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Western Swordsmanship Technique & Research |
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| The Grips | |||
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There are several ways to hold the sword. However, your dominate hand will be above the other, close to the cross. This hand remains fairly constant, the foundation of your grip in a way. It holds firmly, but will at times allow the grip to rotate a bit for certain cuts. The other hand rests behind your lead hand and will be quite mobile, turning, sliding, manipulation the blade, and often coming off entirely to grapple with your opponent.
When practicing guards and cuts, it is important to practice them using a variety of grips. Some of the grips below have specific uses.
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Tools of the trade |
Standard grip |
Fingering the blade |
Pommel grip |
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Slip grip |
Half sword |
Reverse |
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Footwork is the key to both balance and distance in sword fighting. The early masters did not give much detail about footwork. One suggestion was made that these masters were writing to an audience who was already familiar with the basics of swordsmanship. We do learn that the basic stance is one where the body is well balanced over the feet. Through illustrations, we can determine that the forward foot is pointed toward the opponent while the rear foot is slightly turned (approx. 45 degrees) giving the body good side-to-side mobility.
Strong / Weak Stance
Passing and Shuffle Steps
The are two stances, which we refer to as strong stance and weak stance. These are not historical terms, but help us refer to sides without complication with fighters who are left or right handed.
The strong stance refers to the stance where your dominate side (right for right-handers) is back. This is the strongest place to be as you are ready to deliver a strong cut from your dominate side. Fro right-handers, this mean having the left foot forward and the right foot back, ready to spring forward in a cut.
The weak stance is the opposite. You non-dominate side is back which means the cut made from this side is not as as strong as your other side. Thus we call it weak.
There are two basic types of footwork: passing steps and shuffle steps. A passing step is like any normal step. The rear foot passes to the front, similar to walking. This can be done in a fairly straight line to cover greater distance.
The passing step can also be more of a side step. The passing foot steps wide to the side rather than in a straight line. Side stepping like this clears you of danger and presents you with a other openings for counter attack.
Master Liechtenaur wrote [translated]:
If you want to behold the art,This suggests that the attack is made with the left foot closest to the opponent until the strike is made, at which time the right passes forward. In other words, a cut from your right is made with your right foot passing forward. The passage also suggest that striking from your opponent's left to right (your right to left) is the strongest. This assumes a right handed fighter. Referring to an opponent's view point (his left or his right) is common among German texts.
Left against him and right while striking.
And left to right,
Is how you strongly want to fight.
The shuffle step is simply a short forward movement with the forward foot, somewhat like a lunge. It is effective in delivering quick thrusts, deceptive attackes, and counter cuts. The shuffle step can be done out to the side, like a side step, in order to get you out of the line of attack. This step takes time to get used to while cutting, but once developed, gives the fighter addition freedom of movement needed to defeat an opponent.
