws. These can even allow an unarmed combatant to floor an adversary in full plate armour if they can get in close.

All the above locations are excellent points of control, as it is most difficult to resist an adversary's strength when they are manipulated. It is not, however, good enough to take control of an adversary's body; they must then be subject to a lock, break or throw. Given the difficulty of locking or breaking the limb of a fully-armoured adversary, most techniques opt for a throw, which in turn sets up a killing technique. To adequately throw an adversary, a combatant must take control of two of the above points, although three is preferable.

!!!Roßfechten (Mounted Combat)

''Work in progress.''

''Work in progress.''

The second of the primary "schools" of longsword being practiced today, the Italian school is best codified by the fencing master Fiore dei Liberi. In addition to his occupation as a fencing instructor, Fiore was a 14th century knight, mercenary and diplomat. In his own writings he mentions having widely travelled and studied with 'countless' Italian and German fencing masters, and on several occasions fighting duels against such men or their students due to arguments over his or their teachings. He reports that all of these occasions were fought with sharp swords and without any form of steel armour, and that he won each such encounter without injury.

There is some historical evidence of his students and their impressive performances in arrangements of single combat. One such pupil, Galeazzo Gonzaga of Mantua, is known to have twice beaten the famous French marshal Jean II le Maingre, also known as "Boucicaut" [[note]]The same Boucicaut who commanded the French vanguard at the Battle of Agincourt, where he was captured by the English[[/note]].

One of the marked differences between Johannes Liechtenauer's ''Kunst des Fechtens'' and Fiore dei Liberi's ''Fior di Battaglia'' [[note]]Meaning 'The Flower of Battle'[[/note]] is the scope and differences in layout. Whereas Liechtenauer's ''Zettel'' provides a short summary of his teachings of unarmoured longsword, mounted combat and armoured spear and longsword, Fiore's manuscripts provide a painstakingly detailed and orderly overview first of wrestling and the use of the dagger [[note]]Wrestling and dagger-usage are said to be the foundational aspects of Fiore's art[[/note]], out of which then arises the use of the longsword. The longsword and the dagger are the two principle weapons of Fiore's system, comprising the largest sections. Also present are sections detailing use of the baton, spear, pollaxe, mounted fighting and fighting in armour, as well as numerous unequal circumstances such as spear against sword or sword against dagger.

Tactically, Fiore's and Liechtenauer's longsword systems appear extremely similar to the layman. This is largely a result of physics and human biomechanics; given the same weapon and a similar cultural context for its use, battle-tested martial systems will naturally develop along similar lines. Nonetheless, there are key differences in the systems. Fiore's material prefers to perform a parry against incoming attacks before transitioning to a counter after having dealt with the immediate threat, whereas the Liechtenauer tradition generally expresses the desire that all techniques should strike in such a way as presenting a strong offence while also simultaneously defending by closing off lines of attack. Some instructors, such as Matt Easton of WebVideo/ScholaGladiatoria, have expressed the opinion that Fiore's approach is generally more practical due to the inherent difficulty of simultaneously employing a strong attack and defence in the chaos of a fight.

Most swords were worn in wooden-cored scabbards covered in fabric or leather and metal fittings, suspended from a sword belt of matching material with two straps to hold it at an angle. Right-handed people usually wore their sword on the left hip so they could draw it across the body, but Roman legionnaires always wore their swords on the right, and there are multiple medieval depictions of warriors wearing their swords on the sword-arm side. It can be more convenient to draw from your dominant side in some circumstances; for instance, if you are carrying a shield, drawing cross-body tends to either be slower or involve swinging the shield out of the way - a bad idea in combat for obvious reasons! In the late 16th and early 17th centuries when rapiers were at their longest, special "hanger" belts helped to keep them suspended low and at a more horizontal angle. By the mid 17th century it was common to wear rapiers, smallswords, and hangers tucked into a waist sash or held at the hip by a baldric across the shoulder. In the early 19th century, entirely metal scabbards became common for military swords such as sabers, which were more durable but not as good at keeping the edge sharp.

