Sword and buckler 102 - i33 - Part 4: Parries and counter wards
- HEMA 101 admin
- Jan 19
- 14 min read
Updated: May 5
When your opponent attacks you, you need to defend against it. You can do this in several ways:
You can avoid the blow, by stepping backwards out of measure.
You can defend against the blow with your buckler alone.
You can defend against the blow with your sword alone.
You can defend against the blow with your sword and buckler together.
Voiding the blow is often a good option, and there isn't much more to say on this other than this involves managing your distance through footwork.
I33 seems to prefer that defences are made with the sword and buckler together, or perhaps with the sword but with buckler supporting or vice versa (depending on your point of view), as this allows for various counters, but defending with the buckler alone is a good skill to have and, in practice, is essential when fighting in close measure and when your sword is not in a position to help you.
4.1 Defending with the buckler
This is represented in i33 with the wards, which often have the buckler held straight out in front. The buckler is a small shield, yet the closer it is held to the opponent the more effectively it covers your body from their perspective. Using the buckler to defend against attacks is very useful, particularly in close measure and when your sword is not in a position to assist you.
Exercise: In this exercise, your training partner will stand in second ward or third ward. They will make a basic Oberhau attack at various angles, aiming at your head. You will hold your buckler extended forwards at shoulder level, and you will try to take their cut on your buckler, stepping backward if you need to. Try to keep your buckler between your eyes and their right shoulder (assuming they are right handed). You should be able to cover yourself against their cut so long as your buckler covers their sword hand at the moment of the cut. Swap roles so you both can practice this. Speed it up, make it harder, include some feints, and vary the cutting angles and the target.
What did you learn? You should have learned that you can defend against the sword fairly well with some practice, but that this also depends on the size of your buckler. A 9 inch buckler is less effective than a 12 inch buckler at doing this. You may also have found that to defend like this requires quite a bit of concentration, and does little in the way of controlling their sword.
As an advanced exercise, the person attacking should try to turn the attack into a thrust around the buckler. For example, if you attack with an oberhau from the right, at the moment the attack is parried with the buckler, stay on their buckler and turn your hand up into a high thrust over the buckler. You can do this from various directions, turning your attack into a thrust over or around the buckler. In reality this needs to be performed as an Indes action, meaning that you already need to have the turn 'in your head's so that it can be performed as soon as the cut is parried. You can't attack and then wait a second and then make the turn as this is too late, your opponent has riposted with their own attack. The below video from Petr Kavan demonstrates this nicely:
Lastly, be aware that your opponent may parry with the buckler and riposte their own attack with the sword. If they are particularly good, they will do both at the same time. This is not shown in i33, but it needs to be considered. When you make the attack, whether you turn this into a thrust or not, remember that you have a buckler of your own and that this needs to be able to defend against their sword. I suggest you also practice attacking and then defending against their riposte with your buckler. At first they make this riposte separately, at other times they do both together. Commonly this riposte will be to your left leg, or a high thrust from your top left.
4.2 Defending with the sword
There are various ways to defend with the sword. We could call these parries, covers or counter wards. To keep things simple, in this interpretation I consider a counter ward to be a defensive position formed before an attack is made, and a parry to be the use of a counter ward (or an attack itself) to defend as an attack is made. We can treat these as being (mostly) the same but with different usages.
The main counter wards and parries are these:
Halpschilt
Right schutzen
Left Schutzen
Krucke
Oberschilt
Fiddle Bow (or hanging ward)
I will explain how each parry/counter ward is used to cover against and parry a variety of attacks.
4.2.1 Halpschilt
Halpschilt is little more than a cut into the opponent's cut. When used as a counter ward, halpshilt is the mid-way point of a cut into the opponent's cut. It defends against cuts made diagonally to your head, and can be used to close the outside line (which is preferred), and it can also close the inside line, but at risk of the opponent cutting between your sword and buckler to your hands.
