Practical Destreza (Spanish rapier) - Part 6: Basic techniques from Atajo 3
- HEMA 101 admin
- 13 hours ago
- 2 min read
Atajo 3 is the same as Atajo 2 but made to the inside of the opponent's sword. In other words, we have formed a gain on the opponent's sword, from above, to their inside with a step to your right.
Rada lists 7 first intention techniques from afar.
1 Narrowing
From the Atajo, envelop the opponent's sword in a counter-clockwise motion so that their sword ends up on the outside of your sword, on top of your blade. Thrust in the right angle at their shoulder, and then retreat with a diagonal step to the right.
Rada gives several variations of this technique, some are more 'violent' (meaning a more explosive upwards action of the blade).
2 Weak Over the Strong
OK, from previous blog posts we should now understand weak over strong to be a technique where we make a free thrust (i.e. without blade contact) over the hilt of their blade to their face or shoulder.
From the Atajo, perform a counter-clockwise envelopment that forcefully expels the opponent's sword to your left side, and now you can perform a free thrust to their shoulder with a diagonal step right. Now retreat as usual with a diagonal step backwards and to the right.
You could also perform this by adding a suspension (a slide of your blade down theirs to expel their blade downwards) like in this video.
3 The sagittal thrust or Tentada
This seems to be exactly the same as technique #2 except the thrust is made with a larger step to the right and to the chest of the opponent. This is probably the equivalent of weak under the strong, meaning it's a free thrust to the below the hilt.
4 The thrust to the opponent’s shoulder
From the Atajo, perform a suspension - slice your blade down theirs towards their hilt, expelling their sword downwards and to your left. Now lift your blade up and over their quillon and thrust with fingernails turned upwards at their shoulder as you step right. Retreat as normal.
Crappy video below gives some idea of how this is done.
5 The half-circle-thrust
This is exactly the same as #4, except the opponent has their hilt high making it hard for you to perform a thrust over their hilt to their shoulder. Instead, you lift your blade up and over their quillon, as before, and keep dropping your blade so you can thrust underneath their hilt. You keep your hilt higher than usual to protect you.
6 The reverse-half-cut
This is exactly the same as #4 above, but you attack with a cut from left to right instead of a thrust above or below the hilt.
7 The vertical cut
This is the same as #6 but you perform a vertical but rather than a diagonal cut.
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