Writing this series of blog posts was a real eye-opener for me, and a lot of work! I greatly relied on the work of others before me - namely Federico Malagutti, Guy Windsor, Andrew Kenner, and many others. Along the way I had the opportunity to test out and refine the interpretations of the plays with a small class in my HEMA club, and to test out some aspects in sparring. As of 27/12/2023, much in this interpretation is based on what i.33 says and how I think it is supposed to work, but I have not had the opportunity to practice everything in the book. Over time, I hope to test out the different techniques and refine this series of blog posts.
Here are my key takeaways from i.33.
I.33 is a fairly aggressive system of fencing. While some of the plays do seem to suggest that you should make openings to encourage your opponent to attack in certain ways, i.33 doesn't seem to suggest that you wait for your opponent to attack you.
When you do attack, i.33 suggests that you do not attack directly with a strike or thrust, but first close distance to your opponent with a counter-ward. If your opponent does not attack your counter-ward, then you attack. If they do attack your counter-ward, defend against this attack first then bind and attack.
I.33 is about controlling your opponent's weapon, and this always seems to be done using a bind, and/or a shield-knock. The shield-knock occurs again and again, and so does the bind. I.33 wants you to control your opponent's weapons before you attack them.
While I have named several counter-wards, really there are two main counter-wards - half-shield, and Krucke. From these two positions, we can alter the direction our sword is pointing and whether our sword arm is over or next to our buckler arm. Doing this we form a Schutzen, which I have interpreted to mean a position where our sword crosses or blocks the primary strike from the opponent's ward. As such, there is no right or wrong answer as to where you position your sword while making your counter-ward, so long as 'it works'.
While i.33 is more offensive in its fighting style, I believe the same techniques will work in a more defensive style - ultimately it is about wards vs. counter-wards, and it shouldn't make too much difference whether the wards are being used to attack or to defend and vice versa.
Of the seven+ wards that i.33 shows us, this is a broad classification. We can't control how our opponent holds the weapons and so we need to decide for ourselves what ward or counter-ward the opponent is in and what ward or counter-ward we must make to deal with that. I.33 presents a variety of counter-wards, with essentially a point-up and a point-down variety being used for left and right attacks. This adds variety - if you always attack the opponent in half-shield then this quickly becomes predictable.
One of my students asked me: if the counter-wards (like half-shield) are always used to attack from, then why bother with the wards at all? This is a good question. I have two answers. 1) Perhaps i.33 only shows us one style of fighting, whereby you get in close to your opponent. Perhaps there is another style that focuses on making strikes from the wards themselves (Bolognese fencing is often interpreted to focus on fighting from distance). 2) There are various counter-wards and if you form them early or always use the same one then you allow your opponent to attack them in unpredictable ways, or simply attack around them. Starting in wards and moving into a ward that opposes the opponent's ward (often second ward opposes second ward, etc.) keeps you unpredictable and moving, so that when you decide to attack you can form the appropriate counter-ward at the appropriate time and distance.
I.33 is not magic. Ancient fighting manuals are not mystical arts that guarantee success. Ancient people knew what they were doing, but at the end of the day fencing is about timing, distance, reading your opponent's intentions, aggression balanced with patience, etc.
When I spar in the i.33 style, whether against other i.33 fencers or Bolognese style fencers, it works quite well. However, you do need to be mindful of how closely you form your counter-wards, and you need to pay attention to how the opponent reacts to them, as often they will react in a way that is unexpected, especially if they have fenced you before. However, as of writing this I have only a small amount of sparring experience in the i.33 style.
The core of the style seems to be:
The wards
First ward
Second ward
Third ward
Sixth ward
Longpoint
Counter-wards
Half-shield
Reverse half-shield
Krucke
Hanging-ward
Attacks
Stichslach
Oberhau from left or right
Overbinds
Falling under the sword and shield
The disengage
Shield-knock
Nucken
Thank you for reading this!
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