The dagger was commonly worn both on street and on battlefield by men of all social classes. It was the most common weapon of brawling and self-defense, since not everybody could wear a sword, and was a necessary backup weapon for all soldiers including knights. In the Middle Ages it was primarily used in an "ice pick" grip with the point down, which was optimal for close quarters and armored combat, and people would wear it on the right side of their belt so they could draw and stab at very close range. Basically, if you're too close to each other to even swing a sword, it's time for that dagger to come out. They can be used in wrestling either standing or on the ground, and are especially good at finding and penetrating the gaps in armor. In the Renaissance we begin to see more point-up techniques and use of the dagger as a parrying companion to the sword, as well as wearing of the dagger across the lower back.

While these medieval daggers would have one or two edges, the edges are mainly there to help you with utility tasks or doing things like cutting the straps of your opponent's armor. The dagger is basically a sharpened metal spike that you try to stab your opponent with while both of you are grappling with each other's dagger arms, and you might even have to grasp the blade in order to give your opponent a nasty twist or disarm.

This page is mainly about swordsmanship, and most of the fighting manuals that were written give the sword a prominent place. Before going any further, it is helpful to ask what the role of the sword is. There something undeniably romantic and glamorous about the sword, an ElegantWeaponForAMoreCivilizedAge, and the constant appearance of the tropes CoolSword and HeroesPreferSwords in fiction tends to give modern people the idea that it was somehow "superior" to other weapons of the time. The sword has plenty of uses, but not necessarily what you might think: the reason that many people carried and used swords was a combination of status, combat versatility, and convenience.

A sword was harder to make than an axe or a spear, particularly during the Early Middle Ages when steel-making and bladesmithing were far from exact sciences and had a significant whiff of magic about them: swords were rare enough that only rich and powerful warriors could afford them, and they tended to be luxurious objects with pattern-welded blades and bejeweled hilts. Old stories like ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' spoke of swords with magical powers, which had [[NamedWeapon names]] and a [[EmpathicWeapon mind of their own]]. Even from the High Middle Ages onward, during which swords affordable to commoners were relatively numerous and accessible, all swords retained something of that old prestige thanks to the sword's continuing association with the warrior class, the fact that the quality of blades still varied significantly, and with Christian heroes such as [[Literature/TheSongOfRoland Roland]] and Myth/KingArthur. They were less disposable and more long-lived than shields, as well as wooden-hafted weapons like the spear or axe, and could be personalized in all kinds of ways by those who had money to spend.

The sword's combat role is to be a weapon that prepares you for a wide variety of situations, and which stays at your side until you need it. Opposing lines of battle usually met each other with spears and other polearms, while knightly cavalry used the lance. These weapons had greater reach than a sword, had significant armour penetration ability, and were well-suited to formation fighting. Nevertheless, anyone who could get their hands on one would have also worn a sword into battle. Soon after the melee was joined, wooden spear shafts would be broken, the amount of space between the fighters would have shrunk enough that any intact pole weapons would be harder to wield, and neat lines of battle could turn into a chaotic mess. A shorter weapon like a sword could be brought to bear more easily in these conditions, and replace a primary weapon that was broken or no longer useful. Therefore, even though the sword was a secondary weapon, it was actually used for quite a lot of the fighting in many a long battle, making the often-used comparison of the medieval soldier's sword to a modern soldier's pistol a little bit flawed.

Short-hafted weapons such as axes or maces could also be used at close quarters, and these had certain advantages over swords: axes can chop with a lot of force even if you let the blade get dull, and can be used for hooking an opponent's shield or weapon, while a mace can give a man a concussion through his helmet or break bones through mail armor more effectively than a sword could. On the other hand, a sword is much better to have in an unarmored or lightly armored fight. Most combatants in a medieval battle would be less than fully armored, and because of its sharpness a sword can wound any part of the body even with a relatively light touch, while an axe or mace is unlikely to inflict debilitating damage with a glancing blow. Indeed, despite the fact that blunt trauma can be quite gruesome, it isn't as efficient at killing as slicing or stabbing is, and unless a mace is being used against a person who's well-defended against edged weapons, its user would have been done better to use a blade. Furthermore, while each sword has a sweet spot which is most effective to cut with, the blade is sharp enough to inflict wounds along its entire length, while an axe or mace blow will do little damage if the relatively small area of the head isn't right on target, such as when a strike overshoots and the opponent is struck more with the shaft than with the head. A sword is much better for defensive purposes, too. It has a long blade to parry with, the crossguard helps to protect the hand, and it is easy to start, stop, and change the direction of a swing because most of the weight is concentrated toward the hand; an axe or mace has no built-in hand protection, has a smaller area upon which to catch a blow, and has most of its weight concentrated at the end, making it more awkward to use for warding off blows. It doesn't make much of a difference in a fight if both the sword man and the axe man either use a shield or wear full armor, but if you take those away then the sword can be used more effectively to defend.

