Basic description
Half-shield is a very useful, if misunderstood, counter-ward.
The basic description of half-shield is to put both arms straight out, buckler on your left and sword on your right (for a right handed fencer), with the sword held mostly vertical. Your buckler hand touches or is very close to your sword hand, with the buckler protecting your sword hand. The blade may actually rest on the top edge of your buckler. In practice, the buckler is held at a 45-degree angle, with the forward edge covering your sword hand.
I used to believe that the purpose of half-shield was to add a vertical stick to your buckler which would 'catch' the sword of your opponent as they make a strike (sort of like a Zulu shield). After all, the buckler is a very small shield, so the sword adds a lot more surface area to catch your opponent's blade. This is undoubtedly partially true, but it assumes the buckler is the primary object of defence.
At first impression, half-shield is something of a paradox. In i.33, half-shield primarily defends against strikes or thrusts made to the right side of the person in half-shield, yet the buckler is on the left. Furthermore, later in i.33 we see another counter-ward called 'Shutzen' (which I call reverse half-shield) that has the buckler on the right, but is used to defend against strikes to the left. What on Earth is going on here?
The answer is simply this: people who first start practicing sword and buckler assume that the buckler is used like a small shield and is therefore the primary means of defence. While it can be used like this, in i.33 the buckler is not the primary means of defence, the sword is. The buckler is really just a form of hand protection - it protects my sword hand. The buckler has other uses in i.33 it is never shown directly defending against a strike or thrust (but is shown once defending against a secondary strike).
How it is used
Half-shield is not a passive defence. Look at the image below: half-shield is being used here to defend against a cut from Blue's left shoulder to Orange's sword arm. While the buckler provides some passive protection to Orange's left side, Orange is completely open on the right. Orange needs to turn into the strike in order to block (parry, displace) it.
Some believe that this is the purpose of half-shield - to leave an opening on the right to bait your opponent into making a predictable attack: I 33 Halpshilt - The Most Important Guard - YouTube. However, while this openness on the right can be used to your advantage, in my opinion it is not the purpose of half-shield.
Half-shield is both a defence and an offence - but it needs to be used at the correct time, from the correct distance, and for the correct purposes.
When I started fencing sword and buckler, I 'hung out' in half-shield. It is not a terrible position, but there are many ways that my opponent can attack my half-shield that are not covered by i.33. Simply put: forming half-shield when you are out of measure of your opponent and waiting for them to attack your right arm is not, in my opinion, how half-shield is meant to be used, according to i.33. It is better to use it only when needed.
For defence
When using half-shield for defence, there are two options:
You form it in anticipation of your opponent's attack (i.e. before they make the attack). The downside to this is that if you form it too early they will change their attack (attack to the other side, etc.).
You form your half-shield in response to the attack. Basically, you 'strike' into half-shield from a ward as they launch their attack.
For offence
This is, in my opinion, how i.33 is telling us to use half-shield. This will need some explanation.
If I am fighting my opponent and I decide to make an attack, I could simply step into measure (the distance that I can hit my opponent) while making my attack and hope that it lands, or hope that my opponent tries to parry it. However, my opponent is also likely to make a 'flinch' response and simply attack me at the same time that I am attacking him/her, resulting in a double hit.
In short, I have no idea how my opponent will react when I make my attack, so rather than taking a gamble, the solution that i.33 presents (at least in my opinion) is that I never (or rarely) make a direct attack to my opponent. I always first 'attack' into a counter-ward (in this case, half-shield) that gets me close to the opponent. From here I can complete the attack, or defend against his/her counterattack, depending on how he/she reacts to my half-shield.
Using half-shield offensively requires that you form your half-shield at the right distance from the opponent. You will need to experiment with it, but as a guide, you start just out of measure (around 2 steps away from being able to hit your opponent, maybe 6-7 feet from your opponent) and step forward/forward-left into half-shield. When you are in half-shield, your opponent must be close enough to you that they can strike you with their sword with a step forwards.
If you form your half-shield from too far away, your opponent will simply attack around it. When you form it at the correct distance and against the correct wards, as we shall see in later posts, the opponent will not have the option to alter his/her attack.
To step left or not to step left?
Whether you are using half-shield defensively or offensively, I see two main variations:
I form half-shield in the centre of my opponent, and then turn my body to face the incoming strike.
2. As I form my half-shield, I make a triangle step to my left. This gets me on the right side of my opponent, and turns my body to my right, where the threat is coming from.
There is third option: I do both!
The end result is largely the same, and there are pros and cons to both options, but I prefer to take a step away from the incoming strike because I believe it makes a more secure parry (as later Bolognese fencing master Giovanni Dall'Agocchie wrote, I make two parries - one with my sword and one with the movement of my body).
Alternative interpretations:
It is worth noting that there are other solutions to the 'Why is half-shield open on the right?' question. For example, some have modified half-shield to have the buckler on top of the sword hand. You can see this in this video here from the Royal Armouries, who publishes i.33: The first play of Manuscript I.33 - YouTube. However, this does not tally up with the images in i.33.
Why is it called 'half-shield'?
We don't know. Some believe it is because the buckler is on the left side while the other side is open, therefore we have 'half a shield' rather than a 'full shield'. However, my suggestion is simply this - when half-shield is in the centre it offers little protection, but when we turn to face the incoming strike, whether from the right (preferred) or left (OK but problematic, see below), we have effectively shielded half of our body, either the left side, or the right side. We cannot shield both sides of our body at the same time.
Half-shield has trouble defending the left side
Half-shield is a good counter-ward that can be used against attacks from both sides, but it has its problems when used to defend against attacks to the left side.
Because the sword is on the right side of our buckler, a hard strike made to our sword rather than our buckler will push our blade to the right, away from our buckler. This allows the opponent's sword to get between our sword and buckler, cutting our hands or making it easy to push a thrust in.
We see this in i.33. In the image below, the student (on the right) has used half-shield to counter-ward a strike made from second ward. The strike struck the sword, knocking it out of the way, allowing the sword to get between the sword and buckler:
I.33 also shows the counter to this, but you will need to read my later post to find out:
Next post
There is an alternative counter-ward for use on the left, which I have called 'reverse half-shield', which will be explored in the next post.
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