Beginner's Guide to Fencing with the Longsword
- HEMA 101 admin
- Jul 1, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: Jul 13, 2024
This has been developed for an 8 week beginners course on longsword that I am teaching. It is designed to introduce a beginner to the core aspects of longsword fencing using basic cuts and parries - nothing too complicated.
1. Introduction
This guide is intended for complete beginners. It covers German(ish) longsword in the general style's of Joachim Meyer and Johannes Liechtenauer. It is simplified and designed to teach the basics of fencing with the longsword.
The longsword is a two-handed weapon, and while there are some one-handed techniques in some systems, it is predominantly used in two hands.
This guide focuses on unarmoured fencing, therefore the techniques do not include half-swording (holding one hand on the grip, the other on the blade), which is used in armoured fencing.
This guide assumes you are a beginner, with little in the way of safety equipment, except for a fencing mask, protective gloves, and ideally a gorget. Check out my guide to equipment so that you know what equipment to get as you progress on your HEMA journey: Complete (beginners) guide to HEMA equipment and cost (hema101.com)
This guide does not teach thrusts. Thrusts are a large part of longsword (even though they aren't taught in Joachim Meyer's longsword treatises), but I haven't taught them here because they require decent safety equipment (jacket, gorget and plastron) to be done safely, even with synthetic swords. Saying that, some of the guard positions threaten a thrust. Students should treat the point as real so that they do not walk into another student's point, but likewise students shouldn't thrust out of safety concerns.
2. Safety
A HEMA club is not the place to come and learn how to fight people with a sword. That may sound strange, but hear me out! It is a place to come and learn how people used to fight with a sword, and then simulate that in a safe and respectful manner. Let's not kid ourselves: HEMA practitioners are grown-ups playing with swords, and that's the way it should be. Check your ego at the door.
Safety in HEMA is based on a few principles:
The safety equipment we use needs to be correct for the level of intensity and techniques we use. Without the right safety equipment, intensity needs to be kept low and some targets will not be viable.
The level of intensity at which we train needs to be correct for the level of safety equipment we use, the techniques we use, and our training partner's wishes. Don't go faster or harder than your partner is comfortable with.
The techniques we use need to be correct for the equipment we use, the level of intensity, and for any rules put in place (whether for safety or competitive reasons). Some techniques simply cannot be done safely and therefore should never be done, except under very controlled and supervised conditions.
Your training partner is not your opponent. Treat them with respect and try not to injure them.
HEMA is a contact sport. Light bruises are common and to be expected when training hard. The main risks are:
Severe bruising.
Broken fingers.
Concussions.
Injuries to joints such as knees and elbows.
A broken steel blade being thrust into someone.
These are things that should never happen, and are unlikely to happen, so long as we take reasonable steps to mitigate them. However, accidents do happen, and you need to be aware of the danger you pose to your fellow fencers. Remember that the chances of injuring your training partner increase from 0% to 100% based on your behaviour.
With this in mind, in HEMA you will get hit on the mask, on the gloves, and elsewhere. We try not to hurt each other, but getting hit is never pleasant. If you think your partner is hitting too hard, politely tell them. If someone tells you that you are hitting too hard, then apologise and adjust your behaviour. If someone does hit you (whether hard or soft), don't get angry, don't get upset, don't try to get even. Take your hits with humility and grace. If you can't take a hit without getting angry, then HEMA is not for you.
Many of the exercises described in this guide are non-contact or involve contact on the sword only.
3. Parts of the sword
The parts of the sword are shown below.
The blade itself is split into three parts. The middle is the part half-way up the blade. The middle splits the blade into two halves, with the half closest to the crossguard being the strong of the blade (or forte), and the half furthest away being the weak (or foible). On the end of the blade is a point or tip.
Longswords are double edged, meaning when we hold the sword, there is an edge facing in the same direction as our knuckles (the true edge, or long edge), and another one facing in the same direction as our wrist (the false edge, or short edge). If the sword only had a single edge, like a katana, the non-sharp side would be a 'false' edge as it wouldn't be sharp on that side. Even though the false edge on a longsword is sharp, we still call it the false edge. It is worth also remembering that it is only a false edge when we are holding the sword; the sword can be held with either edge facing forwards, and the one that is facing forwards is always referred to as the true edge.
In our class we use synthetic longswords, which obviously are not sharp. In fact, we never use sharp swords in HEMA, except for test cutting (cutting tatami mats and the like).
4. Getting a grip
There are two types of grip:
The common grip
The thumb grip
The common grip is used much of the time, particularly for cuts with the true edge, whereas the thumb grip is used for certain 'master cuts', false edge cuts, but can also be a useful grip for thrust-based fencing (not covered in this guide).
Common grip
To do the common grip, with your lead hand (usually the right hand), hold the sword just below the crossguard. Place your index finger close to the underside of the crossguard (nearly touching), but place the small of your thumb (the bit between your thumb and index finger) so it is 1 to 2 inches (2.5 - 5 cm) away from the crossguard. Place your offhand on or just in front of the pommel, in a similar position. This position should allow you to point the sword forwards at your opponent without needing to bend your wrist in an uncomfortable position.
Often people hold the sword too tightly, especially with the off-hand. When you grip the pommel with your off-hand, hold it with your last three fingers and point your index finger forwards. You should be able to point the sword at your opponent while pointing at the opponent with the index finger of your off-hand.
Thumb grip
To do the thumb grip, from this position simply rotate the sword 90 degrees and place your thumb on the flat of the blade.
The key thing to remember about both grips is not hold the sword too tightly. If you can't do a technique or go into a guard, you are probably gripping too tightly with one or both of your hands.
5. Basic stance
Place your left foot forwards, with foot facing the imaginary opponent, knee in line with your foot, and knee slightly bent. Your right foot is held behind, with foot pointing between 45 and 90 degree off to the side compared to your left foot. Knee is also in line with the direction of the foot and slightly bent. Torso is upright, with back straight. You can lean forwards a little at the waist.
Try this stance with the left leg forwards, and with the right leg forwards.
6. Footwork
There are three types of footwork:
Passing step
Gathering step
Triangle step
Passing step:Â from the basic stance, pass your right leg forwards, and swivel your left leg and foot so that your right foot now faces forwards and the left foot 45 - 90 degrees to the side. Now do the same with the other foot to return to the basic stance. You are essentially switching from a left leg forwards basic stance to a right leg forwards basic stance.