Exercise: Your training partner is in third ward, and you are also in third ward. They will cut at you from the top left to your top right side. You will cut into halpschilt at their sword. The blow will be taken on your sword, supported by your buckler. Try performing this defence in three ways:
Start in the halpschilt position and just rotate your body into the attack.
Start in third ward and cut into the halpschilt position but do not follow-through into longpoint.
Start in third ward and cut into longpoint through halpschilt.
Exercise: Repeat the above exercise but this time both of you start in second ward. Your training partner will cut from their right side to your left side, and you will cut into halpschilt at their sword. To check you are doing this right, your buckler is on the left of your sword when you are in halpschilt. Try performing this defence in three ways:
Start in the halpschilt position and just rotate your body into the attack.
Start in second ward and cut into the halpschilt position but do not follow-through into longpoint.
Start in second ward and cut into longpoint through halpschilt.
What did you find? You should have found that when you use halpschilt on your left, on occasion your opponent's sword slips between your sword and buckler and may have hit your hands. This seems counter intuitive, but the reason why is simple: when used to parry on the right, the sword is braced against the buckler, but when used on the left it is not, so if your opponent hits your halpschilt a few inches above the buckler, this will knock your sword aside slightly allowing their sword to slip in between.
This is illustrated using the paper dolls I used to create the plays in part 10:
Your opponent may try to exploit this, however there is a counter to this, and that is to transition your halpschilt into a Stichslach with your buckler on top of your sword hand. When standing in halpschilt, as they cut at you, simply rotate both of your hands together in a corkscrew motion and lift your arms up to the left. This will perform a counter thrust into the opponent's face.
4.2.2 Left Schutzen
It is unclear what Left Schutzen really is. However, the most useful interpretation is that it is a counter ward that covers the inside line, and it is formed by performing something like a mittelhau from the right but with the blade somewhat vertical (depending on what sort of cut you are defending against). It is almost like making a 'cut' over your buckler. Your sword will now be mostly on the left side of the buckler, with no risk that your opponent's sword will slip in between.
Exercise: You and your training partner are in second ward. Your partner cuts to your top left side, and you parry this by cutting into Left Schutzen.
Exercise: Now combine the previous exercises. Your training partner will either be in second ward or third ward. You need to get into the same ward as them and, when they cut at you, you parry with either halpschilt on the right, or Left Schutzen on the left. Again, also try this as a static position, changing from halpschilt to Left Schutzen and vice versa as needed to parry their attack.
4.2.3 Right Schutzen
Right Schutzen is basically a horizontal cut made over the top of your buckler (but could also be made underneath the buckler), and it ends with the buckler in front of your right shoulder. This serves much the same purpose as the Ox guard in German longsword, and if made as a cut is similar to the Zwerchau. To paraphrase the Leichtenaur zettel, the Zwerchau parries anything from above, and so does Right Schutzen. It does this because the sword, being held horizontally and at about eye level creates a barrier that the opponent's sword needs to pass through to hit you, which it cannot do, and therefore your cut parries their blow – and if you are close enough to them, simultaneously cuts the side of their face. In practice, the buckler covers your right side as well.
Exercise: Your training partner is in fourth ward, and you are in second ward. They cut an Oberhau straight down at your head. Parry this with a Right Schutzen. The parry can by aimed more upwards at the opponent's sword if need be, it doesn't need to be aimed at their head.
4.2.4 Krucke and Low Schutzen
Krucke is a low outside counter ward, formed by making an Unterhau from first ward. As a parry, it is good against low cuts, but is also good against a low thrust.
Exercise: Your training partner is in first ward, and so are you. They will attack to your right side with an unterhau. You will parry this with your own unterhaus, forming a Krucke. Now you will lift your point with a rotation of your wrist and thrust them to the stomach under their buckler.
Exercise: your training partner is in sixth ward. You are in halpschilt but with sword and buckler held higher than normal. You will circle to their left. They will thrust at you underneath your halpschilt to your chest or stomach. You will cut your sword in an anticlockwise motion in front of your buckler and into a Krucke position, displacing their thrust to the right side. You can now perform a low thrust in the same way you did in the previous exercise.
