I.33 - A summary of the system
- HEMA 101 admin
- 33 minutes ago
- 8 min read
This is a summary of my 'bottom up' approach to i.33. I call it bottom up because it makes a reasonable assumption about what the foundation of i.33 is (the cuts) and builds the plays (examples of techniques) from these. I find this interpretation creates a pretty cohesive system and avoids the oddities of some other approaches. You can read my full i.33 interpretation (in 10 parts) here:
What is it?
I.33 is a book showing a system of fighting with the sword and buckler. It is not a complete system in that it doesn't show attacks to the leg, and doesn't show feints or other tactics. However, it is still a fairly comprehensive framework from which you can build. It is arguable as to what extent i.33 shows attacks (cuts, thrusts), but they are either implied (with the ward positions, with the binds shown) or explicitly shown (with the positions depicted) depending on your point of view.
The other thing to note is that i.33 is a teaching manual, in that it shows a priest teaching a student, and so it doesn't seem to show earnest fighting, so it shouldn't be taken too literally as an instruction manual for fighting.
The foundations
I believe the foundations of i.33 are the primary cuts, and these originate from the wards. There are cuts from above (oberhaus), across the middle (mittelhaus), and a rising cut from the left (unterhau), with no unterhau from the right (instead, a thrust is more useful). We can perform these over or under the buckler, giving us perhaps 7 useful cuts, and 4 thrusts. The thrusts are over the buckler, under the buckler, to the left or right of the buckler.
The ward positions are simply where these cuts and thrusts originate from. There are 7 wards:
Under the left arm
Over the right shoulder
Over the left shoulder
Above the head
Down by the right hip with sword down
Sword pointing forwards held at the chest
Longpoint, sword held downward towards the floor in front of the body, or alternatively held straight forwards.
Here is an exercise:
Start in first ward, cut an unterhau ending with buckler on the left of the sword
Cut an oberhau from the right with buckler on left of the sword
Cut and oberhau from the left with buckler on left of the sword
Cut and oberhau from the left with buckler crossing over the sword hand
Cut a mittelhau from the right over the buckler
Cut a mittelahu from the left over the buckler
Cut an oberhau to the leg of the opponent from the right, keeping the buckler high
This exercise should tell you that most of the attacks come from first, second and third ward, so these are your most useful.
The thrusts can be practiced from first, fifth and sixth ward.
Making attacks
I suggest attacking with a step in the same way you do with longsword, meaning your left leg is forward when you are in a ward with the sword on your right and vice versa. When you cut, you step with your cut diagonally forwards.
You can also perform cuts and then turn these into thrusts to avoid or get around the opponent's buckler.
The parries
The cuts also act as parries.
The oberhaus, when used to parry an incoming oberhau or mittelahu, can be called 'half shield'.
The mittlehaus, when used to parry incoming oberhaus, can be called 'schutzen' (cover). [I.33 probably uses the term Schutzen more broadly than this, but most of the plays that call for Schutzen seem to work with a mittlehau, except for one or two instances.]
The unterhau, when used to parry an incoming unterhau or thrust, can be called Krucke (crutch). This can be directed towards our right (originating from first ward), or our left (originating from fifth ward or a similar position called 'Priests Special Longpoint'.
There is also a hanging parry on the left which can be called 'fiddle bow', and you naturally move through this position when you perform cut 2 and 3 in the exercise above.
There is also perhaps a variation of the Schuzten parry called 'falling under', or perhaps not.
You can also parry with the buckler alone, and I find this most useful following a bind and as part of close fighting.
The images in i.33 are stylised and do not always show these parries (or attacks or whatever the images are meant to represent) correctly, so do not try to copy the images exactly.
Counter wards
These parries can also be used to form counter wards, or defensive positions offering some passive protection. The difference between a parry and a counter ward is that the parry is made actively (i.e. it meets the incoming cut), whereas the counter ward is made before the opponent cuts, and is to discourage an attack.
It is common for people to use the 'half shield' counter ward, although I'm not sure i.33 wants us to do this, and people probably use it excessively. It is a good defensive position, however.
Binds
When your attack meets a parry or counter ward, and the swords touch, this is called a bind. For example, if I parry an oberhau aimed at the right side of my head with a half shield parry, then we will be in an 'outside bind' (because my right side is usually called my 'outside' and my left the 'inside'). If I parry an attack aimed at my left side with a Schutzen then we will be in an inside bind. If I parry an attack from above with fiddle bow then I am in an underbind, because my sword is below theirs.