Gathering step:Â from the basic stance (left or right leg forwards), step forwards with your lead leg, now follow with your back leg so that you end up in the same basic stance. To go backwards, step back with your back leg, and follow with your lead leg so that you end in the basic stance. This is basically stepping in a way that keeps the same leg forwards all the time.
Triangle step: This is basically a passing step that is done in place, moving to the side, or moving diagonally forwards. From the left basic stance, pass your right leg forwards and diagonally right. Now move your left leg back. In a way, you can think of it like two half-passing steps, first passing the back leg forwards half-way, and then passing the forward leg back half-way.
7. Guards
Guards are positions in which we hold a sword and, while they are usually positions in which we can hold a sword fairly comfortably for an extended period of time, they are not necessarily positions in which we should hold the sword for too long. Instead, they generally represent starting positions, middle positions, or end positions in an action. This means we can teach someone how to cut by saying 'go into guard A, now cut through position B and end in position C'.
Guards are also useful positions from which we can take action. Each guard generally facilitates an attack of some sort, and usually a defence of some sort.
All guards provide a combination of a threat, passive protection (i.e. they defend you because of the position of your blade) and active protection (i.e. they allow you to move to another position to parry an incoming strike). However, some guards provide more of one or less of the other. For example, guards with the blade in front of us tend to provide a balance of threat, passive protection and active protection, whereas guards with the blade above out heads provide little passive protection, but lots of threat and active protection.
Medieval people weren't idiots. They realised that, when doing basic techniques such as cuts, thrusts and parries, all of these actions involve us doing the same five guard positions again and again. All guard positions can therefore we simplified into the following:
The high guard with point upwards (the Roof guard, or Vom Tag)
The high guard with point forwards (the Ox guard, or Ochs)
The low guard with point forwards (the Plough, or Pflug)
The low guard with point downwards (the Fool, or Alber)
The centre guard with point extended (Longpoint).
There are variations of each guard.
7.1 Roof guard (Vom Tag)
The roof guard is any position where you hold the sword upwards with blade not pointing at the opponent, and the blade somewhat above the head.
How is it held?
The most common variations are with hands directly above the head, at the right shoulder and at the left shoulder. Some also hold this with hands lower, around waist-level on either side which allows for quick strikes.
What is it for?
Roof guard is the natural place to start a cut from above. Any cut from above will naturally pass through the Roof guard, even if you started the cut in a different guard. You will eventually learn, however, that nearly any cut in any direction can be made from the Roof guard.
Depending on where you hold it, the Roof guard offers little to some passive protection, and mostly provides the threat of a strike. Many parries can be made from this guard.
7.2 Ox guard (Ochs)
Ox is where the blade is held at shoulder height, pointing at the opponent.
How is it held?
There are three variations. The true Ox guard is with blade dipped a little but otherwise pointing at the opponent's face. The Hanging point is where the blade is hanging to around the hip level, either straight in front or over the left or right shoulder. The Unicorn is where the point is pointing upwards, in which is becomes something like an in-between Ox and Roof guard.
What is it for?
Ox naturally threatens a thrust, and this is its primary attack. Ox can also unwind into the Roof guard for a powerful cut from above, and is its most common usage. Ox defends against cuts from above the blade on the side it is held, and the blade can be redirected across the body and over the opposite shoulder to defend against cuts to the other side. More generally, Ox is the natural end position of a cut from below.
7.3 Plough guard (Pflug)
Plough guard is a low guard with hands at hip height and the blade pointing upwards somewhat at the opponent.
How is it held?
Often people hold this with the hands in front of the body, however this exposes the hands. Get your body more in profile so you can tuck your hands in. Your hands should be no closer to the opponent than your head. The tip is pointing at your opponent. Do not hold your point off to the side.
What is it for?
The Plough guard defends one side of your upper body. It threatens a thrust from below, and this is its quickest attack. Short, quick cuts can be made from it. It is often a natural position if you made a 'half cut' or a 'short cut', i.e. cut half-way instead of to the floor. It is a nice position to parry strikes from above or below.
7.4 Fool's guard (Alber)
Fool's guard is any guard where the hands and the blade are held low, pointing somewhat towards the floor.
How is it held?
There are many variations of the Fool's guard. The true Fool's guard is held with the blade in front and pointing down. The hands can either be in front of the groin, or held at the hips on either side. Another variation is with the blade held outwards away from the body, and this is often called the Change guard. Another variation is with the blade held behind us, like a tail, and this is called the Tail guard.
What is it for?
You would be foolish to attack someone in this guard. It gives the impression that you are open above, but in reality the blade can be lifted quickly into a thrust, a rising cut, or you can made sweeping parries across the body to defend. In some earlier sources it was called 'fencing from the sweeps'.
The Fool's guard is also the natural end point for a cut from above, and the natural starting point for a cut from below.
7.5 Longpoint
Any position with the sword extended out in front of the body is called Longpoint. It can therefore look like an extended Ox or Plough guard, or it can be held more in the middle of the body. We will not cover this in depth in this guide.
8. Moving through the guards
When holding the guards, if your sword is on your right, your left leg is forwards. If the sword is on your left, the right leg is forwards.
Exercise 8a:
Practice moving from each of the guards (and their variations) into other guards. Moving the sword first a little way, and follow with your feet, either making passing steps forwards and backwards as you change guard positions, or treading on the spot with triangle steps. Example sequence is:
Start in right Roof
Move to left Roof with a step
Move to left Ox
Move to right Ox with a step
Move to right Plough
Move to left Plough with a step
Move to left Fool
Move to right Fool with a step
Practice other sequences.
9. The four openings
Hold the sword in front of your body with hands in front of the stomach, the blade straight up, and the crossguard side to side. Notice how the sword divides your body into four quarters. The blade divides your body into a left half and a right half. The crossguard divides it into your upper and lower half. For example, your left ear is in the upper-left opening. Your right shoulder in the upper right opening. Your hands are in the lower left or lower right opening (depending on which side of your hands you are talking about). Your left leg is in the lower left opening, and the right leg in the lower right opening.
If you hold the sword in the middle of your body like this, your opponent can attack any of the four openings. All four openings are 'open'.
However, when you go into a guard position, you tend to close off one of the four openings. For example, the Roof guard held at the right shoulder has closed off some of the upper right opening. The fool guard generally closes off one of the lower openings. The plough tends to close part of an upper opening and part of a lower opening. The Ox tends to close one of the upper openings. Some guards will close none of the openings, but may allow for one or more of the openings to be closed if needed, or offer other benefits such as not presenting your sword where it can be beaten aside by the opponent, or making it more difficult for your opponent to estimate your measure (how far away you can attack from).