A variation of Krucke (perhaps called a Low Schutzen by some) can made on the left. It can be made in two ways:
Left Krucke: To form this, stand in Priests Special Longpoint. Now lift and sweep your hilt along from right to left, ending with your blade hanging down underneath your buckler covering your inside line. This can be used against low attacks, including thrusts. This does not allow us to make a thrust but will allow a low cut to be performed following the parry.
Low Schutzen: From second ward, cut a low cut somewhat towards the ground to your left side, ending with the point towards the ground.
Exercise: your training partner is in sixth ward. You are in Priests Special Longpoint. They will thrust to your inside. You will parry this with a 'left Krucke'. Try it again with the Low Schutzen. The difference between the two is that the left Krucke has the sword hand pronated (turned anti-clockwise) and low schutzen has it supinated (turned clockwise).
4.2.5 Oberschilt
In theory oberschilt can be used like a halpschilt to parry. It is not much different to 'falling under', below and is not much different to halpschilt.
4.2.6 Fiddlebow (hanging ward)
This is not derived from the cuts (although it could be considered as derived from an unterhau made from third ward, depending on how it is made). It is a hanging cover that can be performed in several ways. Either the sword is held with the edge resting on the top rim of the buckler, with the hilt of the sword held high-right somewhat above your right shoulder, or the sword is held with the blade hanging down over the buckler arm or the buckler hand, with the sword hand hidden behind the buckler. Both of these serve the same purpose.
You will naturally form this counter ward while fencing. For example, if you are in halpschilt and want to cut from the right, you will drop into this position as you prepare your cut.
This cover defends against a blow to the top left of your head, i.e. from an Oberhau made from second ward.
Exercise: Your training partner is in third ward, you are in second ward. Your partner cuts at your upper left side. You drop the point of your sword and move your hand alongside your buckler arm into this hanging cover position, defending against the blow. You will need to make sure your hands are high enough to protect your head. From this position you can now free your sword and perform your own cut to the opponent's head.
4.2.7 Falling under (or perhaps a variation of right schutzen)
I33 tells us multiple times “When halpschilt is formed, fall under the sword and shield”. We don't really know what this line means. It co uld simply mean get your sword and buckler above your head if your opponent is attacking it. I am not sure if this position is shown in i33 or not, but it seems to work and is potentially what is happening in the first play.
If your opponent cuts a halpschilt (or anything like a halpschilt), if you are in first ward then perform a mittelhau underneath your buckler and catch the cut in the corner where your buckler and sword meet. Your buckler needs to be in front of your face and high enough to catch their cut. You can treat this a bit like Right Schutzen but made under the buckler. (Note that if your sword is pointing down, your buckler arm is exposed.)
If you are in third ward, you can perform a similar technique but your sword hand is above your buckler and your buckler is titled forwards. However, at this point you may as well perform a Right Schutzen.
Exercise: Your opponent is in third or second ward, you are in first ward. Your opponent cuts down at your head. Parry this by falling under your sword and buckler.
Falling under might work better as a counter attack, meaning an attack that also defends. From the basic falling under position you can quickly perform a Stichslach thrust to the opponent's face. This becomes harder the higher you point your sword, though, and is harder the longer your sword is.
4.2.7 False edge parry
I'm not sure if this parry is ever shown in i33, but it is possible and useful. From a position such as First ward or Priests Special Longpoint, cut a sweeping false edge cut up from the left and cross your face. This should be able to parry cuts from above.
Exercise: You are in first ward. Your training partner is in fourth ward. They cut down at you with an Oberhau. You parry this by making a false edge cut from bottom left to top right.
4.3 Summary
The above do not need to be considered as the only variations of parries and counter wards you can perform. You could summarise the above by saying that there are parries and counter wards that:
Have the sword pointing somewhat vertically and are the equivalent of oberhaus.
Have the sword pointing down and are the equivalent of unterhaus.
