Sword and buckler 102 - i33 - Part 9: Handworks and grapples

This post covers the pink area of the diagram

I've used the term handworks to designate actions taken from the bind, to echo a similar term used by Joachim Meyer in later centuries. Together with grapples, these can be:

Attacks (i.e. remises or ripostes)
Re-binds (i.e. the strengthening of an existing bind, or a newly made bind)
Parries (typically the same or similar to a re-bind)
Disengages, or 'mutations'
Actions with the buckler called a shield-knock
Grapples

I33 contains a lot of repetition. We see the same handworks being made again and again. This is due to the nature of how i33 was written, being written from the perspective of every ward meaning the same binds happen again and again, and the same handworks. My guide is different. I have instead tried to break down the actions into categories (attacks, parries, counter wards, binds and handwork/grapples) to try to cover as many of the actions in i33 within a single framework. We can use the rules of this framework to help us understand which handworks to take depending on:

What bind we are in, and
Who has the initiative.

Broadly speaking, I will split these handworks into:

Actions that you perform from a high outside bind.
Actions you perform when you are in a hard outside bind when you have the overbind.
Actions that you perform from a high inside bind.
Actions you perform when you in a hard inside bind when you have the overbind.
Actions you perform when you are in a low underbind on the outside, i.e. Krucke.
Actions you perform when you are in a low underbind on the inside, i.e. low Schutzen.
Actions you perform when you are in a high underbind on the inside (i.e. a hanging parry-like position).

For each I cover the actions you and your opponent can do.

This will be a long post and will cover the majority of the techniques in i33. This is because attacks and parries are easy. Its only when these are done and we are in a bind that the more complicated actions can be performed. I may have forgotten a few techniques and these will probably get picked up elsewhere, such as in my upcoming recreation of the i33 plays.

9.1 High outside bind

High outside bind, e.g. if halpchilt parries an oberhau from third ward

When you are in are in a high outside bind, as if you have just parried an oberhau using halpschilt, or if you have 'fallen under sword and shield', you can perform a variety of actions:

You can attack the left side of their sword (from your perspective) with a thrust;
You can attack around to the right side of their sword;
You can perform a hard bind to the outside and perform a shield-knock and an attack called a Nucken.
Etc.

9.1.1 Stichslach

If you are weak in the bind, you can perform a Stichslach around the outside of the opponent's sword:

The priest was weak in the bind and performed a Stichslach thrust around the outside

9.1.2 Direct strike

The fencer who is strong in the bind can attempt to seize a strike to the head directly from the bind, such as with a false edge cut, however this is not recommended as it can be countered with the Stichslach:

The student has attempted to attack directly from the bind with a false edge cut, but this was countered with the Stichslach from the priest.

9.1.3 Step-through

The one who is strong in the bind could also perform a 'Step through' attack, which is basically a direct attack from the right side made from the bind but it is made 'behind' the opponent's sword with a step to the left. This isn't shown in i.33 but here is a step through from the inside bind mirror-flipped:

Step through attack from the outside bind (right fencer)

9.1.4 Hard bind and shield-knock

The one who is stronger in the bind can attempt make a hard bind. This is usually made in response to a Stichslach, but could be used against any attack made to the outside. You basically cut an oberhau over their sword, or you gain the weak of their sword with the strong of yours and gain an overbind. Now, or at the same time, you can knock your buckler into theirs or into their sword to control their weapons, and you perform a false edge or true edge cut from below up to their face.

From the high outside bind, a hard bind is made, followed by a shield-knock and a Nucken attack.

9.2 Hard outside bind

The scenario in 9.1.4 is a prime example of a hard outside bind. When your opponent has a clear overbind on you on their outside or you have a clear overbind on them, this is a hard outside bind. The bind does not need to be down to the ground, but it is well off to the side.

9.2.1 Shield knock and Nucken

If you have the overbind on the outside then the Shield-knock and Nucken is i33's preferred method of attack:

9.2.2 What if they don't keep their sword and shield together?

If you have the overbind and your opponent separates their sword and buckler, instead of doing a Shield-Knock, you can thrust them in between their weapons:

If they don't keep their hands together during the overbind, thrust between their weapons

9.2.3 Direct attack

If you have the overbind, you can also attack them without performing a shield-knock:

The one with the overbind can seize a strike directly, without a shield knock

This is also true if the fencer who is in the underbind tries to flee:

The student flees from the bind. The Priest chases and attacks

9.2.4 Grapple

This isn't shown in i33, however here is an image of a similar grapple from the inside bind mirror-flipped. The image is inaccurate as the priest who is grappling should be using his buckler arm to encircle the arms of the opponent (so buckler would be in the other hand). From the inside bind, he encircles the arms of the opponent with his buckler arm and turns to his right. Below, the opponent lets go of his own weapons and kicks the priest away, but now he is defenceless.