It is worth considering that the four openings exist independently of your sword, and this is simply because your opponent cannot really cut to your right opening with a strike to the left side of your body (not without going through your body first!). However, at the same time, the openings can also be considered to be relative to your sword. By moving your sword, you move the dividing lines of the openings to the point where one of the openings becomes a small and non-viable target. These two points of view are contradictions, but they are both true and useful ways to think about the four openings.
See chapter 11 for more info.
10. Striking to the openings
There are many ways to cut, using the true edge and the false edge, and to different targets. There are 8 cutting directions possible:
As this is basic longsword, we will focus on the four diagonal cuts:
The Over Hew (oberhau):Â A diagonal cut downwards from the right or left shoulder.
The Under Hew (unterhau):Â A diagonal cut upwards from the left or right Fool (also called the Change Guard).
The right over hew
Start in the basic stance with left leg forwards, the sword in a right shoulder Roof guard. Now cut into a left Fool guard, making sure your sword passes through a Longpoint guard. At the same time, make a passing step with your right leg.
When making the cut, start by pushing your lead hand forwards, which will bring the tip of your sword in front of your hand. You never want your hands to lead the blade. The blade must lead the hands in order to defend them.
Start the cut with your hands, and then start to make the step once the cut is on its way. Aim to finish the cut as your foot lands on the ground. In other words, you don't step and then cut, you cut and then step, but aiming to finish the two things at more or less the same time.
The left over hew
The same as the right over hew, except you start in a left shoulder Roof guard, and with your right leg forwards.
Exercise 10a:
Start in right Ox.
Rotate the blade over your head into a right Roof guard.
Cut forwards with a step into the left Change guard (Fool's guard).
Lift the blade into left Plough.
Lift the hands and blade into left Ox.
Roate the blade over your head into left Roof guard.
Cut with a step into the right Change guard (Fool's guard).
Lift the blade into right Plough.
Lift the hands and blade into right Ox.
Practice this stepping forwards, backward and triangle steps.
The right under hew
Start in right shoulder Roof Guard. Now drop your hands with the blade behind you into a right Fool guard variation, with the blade pointing somewhat behind you (often called the Tail Guard). Now cut diagonally upward to your left and end with the point forwards in a left Ox Guard. Like with the over hew, the left leg is forwards, and you pass your right leg forwards as you cut.
The left under hew
The same as the right under hew, but you start from left shoulder Roof Guard, and with the right leg forwards.
Exercise 10b
Start from the right Roof guard.
Drop the blade behind you, and drop your hands into the right Tail guard (Fool's guard).
Make a diagonal cut into the left Ox guard.
Lift the blade into the left Unicorn guard (Ox guard variation).
Move into the left Roof guard.
Drop the blade backwards and drop your hands into the left Tail guard (Fool's guard).
Make a diagonal cut upwards into the right Ox guard.
Move to right Unicorn guard (Ox variation).
Move in the right Roof guard.
Practice this stepping forwards, backward and triangle steps.
The four openings
You have just learned the four diagonal cuts. It should go without saying that you have also just learned the primary cuts to each of the four openings. From your point of view:
the right over hew attacks your opponent's upper right opening
the left over hew attacks their upper left opening
the left under hew attacks their lower left opening
the right under hew attacks their lower right opening
This is a simplification, as it is conceivable that a right over hew aimed low could attack the opponent's left leg, and an under hew could be aimed at the head. However, generally speaking, these four cuts are primarily aimed at the four corresponding openings.
Exercise 10c: Meyer's square (basic)
The Meyer’s square, also known as Meyer’s four openings drill, is an exercise from Joachim Meyer’s 1570 book on longsword fencing. It helps practitioners learn how to strike to the four openings (Vier Blossen) on an opponent. Here are the basic instructions:
Diagram Explanation:
The diagram consists of four concentric rings with numbers.
Each ring represents a different pattern of striking to the four openings.
The outermost numbers indicate the order of striking: 1 (high right), 2 (low left), 3 (low right), and 4 (high left).
High Right (Over hew):
Stand in a guard position.
Strike diagonally from your right shoulder to your opponent’s left shoulder.
Use the true edge of your sword.
Low Left (Under hew):
From the same guard position, strike diagonally from your left hip to your opponent’s right hip.
Again, use the true edge.
Low Right (Under hew):
Reverse the direction: strike diagonally from your right hip to your opponent’s left hip.
Maintain the true edge orientation.
High Left (Over hew):
Finally, strike diagonally from your left shoulder to your opponent’s right shoulder.
Keep using the true edge.
11. Defending the four openings
Defence can be divided into two types:
Passive defence (guards)
Active defence (parry)
Let's use an analogy to explain the difference.
Imagine you are in a castle. The castle has four doors: N, S, E and W. Because of a fault with the design of the castle, none of the doors can be locked, and only one door at a time can be closed by bracing your body against it. When you close one door, the other three are open.
Outside of the castle is a knight with a sword. He wants to enter one of the doors and kill you.
How do you defend against the knight?
If you close none of the doors, the knight has four doors he can enter. You need to hope that you can see which door he is moving towards so that you can run across and close the correct door before he reaches it. Ideally, you stand in a position where you can easily reach any of the doors at a moment's notice, such as the middle of the castle. However, there is a risk that you will choose the wrong door to run to and the knight enters a different door and kills you.
Likewise, if you run to a door too soon, the knight will run around to another door and enter through there. Ideally you want to keep the door open until just before the knight reaches it and then slam it in his face.
You can also decide to close one of the doors while the knight is still thinking about which door to enter. The knight can no longer enter this door, and you only have three doors to worry about, not four; but which door do you close? You see the knight hanging around by the North door, so you close this one. Logically, this means the knight is going to try and enter the East or West door as these are the closest, but you are confident that you will be able to run to either of those doors and slam them in his face before he can enter. However, if the knight decides to go all the way around and enter the South door, you are equally confident that you can run to that door and close it in time. The knights only hope is that he can outrun you and so enter the door before you can close it, or he needs to trick you by making you run to one of the other doors so that he can quickly run back into the door you have just left.
Hopefully you will have realised the implications of this analogy. The knight is your opponent, waiting to attack you. The castle is your body and the four doors are the four openings. When you close one of the doors while the knight is far away, you are passively defending one of the openings using a guard before the opponent has attacked you. When you run to the door and slam it in the knight's face, you are defending that opening using parry after your opponent has attacked you.
The term parry is the modern English term, which itself comes from French, and basically means to actively defend. The German term from the 16th century meant to 'displace' (Versetzen), but this is often translated as parry.