Have the sword pointing to the side and are the equivalent of mittelhaus, and also can be considered 'hanging parries'.
Have the sword pointing towards the opponent in a high thrust-like position.
Sometimes the buckler will be on the left or right side of the sword, sometimes above or sometimes below. Generally, i33 seems to prefer the sword to be 'outside' of the buckler (in this case, I mean between the opponent's sword and your own buckler) so that the parry is taken more on the sword than on the buckler (to avoid the attack going between sword and buckler) but also so that the buckler is free for follow up actions covered in part 9.
4.4. Discussion
This part of my interpretation stems from practical experience, and the observation that the positions in i33 called halpschilt, schutzen and krucke are in practice very good parries. In the plays of i33, it is unclear whether the positions called 'sieges' (obsessios) are offensive or defensive in nature. The text suggests that it is offensive (i.e. an attack), although the actions that occur often look defensive. A common interpretation is therefore that these are not attacks or parries, but counter wards, and that the the counter ward is being used to close distance with the opponent, and then if the opponent 'neglects to bind' (whatever that means), we attack from the counter ward. Now, admittadly, the order i33 presents its plays suggests this to be correct since the 'defence' is made (if it is a defence), then there is some sort of attack from the opponent that is parried. Many have even argued that this is a prescriptive way of attacking in i33, leading some people to beleive that i33 does not allow attacks directly from a ward, and instead attacks must be made by first closing distance using a counter ward such as halpschilt and then thrusting from there.
My interpretation (as you will see in my later post on 'sieges') assumes that the plays in i33 are teaching several uses of a cut, and that this cut has the same geometry regardless of whether it is being used as an attack or as a parry. Furthermore, if you conduct a parry before the opponent has attacked, this is a counter ward. In short, you can argue as much as you like exactly what tactical approach to use to attack someone, my interpretation allows them all under the premise that the same basic technique gives us an attack, a parry and a counter ward.
The biggest point of contention that others may have with my interpretation is whether or not they believe that my parries/counter wards have been formed correctly. From the videos we will see that there are several variations of positions such as halpschilt and schutzen. For example, many will hold halpschilt with sword and buckler centrally in front of their body, whereas I believe it should cover our right or left side. You will also see that some hold halpschilt more like longpoint with buckler on top.
This difference in interpretation, I believe, comes from these positions being copied from the i33 illustrations by others, whereas in my interpretation I believe these positions are derived from our cuts. If you cut into a counter ward of halpschilt or krucke from one of your wards, then I think your position is more likely to be correct than if you just randomly adopt a position that looks like a medieval illustration.
4.5 Videos
There aren't many videos that show an approach similar to mine. They tend to use the positions as counter wards rather than actively cutting into them as a parry. Therefore, take these videos as 'food for thought'. I will need to produce my own videos when I can.
I'm not a huge fan of this video. It is really using halpschilt as a counter ward rather than an active parry, so it falls into the 'halpschilt as a position rather than a cut' school of thought, but it is a possible way of doing it:
This video has some interesting ideas, but it falls firmly into the 'halpschilt is a guard' camp:
Similar apporach as above (same fencer):
Although this video has the fencer starting the Krucke parry in what I would describe as longpoint, longpoint is one of the wards, so this is probably the closest video I've found showing the approach I've described in the post:
I don't agree with everything Petr says in his videos, but I think Petr's approach is generally pretty close to mine, and it was Petr's suggestion that obsessios are attacks that inspired me to create this series of blog posts:
This video says that it is demonstrating Krucke, but it isn't. It is demosntrating an unnamed position that I have called right Schutzen, but it is demontrating it in a way that is very similar to one of the fiddle bow variations I describe above.
This next video isn't too bad, and is a better interpretation of Krucke, but note its mainly being used as a counter ward, not a parry:
Here is another Krucke, although again it is being used only as a counter ward:
This video demonstrates right schutzen, but again this video is firmly about using this as a counter ward only. Notice, however, that the position is the same as if Federico has just cut a mittlehau from the left, as I've described in this post?
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