Posts: 313
Tue 08 May, 2012 11:14 pm
It would be great to see videos of your bouts, Emil. Things that you describe are a little different from what I have experienced. This may be because your sword is lighter than mine or your opponent is more skilled than mine or because we simply fight differently or because of whatever other reason.
I have found that it is very difficult to parry a strong blow of zweihander with a longsword. Most blows have to be avoided, not deflected. It is easy to deflect a vertical cut or a thrust. One might be able to deflect a diagonal cut to the head (beat it upwards) or a horizontal cut to the knee (beat it into the ground), but deflecting a horizontal cut to the waist or a diagonal cut to the torso is very difficult. In most cases a longsword (that weighs about 1/2 of my zweihander) is simply beaten aside. I assume that you didn't fight full-speed, did you? One common mistake that people do when fighting in slow motion is that they do things that won't work in full speed. Maybe something like this happened in your bouts because neither you nor your opponent know well what a montante can do.
Backing away is a must when your weapon gets stopped or deflected. However your main goal should be to avoid such situations. Your opponent must retreat, not you. You should learn to strike so that he cannot deflect or stop your blows. Also keeping your arms straight and hitting with your point (not
center of percussion) are very important. I often find myself fighting with a zweihander on a "longsword" distance. This is not the right thing to do, one should use the length of the weapon to his advantage.
One thing that I found very difficult to learn is combining an attack and defense in one cut. Just beating a faster blade aside is of little use because your opponent will be able to make a second blow before you make yours. Instead it is better to use great mass of your weapon to sweep your opponent's blade aside and hit him in the same time, but it is very dangerous.You have to use a lot of force so you probably won't be able to stop your weapon.
Another dirty trick to make when parrying is to step backwards and strike at your opponent's hilt rather then his blade. If you are lucky you will hit his arms, and the length of your blade allows to keep your own arms safe.
Please continue posting your videos and sharing your experience.