A parry is the equivalent of slamming the door in the knight's face. As your opponent makes their cut towards one of your openings, you move your sword to meet their blade just before it reaches you. You don't pre-empt their cut and get their way too early, else the opponent will just cut somewhere else. You parry once your opponent has committed to the action.
In longsword, there are multiple ways to parry, and these will be covered separately. However, there are also multiple ways to guard. Like in the analogy, you need to decide which door you close with a guard, and this in part is based on which door (or which opening) you think your opponent is going to attack (and which opening you want your opponent to attack).
12. Basic parries for the upper and lower openings
The two parries
In chapter 10 you were introduced to the two main cuts: the over hew and the under hew. Speaking in very general terms, it can be said that their are two basic parries: the over hew and the under hew!
When done correctly, an over hew (called a supressing cut) will parry an over hew made at your left or right side, and it will parry an under hew made at your left or right side. Likewise, when done correctly, an under hew will parry an under hew or an over hew made at your left or right side.
The beauty of this is that, when your opponent cuts towards you, you can never be 100% sure which side they are going to cut, or whether they will cut to your upper or lower openings. You can usually be reasonably sure of one of these things, but rarely both. Therefore, by being able to defend against all cuts with the same parry, you double your chances of making a successful parry.
Suppressing cut
The suppressing cut is a cut made straight down the middle of your body, but with your body angled so that your cut is made across the blade of your opponent. This means your cut is aimed about 30cm or so to the left of right of your opponent's shoulder.
While the supressing cut can be made from Roof guard on the shoulder, it may be easier to demonstrate the cut by starting with the hilt above your head, and cutting straight down into a middle Fool's guard position. Now do it again but, as you cut, make a triangle step in the opposite direction to the cut. This means if you cut left, you step right.
Exercise 12a: Now do it against an opponent:
If the opponent is cutting an Over Hew to your left side, make a suppressing cut (while stepping right) over the middle of their sword. You are cutting at the flat of their blade with the edge of yours.
If the opponent is cutting an Over Hew to your right side, make a suppressing cut (while stepping left) over the middle of their sword. You are cutting at the flat of their blade with the edge of yours.
If the opponent is cutting an Under Hew to your left side, make a suppressing cut (while stepping right) over the middle or strong of their sword. Their blade will slide up into your crossguard.
If the opponent is cutting an Under Hew to your right side, make a suppressing cut (while stepping left) over the middle or strong of their sword. Their blade will slide up into your crossguard.
It is worth noting that, especially against the Under Hew, if your opponent is cutting from too far away to hit you, or you cut too close to the weak of their blade, their cut may skip off your blade. However, since they are too far away their cut will not likely reach you anyway. If they are too far away, you don't really need to parry.
Be sure to keep you hands in the middle of your body when parrying an Under Hew. If you place your hands on the side your opponent is cutting towards, they may be struck by the cut.
Also, the parries can be made with a step backwards, but rarely a step forwards (unless you are counter-attacking them).
The video below shows this as part of Meyer's rapier. There don't seem to be any longsword videos on YouTube demonstrating it.
Under hews
Just like the supressing cut can parry cuts from above or below, an undercut of your own can also parry cuts from above or below. However, this is a little trickier to pull off.
When being attacked by an under hew, this can be parried by an under hew of your own, but directed at the sword of the opponent. When they make an Under Hew directed to your left leg, you make an under hew directed to their sword. If done correctly, their blade will slide up onto your strong and catch in your crossguard. Make the cut with a step to the side away from the cut, or a step back.
When being attacked by an Over Hew, you can make an Under Hew that ends in Ox. This next bit is very important! Against the Over Hew, your Under Hew needs to end in Ox on the side they are cutting to, and with your point aimed at the opponent's face. Never make the Under Hew against an Over Hew with the point aimed at the opponent's sword, otherwise your sword will not cross their blade and the two blades will just slide past each other without (or barely) touching. When done correctly, the opponent's blade will hit the strong of your blade and slide into your crossguard; your point will be right in front of their face threatening a thrust. Although we are not talking about thrusts in this guide, this is the one exception where (in a controlled manner) you can thrust the opponent's mask.
Exercise 12b:
Opponent cuts an Under hew to your left side. You parry with an Under hew.
Opponent cuts an Under hew to your right side. You parry with an Under hew.
Opponent cuts an Over hew to your left side. You parry with an Under hew that end in left Ox with the point aimed at their mask.
Opponent cuts an Over hew to your right side. You parry with an Under hew that end in right Ox with the point aimed at their mask.
Thinking about it tactically
With both these parries, you are basically keeping the door closest to the knight open, but you are staying in a position (Roof Guard on the opposite side, or a tail guard) that gives you a fast and direct path towards that door. This means you need to decide, based on your opponent's guard, which side they are likely to attack. You need to get into the appropriate guard to defend. If your opponent switches guard, you switch guard. When they attack, you need to quickly parry with a cut of your own.
The downside to this approach is that the opponent is close to your opening, meaning they may attack you before you can parry. It is crucial that you give yourself enough time to parry, by maintaining distance, and stepping backwards or to the side to create more time (see chapter 13).
Exercise 12c: Meyer's square partner exercise
Roles:
Striker (Partner A): This partner will perform the diagonal true edge strikes (Over hew and Under hew).
Parrier (Partner B): This partner will focus on blocking or deflecting the strikes.
Execution:
Partner A (Striker):
Assume the guard position.
Execute the high right (over hew), low left (under hew), low right (under hew), and high left (over hew) strikes.
Maintain proper form and control.
Partner B (Parrier):
Stand opposite Partner A.
Use a sword or training implement (or even an open hand) to parry the strikes.
Focus on timing, positioning, and precision.
Block the strikes by deflecting them away from your body.
Variations:
Sequential Parries:
Partner B parries each strike in sequence.
For example, when Partner A performs the high right strike, Partner B blocks it.
Then, Partner A proceeds to the next strike, and Partner B parries again.
Randomized Parries:
Partner A performs strikes randomly.
Partner B must react quickly and parry based on the incoming strike.
This variation improves reflexes and adaptability.
Safety and Communication:
Communicate clearly with your partner.
Start slowly and gradually increase the intensity.
Use appropriate protective gear if practicing with real swords.
When you attack to the openings, you attack the person, not the sword. Make sure you are in distance, meaning that if your partner didn't parry the strike, it would hit them. Saying that, you should do this with control so that you can pull your blow and not hit your partner if they mess up the parry.