We can classify binds as being hard (strong) or soft (weak). When one person is hard or strong, the other is soft or weak and vice versa. A simple way to understand who is strong and who is weak is who has the 'centre'. If I parry your attack, my sword will usually have the centre because it is in between your sword and you, meaning I am hard or strong. The person who is strong usually has the most direct line to performing an attack from the bind.
Binds get more complicated than this, especially when we also consider overbinds vs underbinds, etc., but generally we can say that in any given bind, one fencer will often have some sort of advantage of position that allows them to perform a follow-up attack.
Handworks
Handworks are simply actions that you perform from the bind. The simplest would be to make a cut or a thrust from the bind, e.g. performed as a riposte following your parry. However, i.33 also includes grapples and other actions. Here is a generic list of handworks:
A straight thrust, made if you are strong in the bind.
A Stichslach (knocking thrust), made around the outside of their parry, used if you are weak or fairly neutral
A step through - a cut made from the bind with a step, usually using your buckler to defend against the opponent's sword. An example is if you parry with a Schutzen on your left, and then perform a cut from left to the right side of the opponent's head. Used when you are strong.
Cut around - a cut made to the other side of the opponent's sword. Used when your are weak.
Disengage - where your sword was under theirs in the bind, you free your sword. Used when you have an underbind.
Mutation - following the disengage, you bind on top of their sword. Used to gain an overbind.
Grapple - you perform a grapple, controlling their sword and buckler arms.
A rebind - where you gain a strong oberbind on the opponent's sword
A shield knock - usually used as part of the rebind, where you smash your buckler into their sword or buckler (or both).
A Knucken (knocking attack) - a cut or thrust performed when you have performed a rebind/shield knock.
While not shown in i.33, I'd say a cut made to the opponent's leg, using your buckler to defend against their sword, is also a common handwork that occurs in practice.
Plays
Plays are simply set sequences that demonstrate the techniques. They can be a bit confusing in i.33, and it is not always clear who is initiating the attack and who is defending. The text refers to the besieger and the besieged, suggesting the besieger is the one making the attack, however this is not always clear and the plays could make sense either way. Each play, as I understand it, usually has a ward, an attack made against that ward, a parry, and some sort of handwork. I find that you can vary the plays a little by changing who is attacking and who is defending in the initial action.
Special wards
There are a few 'special wards':
Priests special longpoint - this is basically fifth ward but with the sword held forwards.
Fiddle Bow - the blade is held across the buckler arm. As well as facilitating a hanging parry, this can also be used to intercept a thrust and then grab the blade with the buckler hand, potentially disarming the opponent.
Walpurgis ward - also called Priests special second ward, this is like second ward but the sword is held lower, at the chest. It might be a position that quickly withdraws the sword and buckler to free it from the opponent.
Tactics
I do not believe i.33 shows us clear tactics, therefore you should be free to perform all the tactics that any fencing system employs:
Direct attacks (attacking your opponent with the aim to hit)
Parry-riposte (allowing your opponent to attack you so you can parry and then riposte)
Compound attacks (e.g. feints, multiple attacks, to draw out your opponent's defence and then attack around it)
Counter attacks (attacking your opponent with an attack that simultaneously parries their real or feinted attack and hits them)
Feints in time (using a feint or counter ward to draw out their counter-attack, so you can parry this and then attack them)
However, one tactic that i.33 seems clear on is that, in some situations, it does not recommend that you make a direct riposte following a parry, although this mostly applies if you parry in half-shield on your right. Instead, it recommends that you rebind, shield knock and then riposte, otherwise your opponent can perform a Stichslach as a counter-thrust. In general, we can assume that i.33 prefers that you control your opponent's weapons before you attack.
Putting it together
I use this diagram to help visualise how the system of I.33 is held together. This isn't a decision tree. If you focus your attention on the box called 'Attacks', it simply shows that the attacks come from the ward positions. The attacking motions we use are also used to make our parries. The parries can be used proactively as counter wards. When our attack meets our opponent's parry (or vice versa) we get a bind, and from the bind we perform handworks and grapples.
Want to know more?
If you found this interesting and think that this interpretation of I.33 seems practical, then you can read the full interpretation (including exercises to help learn the system) here: