Basic attacks
Attacks can be divided into thrusts, cuts and slices, depending on how close the opponent is. Thrusts are made with the point, cuts with the weak half of the blade (ideally the centre of percussion, roughly an inch or two from the tip of the blade), and slices with the strong half of the blade. Obviously, cuts and slices are made using the edge (either the true edge or false edge).
Unlike Meyer, LL's system makes heavy use of the thrust. In fact, I would go as far to say that thrusts should be the primary attack you make, and cuts the second. This is purely because thrusts can be made from further away, whereas cuts need to be made closer.
While we can make dedicated thrusts from the Plough or Ox positions, these are only done close up, usually during the bind. Most thrusts are actually made as a strike from a position like the High guard. These strikes basically fall short and end with the point in front of the face or chest of the opponent, which can then be 'shot in' with an additional lean or step.
Basic strikes
The basic attacks are these:
The oberhau - a diagonal cut from above made with the true edge.
The unterhau - a diagonal cut from below made with the true edge.
Both strikes can be made from the High guard.
Importantly, you should make these cuts to longpoint. They shouldn't carry on towards the floor. This means they are being made as a 'push' cut. This is basically where you perform the strike by pushing out your arms and 'locking' your elbows into place, which ends the strike with the sword in a point-forwards position. If, instead, you make the strike with your arms (like in the last cut I make in the below video), the cut passes down to the ground.
In addition to this, you need to make sure that at the beginning of the strike you get the point of the sword out in front. Think of this like getting your cross guard in front of your hands before you make too much progress with the cut. This means the cuts starts a little slow, but quickly gains speed as the point comes out in front. You can encourage yourself to do this by treating each strike as a thrust, where the goal is to get the point in the opponent's face, rather than hitting them with the edge (even if your goal is ultimately to strike them with the edge, which will happen anyway if you are at the right distance).
As you can see from the video, the strikes made from my right side are much stronger and quicker - both the oberhau and the underhau. We are told in the Zettel and the Gloss that we should always try to fence from our dominant side, as strikes from our non-dominant side are weak. Righthanders should fence from the right, and lefthanders from the left. This does not mean we should never use strikes from the other side, but perhaps do not use these as the first strike to the opponent.
Also note that when I strike an Oberhau, I end in a Plough-like position, and when I strike an Unterhau I end in an Ox-like position. A shortened strike will look more like the Guard positions shown in the last post, and the extended strike ends in a longpoint variation.
Fencing from The Sweeps
This is a short edge cut from below left. Often it is used as a parry or as a covering strike followed by a strike back down from either side. Can be done with a step.
Footwork
When we attack, we always step with the attack. 'Left goes with right, and right goes with left', as the Zettel says, i.e. if we strike from our right side to our left, we step forward with our right foot, and vice versa if we strike from our left side to our right side. This basically means you always want to start with your left leg forwards if you are in a guard with the sword on the right, and right leg forwards if in a guard with the sword on the left. Footwork is not really covered in LL's system beyond this.
You will want to use, at times, other types of footwork, particularly gathering steps. This is basically where you move forwards or backwards while keeping the same leg in front at all times. An example is if you make an Oberhau that ends with the point in front of the opponent's face but not quite reaching; your right leg is now forwards and so you drive the point in by bringing up your left leg up just behind your right, and then stepping forwards again with the right leg.
Secret strikes
As mentioned in part 2, there are 5 secret strikes. I will cover them in more detail in separate posts, however for now I will briefly describe them.
Secret strikes are mostly performed from the high guard position on the right shoulder. My current understand of them are that they are the preferred way to strike someone who is in a guard. When someone is not in a guard, e.g. because you have parried their strike, how you strike them doesn't really matter, but when someone is in a guard you need to worry about any counter-strike they may make against you while you are attacking. (Despite the advice given in the glosses to NOT worry about how your opponent fences against you and to strike as if the sword wasn't there, the secret strikes are clearly designed to attack your opponent in a way that makes it hard for them to simultaneously hit you).
The Secret strikes also represent the majority of attacks you can make from the right shoulder, covering the vertical, diagonal and horizontal line, plus a few odd angles. Therefore, they might actually represent the foundational strikes of the system.
They have two uses: 1) To parry incoming strikes. 2) To attack someone standing in a certain guard. It is often said that the secret strikes simultaneously parry incoming strikes and attack the opponent, but this is only partly true of a few of them.
Some of them are typically done using a special way of gripping the sword where the thumb of the dominant hand is placed on the flat of the blade. Secret strikes are typically made with a large step to the right, but not always.
Zornhau (wrath strike): a diagonal oberhau, where the aim is to get the point in the face.
Krumphau (crooked strike): a strike made to the right Ox position, or across the body like a windshield wiper.
Zwerchau (thwart strike or lateral strike): basically it is a 'mittelhau', or a middle strike, made with the hilt above the head. From the High guard, you strike horizontally above your head, sort of like a 'helicopter' motion, ending in left Ox. You can also perform it in the other direction ending in right Ox.
Schielhau (Squinter): It is basically a cut from the right side that ends in a left Ox but with the false edge down and the arms outstretched. It could also be made lower, more like a long Plough. However, unlike a Zwerchau or an Unterhau, the blade gets to this position from above, not horizontally or from below.
Scheilhau (parting strike): It is little more than a cut made straight down to the top of the opponent's head.
I believe these are secret strikes for two possible reasons: 1. They may simply be 'secret names' for common cuts so that people outside of the system cannot interpret the system. 2. They are all done from the right shoulder, meaning it is a secret as to what strike you will throw.
Mechanics of fast and strong strikes
Strikes to the opponent should be made earnestly and quickly. For a righthanded fencer, it should always be made from the right side, and ideally the right shoulder (High guard).
The strike can be made as a 'push' strike (or a 'to strike' rather than a 'through strike'). This means the strike is made from a shoulder position with your arms bent, and you push and outstretch your arms into a position with your elbows somewhat 'locked', although not completely. Your dominant hand (the one nearest the cross guard) should always be pushed out first, and your offhand follows. This gets your point out and your hands behind your cross guard. it is described in Dobringer as if there was a string pulling the tip of your sword forwards.
The strike needs to be made fast. You first push out your hands, and you step forwards. It is almost as if the act of pushing your hands out has 'dragged' your body and feet forwards.
Keep your point online, aimed at the opponent's face or chest. If the strike doesn't hit your opponent, it at least ends with the point in front of their face or chest.
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