When you defend, don't defend too early. It is easy for the above exercise to turn into a game of 'pattycake' where the defender is parrying before the attacker has even started their attack. Try to parry at the last possible moment. You can prevent a game of pattycake by randomising the striking directions, once you and your partner feel comfortable doing this.
13. Distance
When you were doing exercise 12c, you probably found that, as your partner was attacking you they kept coming forwards, and at some point you got so close together that you couldn't parry effectively. This is because you weren't moving to keep yourself at the correct distance.
There are many ways to think about distance in fencing. I like to think about four distances:
Grappling distance: can you grab your opponents arm or body without needing to step forwards?
Close distance: Can you hit your opponent with the sword without taking a step forwards?
Perfect distance: Can you hit your opponent with the sword with a single step forwards?
Out of distance: Can you hit your opponent with the sword with two steps forwards?
If the opponent is more than two steps away from you, they are basically not in fighting distance so you don't need to worry about them.
You should aim to be out of distance most of the time. When you want to attack, you move into perfect distance and you attack with a single step. Once your attack lands (or is parried), you are at close distance. You do not want to stay at close distance for any length of time, so retreat while defending yourself and get back out of distance, or come forward and grapple (not covered in this guide), but don't stay in close distance.
Why these distances? It is all to do with the speed at which we move:
The hand (and weapon) moves quicker than the eye can perceive.
The hand also moves quicker than the foot can move.
The foot moves quicker than the feet can move.
Close distance
When you are at close distance, you can hit your opponent by only moving your sword hand. This attack is quicker than your opponent can react to it, making a hit very likely. However, when you are at close distance, your opponent is also at close distance, meaning they can hit you just as quickly. Therefore, close distance is a dangerous place to be for both of you, and the first to attack will always be the first to hit (and in all likelihood you will both be hit).
Perfect distance
Perfect distance is a balance. You have to attack with a single step forwards, which is still quick, but not quicker than the eye (i.e. not quicker than your opponent's reaction time). Because your opponent can see the attack, and then parry it by just moving their hand, this combined motion gives them just enough time to defend. They can create more time for themselves by stepping backwards as they parry, as this means your attack has to travel a longer distance. In fencing, distance = time.
"Well, that's rubbish!" you might say. "How can I possibly hit them if they always have time to parry?". That's a good question, and one that will be answered another time. The important thing to know now is that perfect distance works both ways, meaning when you are at perfect distance to attack, so is your opponent. This means you also have time to defend against their attacks.
Out of distance
This is the safe distance. As your opponent needs to take two steps to attack you, you have plenty of time to mount a defence. Likewise, your opponent has plenty of time to defend against your attacks. Much of the art of fencing consists of moving from 'out of distance' into 'perfect distance' in a way that sets you up for a good attack. When your opponent is out of distance, there is no immediate threat. When they enter perfect distance there is an immediate threat.
Exercise 13a: Partner drill
Decide on a distance that you want to maintain either perfect distance or out of distance. One fencer moves forwards or backwards, and the other partner maintains that distance.
To make this more competitive, one person has a sword, the other doesn't. The person without a sword is to maintain perfect distance at all times, meaning if the person with a sword steps in to (lightly) touch their fencing mask, the other fencer should be stepping backwards.
Exercise 13b: Chess
In pairs, the fencers start a few meters apart. They each take it in turns to move. They have to take two steps per turn. This can be a step forwards, backwards or to the side. A gathering step = 1 move, a passing step = 1 move per leg that is moved, a triangle step = 1 move. The goal is to get close enough to your opponent's shoulder with your hand.
14. Ox and Hanging point parries
Ox
We've actually explored this before, in chapter 12. This is the same, but made as a guard rather than an Under Hew. While it is most effective as a counter-thrust (a parry that also thrusts the opponent), Ox is a useful parry against Over hews.
Exercise 14a:
Stand in left Plough.
Partner cuts to the left side of your head with an Over hew.
Lift the sword into the left Ox position, with the tip pointing at the opponent. The strike should have been parried on your crossguard.
Do this starting in right Plough, into right Ox.
Hanging parry
This is a parry using the Hanging point guard. To get into the hanging point, start in left Plough. Now raise your hands up above your left shoulder, and let the blade hand over your right shoulder at about 45 degrees, somewhat forwards but not pointing at your opponent.
Do the same starting in right Plough, but let the blade hang over your left shoulder.
The hanging point in effect forms a sloping 'roof' over your head and shoulder. The blade sits at a 90 degree angle relative to the direction of an incoming diagonal cut. This means the cut will hit the blade and slide off to the side.
Exercise 14b:
Stand in left Plough.
Partner cuts to the right side of your head with an Over hew.
Lift the sword into the right Hanging point parry. The strike should have been parried on your blade.
Do this starting in right Plough, into left Hanging point parry.
Exercise 14c:
Do the same as 14a and 14b, but mix it up. Sometimes the opponent will cut to your left side, sometimes to your right side. You need to parry in Ox or Hanging point, as appropriate.
It is worth noting that Ox and Hanging point can be reached from other guards, not just Plough. Try the same exercise from Fool's guard and Roof guard.
Exercise 14d: Meyer's square with hanging point
Carry out the Meyer's square partner drill, however this time the defender will incorporate the hanging parry. On the first pattern of the Meyer's square, the easiest way to do this is to parry over hew, under hew, under hew, hanging parry.
15. Parrying with Plough
Plough can be used to parry Over hews.
Exercise 15a:
Stand in right Roof guard. Your partner cuts at you with an Over hew or a Middle hew to the upper left opening. Cut strongly into a left Plough position, with the tip of your sword pointing at the opponent. Try variations, such as parrying with the sword closer to your body, further away, and even with the tip of the your sword pointing more at the right shoulder of your opponent.
Do the same but starting in left Roof guard and parrying over hews to your right opening.
What you should find is that, when your opponent cuts are you, there is a delay in your brain reacting. It takes us around 0.3 seconds to react. By cutting into Plough, you are basically cutting 'short', and so your sword gets across your body very quickly.
16. Middle hew and Thwart cut
The middle hew (mittelhau) and the thwart cut (Zwerchau) are similar cuts in that they are both horizontal cuts made from the left or right sides. The difference between them is the height they are cut at, and the mechanics of how they are done.
Middle hew
Start in right shoulder Roof guard. Now make a true edge cut at shoulder height from the right to the left, stepping forwards with the right leg as you do so. The arms will be straight, and the hands at shoulder height as you make the cut.
Do the same from the left side, starting in left Roof Guard.
In reality, you can aim the middle hew higher or lower by dipping or raising the arms, but the cut will have maximum reach when done at shoulder height.
