Creating a Covering with the Crossed Point
The following unit covers das geschrenckt ortt, the crossed point: a versaztung, displacement, which employs an ascending cut from First Ward which crosses your opponent's sword in defense against a variety of cut and thrust attacks.
Effective against all manner of cuts and thrusts, this displacement might appear simple but its potency relies upon a particular set of body mechanics.
What Do We Call It?
The ubiquity of this displacement across numerous sources throughout the centuries has earned it the nick name "the universal parry". While helpful shorthand, this cheeky modern moniker deserves a slightly deeper investigation.
Talhoffer, continuing his tradition of scant explanations, leaves the technique unnamed in the Messer section of his manuscript Cod.icon. 394a, but does vaguely allude to the name "the crossed point" in his Longsword section when demonstrating a similar technique.
In the introduction to his 2010 translation of the Glasgow Fechtbuch (MS E.1939.65.341), Christian Tobler points out that similar techniques are referred to as Vidilopoge (fiddle bow) in the Manuscript I.33, and Bogen (the bow) in Lecküchner's tome on fencing with the messer (Kunst des Messerfechtens, Cgm 582).
Depending on your interpretation and translation of the text1, the Glasgow manuscript appears to possibly refer to this as the Zoll Versatung which can be translated as "commendable"(Tobler) or "reliable"(Haas) displacement. 2
Similar lessons are also demonstrated in Fiore de Libre's MS. Ludwig XV 13 as "the sword in one hand"3, George Silver, and is heavily implied in Sir William Hope's New Method as moving from the Guard of First into the "German Guard."
For the sake of simplicity I will refer to this technique as "the crossed point".
Overview
By the end of this lesson you will fundamentally understand the body mechanics behind the crossed point, demonstrate these mechanics while avoiding four different incoming strikes from an opponent, and finally crossing the four strikes with a proper displacement that opens up your opponent to other handiwork.
Let's take a look at the most basic scenario:
You sit with your weapon in the posture of first ward against an opponent who stands ready to attack you, say in the high guard. The two of you stand in a wide measure.
Wanting to incite your opponent to strike, you step a little further in, shifting your right foot forward. Seeing an opportunity, your opponent strikes down from above to your head. They've fallen for your ruse! Now it's time to act.
You quickly take your body off the line of attack, and displace their strike with an ascending stroke. From here you can safely act indes with a Nachtschlag, after-strike, based upon the Fühlen, feeling, of the situation.
Effective against all manner of cuts and thrusts, this displacement might appear simple but its potency relies upon a particular set of body mechanics.
The Basic Mechanics
The most straightforward method of exploring the mechanics of of this displacement is to begin practice "*mit leere hände", with empty hand.
In this first iteration we will put the Player against a Feeder/Context Provider who will strike a descending blow to their head. Both the Player and the Feeder will have no weapons.
Two Fencers meet at a wide Measure:
The Feeder will stand in a high guard, threatening the Player. This could simulate a simple blow from high to low or maybe the Feeder hypothetically is going to swing a rock at the Player.
The Player assumes a solid Fechtstellung, engaging posture, keeping the arms low.
At the onset, the center line between the two opponents is straight down the middle. As the Player reaches middle distance they move their right foot to this line. From here they provoke with small half-steps.
Once the Feeder believes they can appropriately reach the Player, they attack with a descending strike to the Player's head.
With the Feeder committed to this action, it's the Player's time to act. Utilizing their hips, the Player makes a wide step out to their left (opponent's right), avoiding the incoming strike.
As they complete this leftward step, the Player realigns their feet towards their attacker. This modifies the centerline in favor of the Player.
Once an understanding of these core mechanics are established we practice a displacement with empty-hands knowing as die scherein4.
The setup repeats much the same set up as before, the Feeder looking to strike the Player in the head with a descending attack. The Player steps forward onto the center-line, seeing an opportunity, the Feeder attacks.
While they step off to the left the Player will now shoot their arms out in the posture of the scherein, catching the Feeder's wrist or arm.
Some key points about performing Scherein:
- It's important to note that the Scherein should be performed with the right hand over left as it more closely resembles similar techniques with weapons.
- Fingers should be kept together to avoid spraining.
- When being deployed, this action should be thought of as "up and out", not simply up and/or out. This up and out action will be significantly more grounded through the body and not rely on arm strength alone.
This grip, along with their newly established dominate position allows the Player for a swift follow-up attack.
From here we can experiment with Fühlen and add a nachschläg or after-strikes.
Fühlen, or feeling is one of the core concepts of our fencing art. It is the ability to extend your senses through the implement(s) you are using and make a judgment based on the feedback you're receiving. The decisions you make are based upon how heavy or light your opponent's presence is.
A quick shout-out to Kimberleigh Roseblade for masterfully distilling the important part of this decision down: The other person has already decided what direction they want to go in, your job is to help them get their and take exploit their actions along the way to win the exchange.
In the case of our current set up, after the Player has displaced the attack, our Feeder can either continue to move forward along their current line of action or attempt to move backwards.
In either case the the Player will gladly allow them on their way, adding a bit of an arm turn along the way:
Adding a Weapon
As the mechanics of the technique remain the same, the addition of a weapon is an easy one.
The power for the Crossed Point still comes from the movement of the hips and the changing of the centerline - not from the strength of the arm. If the Player is putting too much power into the swing it will tighten their muscles. Not only will this produce fatigue, it will also make their warding and all follow up actions slower.
The additional consideration lies within the synchronization of your grip with your hip actions: squeezing your pinky and ring finger to ensuring that you get the tip moving out towards your opponent before your hands do. If the hand goes first, it will be in endangered of being struck by your opponent's attack. In the case that you are able to swing your sword out in time to block the incoming strike, the displacement will likely lack the strength to prevent your opponent's strike from passing through it.
Timing is always going to be something you have to work on practically, on a case by case basis. But in general we have found that if you are taller than your opponent you should experiment with reacting sooner. Alternatively, if you are shorter than your opponent you should experiment with acting slightly later in their arch of attack.
This displacement is adaptable to a number of other strikes by simply modifying the height to which the ascending cut is made. For example, a thrust is easily displaced by cutting to a mid-height guard, as is an ascending cut to the legs.
In our next lesson we will take a deeper look at Fühlen and the trove of possible Nachschlägen, follow-up actions, we can employ after arriving at the Crossed Point.
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At the time of this writing I believe that Mr. Tobler and myself interpret this section differently. If I am incorrect please let me know. ↩︎
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Zoll was both a unit of measurement and a way of referencing a thing that could be quantified or predictably accounted. ↩︎
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I personally hold the belief that Fiore and Talhoffer have a good deal in common, but that's for another lesson. ↩︎
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Scherein is written as schärr which has sort of a double meaning. Yes, your hands do look like a pair of scissors, but this is also reference to the word sheared, as in "remove, break off or cause to break off, owing to structural strain." This is reference to the strain you are about to put on your opponent. I love the puns. ↩︎