Axes and maces were weapons of war, meant for use by men wearing armour or at least using a shield, but nobody carried around an axe or a mace to defend himself with in his street clothes because such weapons couldn't match the number of ways a sword could be used to butcher an unarmoured man, and were not self-sufficient in both attack and defence the way a sword was. A spear or similar polearm might beat a sword in an unarmoured fight using reach--at least provided it wasn't in some narrow alleyway or indoors where the spear would be too long--but nobody carried a spear for civilian self-defence either because they were treated as military weapons and their dimensions made them too cumbersome to carry about one's business. A sword in its scabbard could be worn comfortably at the hip on the same belt as one's purse and dagger. A self-defence weapon is only worthy of the name if you have it with you when you need it, and if your enemies surprise you on the road or in the street, your sword is a better weapon that your spear or your battleaxe if for no other reason than it's the one you happen to ''have''. It also goes nicely with the small shield called a buckler, which unlike a full-size shield is small enough to wear on a belt with your sword. If the sword was so well-suited to unarmored combat, it may seem strange that it was also worn by men in full armor who expected to fight their social and military equals, but it was good for a man in armor have a tool for cutting down the less protected foot soldiers, and even a mounted knight would be in trouble if his unarmored horse was wounded or if his reins were cut by his opponent's sword. Techniques using the point could pierce the gaps in armor, strikes with the pommel could have a mace-like concussive effect, and the sword could be used as a lever to wrestle an enemy to the ground. The sword may not have been specifically suited for every challenge, but as a JackOfAllStats the sword was so useful that there was little reason not to carry one.

If you want to see some fun and educational web videos about historical weapons and fighting, check out the channels ''WebVideo/ScholaGladiatoria'', ''WebVideo/{{Skallagrim}}'', and ''WebVideo/{{Lindybeige}}''.

The wrestling element of the German system covers the whole spectrum of unarmed techniques, including strikes, grapples, throws and locks. Being predominantly a warlike martial art for the knightly class, however, most unarmed techniques are grapples that end in throws; these allow an unarmed combatant to floor an adversary in full plate armour if they can enter into extremely close range combat. Almost all offensive techniques aim to take hold of and manipulate the following points:

All the above locations are excellent points of control, as it is most difficult to resist and adversary's strength when manipulated. It is not, however, good enough to take control of an adversary's body; they must then be subject to a lock, break or throw. Given the difficulty of locking or breaking the limb of a fully-armoured adversary, most techniques opt for a throw, which in turn sets up a killing technique. To adequately throw an adversary, a combatant must take control of two of the above points, although three is preferable.

** ''The Term 'Arming Sword':'' It is important to note that the term "Arming Sword" - from the French espées d'armes - did not come into use until the 15th century. This coincided with the natural evolution of armor and the accompanying change in both weapon choice and tactics. The descendants of the Viking sword, with a companion shield, served well into the late 13th century. Only at the very end of the Middle Ages did the sword transition from a main weapon to a side weapon. Similarly the terms "knightly sword" or "knight's sword" are retronyms.

* '''The Pollaxe''': One of the few staff weapons to be associated more with the knightly class than the common soldier, the pollaxe was mainly designed to be used by men on foot in heavy armor against other other men on foot in heavy armor. The pollaxe is not simply a "pole-axe" or an axe on a pole. The etymology is disputed, and may in fact have something to do with the word "pole", but it is also said to mean "poll" as in "head" (as it still does when talking about a poll tax, or the poll of a horse), or to come from a time in the English language when "poll" meant what we call a hammer, and the word "hammer" meant what we would call the pick-end of a weapon. The head was usually modular and consisted of a small axe blade or pronged hammer head on one side, a beak on the other side (or often a hammer if the first blade was an axe), and short quadrangular spikes on the top and sides of the double-bitted weapon head. The butt of the weapon was usually capped with a steel point so it could be used for thrusting as well. Most pollaxes were about five to six feet (1.52-1.82 meters) long overall, since reach isn't as important for men in full armor and it had to remain usable in a tight press. The shaft usually had either two or four langets reaching about a third of the way down to protect the shaft from being severed, often with a disc-shaped hand guard where the langets stop.