There can be a temptation to aim the cut below the crossguard of the opponent, hitting the hands stomach. Be careful with this cut if aiming for the hands as it can hit hard. Also know that, when aiming the cut below the sword of the opponent, if your opponent choses to attack you at the same time, you are likely to be hit in the head. This is because your sword is not providing any passive defence during a middle hew, unlike with diagonal cuts that tend to defend you during the cut. Attach above the crossguard should provide you with some protection during the cut.
Exercise 16a: Meyer's square with middle hews
Continue doing the Meyer's square partner exercise, but this time use only middle hews. Once you have done that, use a combination of middle hews and diagonal cuts.
Thwart cut
This is one first of the 'master cuts'. Don't worry about the name for now, the master cuts are covered in more detail later in this guide.
The Thwart cut ('Zwerch') is basically a middle hew but done at head height using the thumb grip. It cuts with the false edge from the right, and the true edge from the left.
Start in right Roof Guard in common grip.
Now switch to thumb grip.
Make a horizontal cut to the left just above eye height, that ends in a left Ox guard.
Now rotate the blade horizontally behind your head and make a horizontal cut to the right just above eye level that ends in the right Ox guard.
Try doing the above but starting in the left Roof guard.
You will notice that you cannot make this cut with straight arms; your arms will be bent. This means the cut does not have a lot of range. What is its use then?
The thwart cut parries cuts from above. If made close enough to the opponent, it can simultaneously parry and hit the opponent: we call this a 'counter time' action, however this will be covered later.
Exercise 16b: Meyer's square with the Thwart cut
Continue doing the Meyer's square partner exercise from Exercise 16a. However, instead of making 4 cuts, you will make 6. The first four will be to the four openings as before. Cut 5 and 6 will be Thwart cuts, made as you retreat.
17. Parry-riposte
So far, students have been attacking or defending. However, it is unlikely you will fence someone who does not fight back. When the defender is being attacked, s/he must defend, but once the attack is finished s/he has an opportunity to return an attack. This returned attack is called a 'riposte' in modern terminology.
Strong
When we parry an attack, we either do so strongly, or we do so weakly. This is a concept related to the strong of the blade and the weak of the blade.
Example: When they cut an over hew at us, we cut an over hew at their sword. We block the attack by catching a weaker part of their blade (i.e. the weak half of the blade) on a stronger part of ours (the strong half of the blade). Their blade has stopped, and they need to pull the blade back to make a second attack. in that moment as they pull back to make another attack, we can make our own attack.
Exercise 17a:
Practice parrying over hews with an over hew and then returning an over hew of your own to your partner's head.
Weak
However, sometimes when we parry we are weaker than they are. For exmaple, if we catch their strike on the weak part of our blade, their attack may blow through our parry. We can give in to their strength by going weak. A key way to do this is shown below:
Example: They attack us with an over hew to our left. We parry it with an over hew of our own. At the moment of impact, as their cut impacts the weak of our blade, we rise with our hands and lift the blade into a hanging parry over our right shoulder. Their blade slides off of our blade. We now can make our own attack.
Exercise 17b:
Practice parrying over hews with an over hew, then turn the over hew into a hanging parry, and return an over hew of your own to your partner's head.
Exercise 17c:
This is a simple exercise that teaches you parry-riposte.
Fencer A attacks with a right Over Hew.
Fencer B defends with a right Over Hew, and then returns a left over hew.
Fencer A defends with a hanging parry over the right shoulder, then returns a left Over Hew.
Fencer B defends with a left Over Hew, and then returns a right Over hew.
Fencer A defends with a hanging parry over the left shoulder.
The pattern repeats.
Exercise 17d:
This is a simple exercise that teaches you parry-riposte.
Fencer A attacks with a right Under Hew.
Fencer B defends with a right Under Hew, and then returns a right Over hew.
Fencer A defends with right Over Hew, then returns a left Under Hew.
Fencer B defends with a left Under Hew, and then returns a left Over hew.
Fencer A defends with a left Over Hew.
The pattern repeats.
Exercise 17e: Meyer's square with a parry and riposte
Continue doing the Meyer's square partner exercise from Exercise using the 6 cuts (the 4 diagonals and two thwart cuts as you retreat after your attack). The person defending can make a return attack (called a 'riposte') from above after they have parried the first four cuts. The Thwart cut should be able to parry this return cut.
18. Before (Vor) and after (Nach) and Indes
German longsword is not just a collection of techniques. It has its own theory of fencing, of which the '5 Words' are chief. I've written about the 5 Words a number of times and in a number of different ways. My thinking on them is constantly evolving. Sadly, we don't have a very good account of the 5 Words in the historical sources - at least, not enough that their meaning is completely understood. There are 5 Words: Before (Vor), After (Nach), Weak, Strong, and 'In the moment' (Indes).
Before and after
Fencing is really a turn-based activity. When two fencers are standing perfectly still, waiting for the other fencer to move, the fencing bout is effectively frozen in time. Someone has to be the first mover, and someone needs to be the second mover. In other words, someone is 'before' and the other is 'after'. However, these moves do not happen separately: fencer A begins to make a move, and fencer B makes their move in response to fencer A's move, but while fencer A's move is still happening.
The first to move is at a disadvantage, because they do not know what their opponent is going to do, but their opponent knows what the first mover is doing, because they've just seen them start their move. The person in the 'after' can therefore always act to counter whatever the person in the 'before' is doing. So what is the solution?
The solution is that the person acting in the 'before' must, at the earliest opportunity, present a threat. This forces the person in the 'after' to respond to that threat. Because they must respond to the threat, the person in the 'before' now has a better idea of what the person in the 'after' is going to do: their options have been narrowed.
'Before' (Vor) therefore does not mean 'the first person to move' but it really refers to the person who has a threat advantage. In the sources, 'Vor' is generally refered to as the attacks you make against your opponent. The person attacking (or presenting the biggest threat) is in the 'before' and has an advantage. The person in the 'Nach' (after) must respond to that threat if they are to survive. Nach is therefore referred to in the sources as the techniques you bring into play to defend or counter the threat.
By presenting a threat, the first mover can turn their disadvantage into an advantage.
I expect that it will take a beginner fencer many months before the above concept makes intuitive sense. The lesson for the beginner fencer is this:
There are two main statuses of a fencer. They are either attacking (Before, Vor) or they are defending (After, Nach).
When we present a threat and then attack earnestly to our opponent (i.e. to hit them, not hit their sword), we gain the 'Before'.
