I.33 presents three plays for First ward vs. longpoint. None go well for the person in longpoint!
To start at the beginning, i.33 says that first ward has two oppositions: half-shield, and longpoint. (It later shows a third opposition, Krucke, which we looked at in part 13). It then says:
If longpoint is conducted, immediately bind above or below.
It is worth noting that longpoint is both a ward and a counter-ward. As a ward, it is also called seventh ward. Later on, i.33 says that longpoint, as a counter-ward (at least against first ward) is 'common' and of 'little worth', suggesting that it is not a very useful counter-ward.
As usual, we we will use the 6 stages of the fight:
Before the fight
The coming in
a) I attack, or b) They attack
I defend
a) I control and win, or b) They control and win
We grapple
Stage 1 Before the fight
My opponent is moving into or is lingering in first ward.
Stage 2 The coming in
I enter with a thrust or strike to longpoint. Note, I am not neccessarily trying to attack my opponent with a single action, but I to aim to thrust him/her with a second step forward.
From the image, my buckler is either on my right or is on top. It resembles a stichslach, which makes sense as I want my buckler to oppose his/hers.
Stage 3a I attack
The attack should be obvious: I simply walk in and thrust under or over their buckler. However, this is not shown in i.33 as the opponent is unlikely to allow you to do this.
Stage 3b They attack
They react by either binding above or below.
Bind above
They simply strike with an oberhau from first ward over my sword and bind me down to their right side. When doing this, they need to move their buckler over their sword hand so that their buckler is free for the shield-knock. They then make a shield-knock and Nucken to my face (or a thrust or another attack).
Bind below
Let's say they can't make an overbind - perhaps I am too far to their left. In this case, from third ward they change to a Krucke-like position, with their sword pointing down and to their left, covering their left side. They form an underbind under my sword, pushing my thrust out to their left side.
Above image: I've read somewhere (I can't remember where) that it is confusing why the scholar's longpoint is now pointing 'down' in the bottom image. It's not. It is pointing off to the scholar's right because the priest has pushed the thrust offline.
They then perform a disengage, e.g. by rotating their sword backwards, or rotating it underneath their buckler arm (see video below), and get an overbind to their left over my sword.
In the book, the play ends here, but we can guess what comes next: Yes, that's right, a shield-knock and Nucken.
Here are some videos:
I.33 Sword and Buckler - The Mutatio Gladii - YouTube - This is a good video. The disengage happens at about 1 minute 20 seconds.
Falling Under the Sword and Shield - I.33 - YouTube - This one is a little strange and a bit interesting. I've included it for comparison to show alternative interpretations. It is done from first ward so the buckler arm is on top of the sword arm, and the instructor has decided to completely free his sword out from under his buckler arm and then over for the rebind.
Stage 4 I defend
The play stops here in i.33, but later in the book it goes into some detail how the underbind or overbind can be won or defended against in various ways. I will therefore omit stage 5 from this play and explore these in a later post.
Stage 5a and 5b
Omitted - will be covered in later posts on longpoint and binding. Suffice to say, while I am being underbound or overbound, I have options to counter this.
Stage 6 We grapple
Now this bit is clever, and we haven't seen this before. Going all the way back to stage 2, if I am entering with longpoint, my opponent can attempt to grab my sword. To do this, they first grab their own sword using their buckler hand (which they can do because in first ward their sword and buckler are held close together). Now, with their free hand, they grab the tip of my sword firmly (ideally on the flat of my blade).
What they do next is anyone's guess, but they can likely threaten me with their sword or buckler, even when held in the same hand.
How do I get out of this mess? By smashing my buckler into their hand (ouch!). Do not try this at home, unless you want broken fingers.
Videos
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