* '''Zwerchhau:''' A horizontal strike with a hanging point, aimed at the adversary's neck or head. It displaces high strikes and guards, aiming to close off the high line of attack.
* '''Krumphau:''' A variable strike that attacks the hands or blade of one's adversary, forcing an opening for a follow-up attack.

* '''Scheitelhau:''' A descending vertical strike performed with the arms outstretched using geometry to defeat low guards and strikes.

[[folder:''Der Kunst des Fechtens'': Late Medieval and Renaissance German Knightly Combat]]

[[folder:Italian Longsword]]

Firstly, leverage. The strong (''starcke'') is the half of the blade closest to the hand, while the weak (''schwech'') is the half closest to the point. They are so named because of their relative strength in the bind. The farther away from your own hand you make contact, the less you will be able to exert leverage. If you bind against his weak with your strong and start to push his point aside, he will not be able to push you back no matter how physically strong he is. Conversely, if you bind against his strong with your weak and try with all your might, you will not be able to budge him an inch. Sometimes winning is as simple as realizing you have an advantage and pressing it. If you strike ''zornhau'' against your opponent's ''oberhau'' and feel that he's soft in the bind, you can simply thrust to his face from the bind as you close the line with your strong against his weak. One technique for gaining leverage over an opponent who is trying to push you around is ''winden'', meaning "winding". That technique involves raising your hilt and twisting your blade without leaving the bind so that your strong has been brought to bear against his weak, leaving your point free to thrust at him. There are ways to counter winding, but we'll get to that later.

At the same time, you have to know how to deal with an opponent who's trying to push you around, either by pushing hard against you in an attempt to overwhelm your defense or by resisting your attack with a hard displacement. The axiom of Judo that you should use your opponent's strength against him is also true in a sword fight. The weak of the sword may have less leverage, but it moves much faster than the strong and can be easily disengaged from the bind either by snapping back or making a small circle under your opponent's blade. In the former case, you can let your opponent's blade slide off your weak as you step to the side, harmlessly redirecting his attack past you and charging your sword with momentum for a counter strike, which he will be vulnerable to as he recovers from his over-committed attack. If you are trying to thrust at him from the bind and he is committed to displacing strongly, you can "change through" (''durchwechseln'') with your point, slipping out of the bind and thrusting the opening on the opposite side of his blade before he has time to get his sword back in motion. Over-committing in either attack or defense is something you should avoid, and which you should exploit if your opponent does it.

Once you have found your opponent's sword by adopting the right hand position and engaging on the correct side of his blade, then when the two of you attack each other, his attack will slide off your forte and harmlessly past you as you thrust home. Most of the time, once you have found his sword he is will be screwed no matter what he does, because if he attacks, you'll win, if he tries to disengage and reengage you'll interrupt him, and if he retreats you'll be able to skewer him as he steps back. When you practice thrusting at home with a foiled rapier against a target on the wall, you should not let your hand rise up or allow it to be pushed aside by the blade's tendency to remain straight; you need to maintain that diagonal so that your blade will protect you, and to make sure that the force is going into your opponent instead of being dissapated into your arm. You should make the spring-tempered blade flex in the direction of your palm as you press the point against the target, which shows that in a real fight with a sharp, stiff rapier, that force would effectively thrust your point several inches into your opponent's body.

* ''Paradoxes of Defence'' (1599): this is more of a treatise rather than an actual manual for fighting. In this, Silver argues that the Italian rapier is a poor weapon of choice and the traditional English method of fencing is superior. Ironically, his methods of fencing share a lot of common ground with the Italians, and there's a theory that suggests that Silver's thinking comes from the fact that most "Italian masters" that he would have met would not be up to the standard, as otherwise they would have opened schools in Italy instead of England. In fact, for all we know he might have never seen any Italian fencers who weren't trained by Saviolo, and what a lot of people don't understand is that Saviolo's method was unlike ''any'' other Italian rapier method, and certainly not like the more orthodox styles of Giganti, Capo Ferro, or Fabris. Anyway, Silver's grievances against the rapier can be summed up as follows:

* ''The Smallsword:'' A small, nimble thrusting sword which eventually replaced the rapier and was popular for civilian carry from about 1650-1800. Their straight, symmetrical blades were shorter than those of rapiers at about 33"-36" (84-92 cm) long, and they could weigh as little as 500 g or 1 lb, with most weighing no more than 1000 g or 2 lb. Compared to the rapier's highly protective complex hilt, the smallsword had a simple shell guard supported by two small hilt arms, a single up-turned quillon, and a knuckle bow. Unlike the rapier which was held with the index finger wrapped around the ricasso, a smallsword was usually gripped with the thumb and index finger pinching the quillon block. The blade was made with a triangular or sometimes quadrangular cross-section and usually hollow-ground to be as stiff and light as possible, a feature that is still seen on modern sport fencing swords. The "cholichmarde" was a blade style with a thickened forte that concentrated the blade's mass where parrying was likely to occur. It stopped being a commonly worn item in the 19th century as the flintlock or percussion pistol became more popular for self-defense, but lived on as the ''Épée de combat'' Or dueling sword and inspired the ''Épée'' and foil used in modern fencing.

* ''The Sabre:'' A curved, single-handed sword mostly associated with military use and cavalry in particular. While certainly influenced by swords introduced during the 17th century by Hungarian and Polish cavalry, the Western European sabre also traces direct descent from medieval forms such as the messer and hangar. The most familiar type had a single-edged blade and a knuckle bow or basket guard; Polish or Hungarian examples might have a thumb ring and a cross-guard with langets at the base of the blade. Curvature could vary quite a lot, from dramatically curved Turkish-inspired versions to others which were almost straight. The naval cutlass was essentially a short, heavy sabre adapted to the close-quarters fighting of a boarding action. A style known as the hangar was short, but also lighter, and usually issued to troops such as artillerymen who needed it as a secondary weapon.

* ''The Basket-Hilted Broad Sword and Back Sword:'' The backsword was a single-handed sword with a broad, straight (or slightly curved) single-edged blade, fitted with a basket hilt that fully protected the hand. These and their double-edged basket-hilted cousins were sometimes called broadswords to distinguish them from rapiers; the use of "broadsword" to refer to the arming sword is an anachronism. These were especially favored in the British Isles from the 17th century onward and found enduring popularity with the highland Scots. Other countries had their own basket-hilts, such as the Italian Schiavona. Ths Schiavona is interesting in that it also had a crossguard inside the basket, so you can finger the guard like a sidesword or rapier.

Although little material remains on the use of Broadsword and Targe, the Targe was famously used by Highlanders. Interestingly, Targe and Target were both used as words for shields.

* ''The Smallsword:'' A small, nimble thrusting sword which eventually replaced the rapier and was popular from about 1650-1800. Their straight, symmetrical blades were shorter than those of rapiers at about 33"-36" (84-92 cm) long, and they could weigh as little as 500 g or 1 lb, with most weighing no more than 1000 g or 2 lb. Compared to the rapier's highly protective complex hilt, the smallsword had a simple shell guard supported by two small hilt arms, a single up-turned quillon, and a knuckle bow. Unlike the rapier which was held with the index finger wrapped around the ricasso, a smallsword was usually gripped with the thumb and index finger pinching the quillon block. The blade was made with a triangular or sometimes quadrangular cross-section and usually hollow-ground to be as stiff and light as possible, a feature that is still seen on modern sport fencing swords. The "cholichmarde" was a blade style with a thickened forte that concentrated the blade's mass where parrying was likely to occur. The modern fencing foil is descended from practice versions of the smallsword.

* ''The Spadroon:'' A light single-handed cut-and-thrust sword that appeared in the late 18th century as an officer's weapon. The blade was usually straight and single edged, and the guard usually had a knuckle bow and upturned quillon. A bit of a cross between the smallsword and the saber or hanger, many designs ended up with the worst of both because they lacked the weight to make strong cuts, and the blade was too flexible for reliable thrusting. For these reasons it a was short-lived design, but it did appear in fencing manuals of the time and some spadroons were better than others.
* ''The Saber:'' A single-handed sword mostly associated with military use and cavalry in particular, introduced into Western Europe during the 17th century by Hungarian and Polish cavalry. The most familiar type had a curved single-edged blade and a knuckle bow or basket guard; Polish or Hungarian examples might have a thumb ring and a cross-guard with langets at the base of the blade. The naval cutlass was essentially a short, heavy saber adapted to the close-quarters fighting of a boarding action. A style known as the hangar was short, but also lighter, and usually issued to troops such as artillerymen who needed it as a secondary weapon.