If our opponent is in the Before, we cannot also be in the Before, otherwise they will hit us and we will hit them and we will both end up hit. We must recognise when we are in the After. When we are in the After, we have an obligation to defend. This is our priority.
When we are in the Before, as long as our opponent has not yet 'gained the Before' (more on that soon), we can keep attacking.
However, every time the opponent makes a defence (i.e. a parry) they have an opportunity to gain the Vor by making a riposte. They can only do this if, after making the parry, they are in a better position to attack us than we are to attack them, and can make their riposte while their opponent is recovering from the attack. At this point, we need to recognise we have lost the Before and switch to being in the After. In other words, we need to think 'defend' and not 'attack'.
In practice, we start in the After (defend mode), and switch to Before (attack mode) when we see an opportunity to attack before our opponent can attack. If the opponent parries, we quickly need to determine if we can continue to attack, or whether we should switch back to After (defend mode).
Another way we can think about Before and After is this: when in Before, we chase our opponent's openings. When in After, we chase their sword.
Indes
'Indes' means 'in the moment' or 'in between'. It can be taken to mean to act within the moment of your opponent's action to gain the Before. Whenever we attack and our opponent parries, there is a split second decision to be made: do I continue in the Before and attack again, or is my opponent now attacking and so should I defend? This is one of the definitions of 'Indes'. It essentially means you fight with 'eyes open' (paying attention to your opponent) and not 'eyes closed' (making pre-planned attack 'combos' regardless of how your opponent is responding).
Indes has another potential meaning: to interrupt your opponent's action. The best example of this is: when is it safe to attack? If your opponent is standing still in guard waiting for your attack, they are ready for you and able to parry you (or worse). However, let's say your opponent is out of distance and they start to take a step forwards into perfect distance so that they can attack you. In that moment (Indes), while they are half-way through their stepping action, you step forwards and attack. Your opponent is unable to respond with a parry because they are busy with their own action of stepping forwards and basically walks into your attack. You catch them unawares and hit them. You acted in Indes - within the moment of their action.
There is one more potential meaning of Indes covered in chapter 20.
Excercise 18a:
Easy: The fencers will do the Meyer's square partner drill again, however this time either fencer can be the one to start the attacking sequence and so be in the 'Before'. The other fencer must recognise this and be in the 'After'.
Medium: As above, but once the attacker has finished their four cuts, the defender can now make a riposte and seize the 'Before'. They can now make the four cuts. The exercise is then reset, and either fencer can seize the Before in the first set of cuts.
Hard: As above, except now the fencer defending can make a riposte at any point.
These exercises are to be done slowly. The object is not to see if you can hit your opponent, it is to see if you can recognise when it is safe to gain the Before, and when you must stay in the After.
19. Feints
A feint is where you pretend to cut to one opening, but then you cut to a different opening. There are two types of feint:
A feint that is pre-planned.
A feint done in response to what your opponent is doing (called a 'fail')
A pre-planned feint is essentially where you plan to pretend to cut left and then cut right, for example.
A 'fail' is where you start to cut left slowly, see that your opponent is making a parry, and then you cut right. If your opponent did not make the parry you would have continued to cut left. In modern fencing terminology, this is called 'broken time' because you start one action (the first cut), stop it early and make a second cut.
Exercise 19a:
Do the Meyer's square partner exercise. However, this time the person attacking will decide not to connect some of the cuts. For example, the first cut might be a feint, then the second cut might be a feint, etc.
To learn to fail, the only way to do this exercise safely is to reverse the response. If your partner is going to parry, then make the strike land. If they aren't going to make the parry, then pull the blow so it doesn't land.
If you can use a padded sword like a boffer, you can do it properly, where you make the strike land if they don't parry, and feint if they do.
20. Counter attacks
We have looked at the concept of Before and After. When someone is in the Before, they are attacking. The other fencer has an obligation to defend themselves, and so they are in the After. The goal of the person in the After is to defend against the attack until they have an opportunity to attack and gain the Before.
We also looked at Parry-riposte, which is essentially where the roles of each fencer (Before, After) get reversed following a successful parry. The important bit to note here is that the parry and the riposte are two separate actions.
A counter-attack is different. A counter-attack is where the parry and the riposte happen at the same time. If my opponent attacks me, instead of parrying the attack, I instead make my own attack. Obviously if I do this badly, I will hit my opponent at the same time they hit me. A successful counter-attack therefore always includes a parrying aspect, and an attacking aspect. In other words, the counter-attack needs to parry and attack simultaneously.
Many people consider 'parrying' to be 'bad', and believe that every parry should be a counter-attack. Indeed, parrying without making a riposte is a wasted opportunity (assuming your parry allowed you to safely make a riposte). However, to say that every parry should be a counter-attack ignores a simple fact: a counter-attack is a great thing to do, if you can pull it off, and it is the pinnacle of fencing; but a counter-attack doesn't just happen, it is planned in advance and can only really be done against certain committed attacks, when the geometry is right. In other words, counter-attacks are hard to do properly.
Many people class a counter-attack as an 'attack', rather than a 'defence'. I personally believe that counter-attacks are defences first and foremost, and this is easy to prove: if you perform a counter-attack which fails to hit your opponent (perhaps because you are too far away), but it succeeds at parrying their attack, that's a good result. On the other hand, if your counter-attack succeeds at hitting the opponent but fails to parry their attack, you are dead.
With some exceptions, counter-attacks work in the same way: they first parry your opponent's attack on the strong of your blade, and then they hit your opponent with the weak (or point) of your blade, all done in a single motion. (However, some work by voiding your body so their attack misses, while you strike them with your blade.)
Therefore, when counter-attacking, concentrate on making the defensive portion first, and attack portion second. The defensive portion is mostly about putting your hilt in the right place at the right time. Once you have that, the attacking bit is easy. The hard bit is getting the timing right, and coaxing your opponent to attack you in such a way that a counter-attack is possible.
Examples of counter-attacks are provided in chapter 21.
Lastly, it is worth mentioning that one of the 5 Words mentioned in chapter 18 is Indes, which means 'in the moment' or 'in between'. Some consider counter-attacks to be Indes actions, as they are attacks made into your opponent's attacking action. This is logical, but in the Liechtenauer sources the word Indes is almost never used in the context of counter-attacks. Indes is usually used for 'chasing' actions where you make a second action following a parry. I consider a counter-attack to be an 'After' or Nach action because, as explained above, it is defensive first and foremost as it relies on allowing your opponent to attack you. However, this is semantics.
21. The Master Cuts
The master cuts are the name given to a group of five cuts that were taught by Johan Liechtenauer and his students in the 15th Century. Why they are called 'master cuts' is a bit of a mystery, but it is likely because they are the cuts taught by the old masters (a master is just a teacher).
To simplify matters, this guide does not cover the master cuts in all their glory. Instead, I am including the mater cuts so that you know they exist and have a sense of what they are and how they can be used, but also because each one teaches an important fencing concept.
In short, the master cuts all teach us something about the geometry of fencing, and some of them can be used as counter-attacks.
Every master cut is made from the right shoulder 'Roof' guard (although can be made from other guards). Every master cut is made with a step to the right as you cut (or a step to the left if cutting it from your left side).
21.1 Thwart cut (Zwerchau)
We covered this in chapter 16. The thwart cut is a middle hew made using the thumb grip, using the false edge from the right, and the true edge from the left. It is distinguished from the middle hew because it is made at a higher line, above the eyes rather than at the shoulder. Essentially it is a cut from the right Roof guard into the left Ox, and then a cut back into the right Ox.
The thwart cut teaches us that a horizontal cut made at head height will parry any cut made from above. This is easily demonstrated in the below image. When I (pictured in the photo) am cutting from above, my sword has to pass this red line. If you cut along this red line (called the thwart line) while I am cutting, my sword will get scooped up in your cross guard (in other words, your cut will thwart my cut). If you are standing close enough, the weak of your sword will strike the right side of my head. Congratulations, you have just performed a counter-attack!
Exercise 21.1a:
Opponent starts in roof guard on right shoulder, and makes an Over Hew at your left side. You perform a thwart cut that simultaneously parries and hits the opponent.
21.2 Wrath cut (Zornhau)
The wrath cut is a diagonal Over Hew, using the common grip. It is used as a counter-attack (or a parry). Unlike the Supressing cut that you learned in chapter 12, which is a parry that ends with the point offline (not pointing at your opponent), the Wrath cut ends with your hands offline, but your point pointing at your opponent's face. In another version of the wrath cut, you actually strike your opponent's head.
Exercise 21.1a:
Your opponent cuts at your left side to the head with a diagonal over hew. You cut a diagonal Over Hew at their sword that ends in a protracted left Plough with the point of your sword in front of their face. Importantly, your hands need to be off to the left, not held in front of your body (else they will be in the line of your opponent's attack). If all goes well, your cut should have parried their cut, and you are now in a position to thrust (in a controlled manner) into their mask with your point.
Exercise 21.1b:
Your opponent cuts at your left side to the head with a diagonal over hew. You cut a diagonal Over Hew at their sword that ends in a very protracted left Plough, only this time the tip of your sword will strike the left side of their mask. Again, importantly, your hands need to be off to the left, not held in front of your body (else they will be in the line of your opponent's attack). If all goes well, your cut should have parried their cut, and you will have simultaneously hit their head.
The Wrath cut teaches us that a diagonal cut will parry another diagonal cut that is made after it. It acts as a warning that, if we attack with diagonal cuts into a prepared opponent, they can easily counter-attack us. If you suspect an opponent is going to Zornhau into your attack, you can aim your attack at or just to the left of their right shoulder, and you will basically Zornhau their Zornhau due to having more leverage.
21.3. Crooked cut (Krumphau)
The Crooked cut is very similar to the supressing cut in chapter 12. However, where the suppressing cut is a cut straight down with the point turned offline of our opponent using a turn of our body, the Crooked cut is made with our body facing our opponent, but by crossing our hands over each other during the cut. This creates a 'windshield wiper' type motion during the cut.
The Crooked cut therefore allows us to make suppressing cuts without needing to turn our body.
The crooked cut has a few uses, but the one I want to convey here is its use as a parry.
The crooked cut is made using the thumb grip. It can also be made from a 'barrier guard', which is a type of Fool's guard (seen in the video below).
Exercise 21.3a:
Stand in right Roof guard, with a thumb grip. Opponent cuts an Over Hew to your left side. Parry the cut with a Crooked cut, and then make a false edge cut to their head as a riposte.
21.4. Scalp cut (Scheitelhau)
The Scalp cut is simply a cut straight down the middle of your body aimed at the opponent's scalp, although you make it with a step to the right. It doesn't need to be made as a cut to the ground, it can be made as a cut to a high longpoint. I find it is quickest to perform this cut from a variant of the Roof guard with your hands held at chest level rather than shoulder level. You perform the cut by simply pushing your arms and hands outwards and ending the cut with your hands at shoulder height.
The Scalp cut is traditionally taught as a counter to when an opponent is in the Fool's guard, or is otherwise cutting at your lower openings. It teaches us the principle of Uberlauffen (or 'over running'). Put simply, a cut made at shoulder height has more reach than a cut made to a lower opening, because the cut to the lower opening is angled and so loses reach.
Exercise 21.4a:
Opponent is in Fool's guard. You cut a scalp cut to their head, with a step to the right.
21.5. Squinting cut (Scheilhau)
The squinting cut (Scheilhau) is made using the thumb grip. It is nothing more than a cut with the false edge that starts from the right shoulder and ends on the left side. If you break it down, it is really a supressing cut followed by a clockwise twist of the wrists with the sword in thumb grip, which pushes out your hilt to the left, and brings the point of your sword online. When you do these two things in a single motion, it is called the Scheilhau.
There are two common variations of the Scheilhau. The first is used when someone cuts high to your left side. In this case, you perform a scheihau that starts in right Roof guard and ends in left Ox. This is a counter-attack that is nearly exactly the same as the Thwart cut.
The second is when someone is in a thrust-centric guard such as Plough or Longpoint. In this case, you perform a Scheilhau that ends in a longpoint-like position. It essentially acts as a 'beat' of the opponent's blade followed by a redirection of your point so that you can make a thrust. It is possible to use the scheilhau as a counter-attack.
Exercise 21.5a:
Opponent is in right roof guard. You are also in right roof guard, in the thumb grip position. Opponent makes an Over Hew to your left side. You perform a Scheilhau, aiming for your opponent's right shoulder. Their cut will impact yours, and redirect your blade into their own head.
Exercise 21.5b:
Opponent stands in left Plough. You stand in right Roof guard, with a thumb grip. You perform a Scheilhau directed at their blade. Your hands must be at the same height as their hands. This should have displaced their blade and end with your point online, for a thrust.
Well, that's it for now. This should give you a good starting point to begin fencing with the longsword. The next step up from this is to look at thrusts, and actions in the 'bind'. I might make an 'intermediate' guide to the longsword in future.