One of the drawbacks to having an awesome hobby like HEMA is that you might not always have all the time you want in order to enjoy it. With work, school, and a sad attempt at having a social life, many of us aren’t able to make it to class, or even meet as a group as often as we might want to, and this can create roadblocks on the path to understanding these arts. One of the major issues instructors run into is having only a limited amount of time to teach fundamental aspects of the art, hoping that the student(s) will remember at least some of what was taught so that the lessons can continue forward. One way that Asian martial arts have gotten around this issue is the use of kata, or forms. By memorizing the movements, a student can essentially grasp a larger portion of the art than might have been possible otherwise. A well-constructed form or training exercise can contain within it the basic concepts of stance, posture, tempo, methods of striking, etc. that make a system unique, giving the student a ready-to-use workout designed to ingrain certain fighting techniques and principles into them. The European martial tradition certainly doesn’t lack for forms, those of Achille Marozzo, Antonio Manciolino and Giovanni dall’Agocchie begin the most famous, and they are incredibly helpful when taught properly.

I remember when I was first learning Bolognese sidesword. I had the hardest time remembering all of the terminology and guard postures, and trying to just run through them at home between classes proved a fruitless endeavor (especially because, as it turns out, roommates don’t like someone who swings a sword in the living room). However, once I learned dall’Agocchie’s passegiate nelle guardia, or “walking in the guards” form, I found it much easier to remember all of the positions and movements in a way that allowed me to progress faster. Having a relatively simple set of moves to memorize allowed me to attach to the pattern as a way to learn the art, which I think is the actual purpose of forms in general. For students of the Bolognese tradition, there are forms (assalti) to be had all over the place, but this isn’t necessarily true in the German tradition (I am aware of one present in the Dobringer codex, but there may be others that I simply haven’t come across). For students of Meyer (like myself), the number of guards and fighting principles related to them can be hard to cover in a weekly class format, especially if you have to constantly have to be introducing and re-introducing the guard to the class, and so I figured it would be a good idea to try and create a basic training exercise that, once learned, would allow students to easily remember and retain their basic lessons on the guards.

The pattern goes like this:

1.) Start feet together, dussack in the left hand.

2.) Grasp the dussack with the right hand, raise up so that the “quillons” are just below the eyes in a salute.

3.) Pass back with the right foot into Zornhut (Wrath guard), the figure on the right.

4.) Execute a Zornhauw while passing forward with the right into Weschel (the Changer), figure on the right.

5.) Pass forward with the left, executing an Underhauw into Stier (Steer), figure on the left.

6.) Pass forward with the right foot, executing a Mittelhauw into Mittelhut, figure on the right.

7.) Pass forward with the right foot, executing a Zornhauw from the left into Eber (The Boar), figure on the left.

8.) Pass forward with the right and thrust into Langort (Longpoint), figure on the left.

9.) Retract the right foot so that the heels touch and go into Wacht (the Watch), figure on the right.

10.) Pass forward with the left, executing a Zornhauw from the left into the guard of Bastey (Bastion), no image.

11.) Pass with the left foot forward and execute an Underhauw into Bogen (the Bow), image on the left.

12.) Execute a Zornhauw and land in gerade Versatzung (Straight Parrying), with a gentle shuffle forward, image on the right.

Though very simple, I feel like this exercise will make it easier for dussack fencers to memorize their guards and some terminology as they practice, and I will be using it for my dussack class next week.

Cheers.