When I first looked at plate 23 in the 1467 edition of Talhoffer and read Mark Rector's translation ("The swordsman on the left is in a weak crosswise guard. His opponent stands in a strong right hanging guard") I interpreted it to mean that this plate was simply a depicton of two guards, one weak one and one strong one; i.e., a warning to avoid the guard on the left, if possible, and use the one on the right.The more I look at it however, the more I question that interpretation, and I'd like some input on what I've been thinking.
A more literal translation of the Swabian (taken from the HACA web site) says: "The weakened crossed guard. The stance in the hat". Even less helpful!
But when I look at the painting itself, I notice that the "weakened" guard actually puts the strong of the user's blade against the weak of the supposedly stronger fencer's sword, and that got me to thinking:
If the fencer on the left started in left flug (i.e., right leg forward), and the fencer on the right started in left vom tag and then stepped forward with a squinter, and then the fencer on the left stepped forward with his left foot and assumed the "weak crosswise guard", it would be an excellent parry against the squinter and would look *exactly* like this plate.
Note also that Ringeck says that the squinter breaks flug, making this scenario very believeable.
From this position, then, the fencer on the left would merely have to swing his sword around (with added impetus gained from the force of his opponent's blow) into an attack against his opponent's open left side. This is very similar to the defense against the krumphau in which Ringeck says you step forward into a hanging guard, let your sword get knocked down, and then let it swing around into a cut.
From that interpretation, the fencer on the left is actually the one who's in the "stronger" position.
What does everyone think of this?
(By the way, I've posted this question a couple of different places, so my apologies if anyone sees it more than once.)
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Regards,
Hugh Knight
Welcome to the Church of the Open Field; let us 'prey': Hunt hard, kill swiftly, waste nothing, make no aplogies.
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posted 02-23-2002 12:08 AM