9.2.5 Disengage and rebind

If you are overbound, you can disengage your sword out from under theirs and re-bindover their sword. Now you are in a hard inside bind.

The priest was in a low outside bind, and disengages and re-binds over the opponent's sword. Now the priest is in a hard inside bind.

9.2.6 Disengage and attack

The one who is overbound can also disengage and attack. There are several variations of this.

If the bind is fairly high, you can go into a hanging and use this to disengage to the right of their sword and attack their head or leg, using your buckler to protect you from their sword.

Alternatively, you can disengage and then attack the arms with a false edge cut from below, or thrust the opponent:

The student is overbound so he disengages and cuts the arms of the priest

Or you can thrust high, especially if the opponent is attempting to attack high too:

9.3 High inside bind

The high inside bind will occur if you have attacked with a mittelhau or oberhau from the right and it has been parried with halpschilt or left Schutzen.

Similarly to the high outside bind, we can do a variety of actions from here:

You can attack the right side of their sword (from your perspective) with a thrust;
You can attack around to the left side of their sword;
You can perform a hard bind to the inside.
Etc.

9.3.1 Step through attack

If you are strong in the bind, or the bind is neutral, the preferred attack in i33 from the inside bind is the step through. This is basically an attack to the right side of the opponent's head but made from the inside of their sword. In effect, the attack comes from 'behind' their sword and is made with a diagonal step to the right:

Step through attack from the inside bind

9.3.2 Attack with a thrust

If you are weak in the bind, you could try performing a high thrust around the inside of their sword without opposition. If you are strong in the bind, you could try attacking with a thrust on the inside of their sword in opposition. These will both look something like this image below, but your opponent's sword will either be pointing towards your right (if you are weak) or left (if you are strong):

9.3.3 Attack around to the outside

If the opponent is stronger in the bind, then you can disengage from the inside to the outside and either rebind with a halpschilt or a right Schutzen, or you can attack with a cut or a thrust.

If your opponent does this to you, you can attack their bare arms while they are disengaging.

9.3.4 Hard inside bind

Just like the hard outside bind, we can made a hard inside bind, however it is not as good as the hard outside bind because it is harder to do the shield-knock:

The fencer on the right has a hard inside bind on the opponent, and so has an overbind

9.4 Hard inside bind

You have a clear overbind on your opponent to the inside, or they have a clear overbind to their inside. The bind does not need to be towards the ground, but is off to the side.

9.4.1 Shield Knock and Nucken

When you have an overbind on the inside, you can perform a shield-knock and Nucken. However, whether you can perform the shield-knock will depend on how you have made the overbind (e.g. is buckler on top or bottom of your sword hand). In the image below, the student is attempting to grapple the Priest's sword between his arms, which is possible if the student has used his buckler to parry the priest's Nucken attack.

9.4.2 Direct attack

The one who has the overbind can of course make a direct attack without a shield-knock.

9.4.3 Grapple

When you have the overbind, you can use your sword arm to grapple and encircle their arms, as you turn your body around towards the left. They can let go of their weapons to free themselves, but this leaves them defenceless.

The Priest grapples from a low inside bind

9.4.4 Disengage and re-bind

The one who is overbound can disengage their sword out from under the opponent's sword and re-bind over the top of the sword. They will now have an outside bind.

9.4.5 Disengage and attack

The one who is overbound can disengage and attack the arms with a false edge cut from below, or thrust to the opponent's face or chest.

9.5 Low outside underbind

This is basically when you or your opponent is in Krucke. You will find yourself in this if you have parried an Unterhau with Krucke:

You will also find yourself in this if you have parried a thrust using this position:

A position like Krucke used to parry aside a thrust

9.5.1 Low thrust

If you are strong in the bind, you can thrust underneath their buckler:

9.5.2 Attack high

From Krucke, you could attack high with an 'Oberschilt' attack. The opponent can parry this by turning and raising the sword and buckler together:

From Krucke a high attack is made, parried by the Priest

9.6 Low inside underbind

This is basically when you use low Schutzen. There are few examples of this, with the main being when you parry a thrust to your inside such as a thrust from fifth ward:

The student parries the thrust to the inside with a low Schutzen

All of the actions from this bind have been covered in the hard outside bind, with the exception of one:

9.6.1 Shield-knock and thrust

The one who has the overbind can perform a shield-knock and high thrust over the buckler:

9.7 High inside underbind

This is basically when you or your opponent are in some sort of hanging-like position, such as fiddlebow or right Schutzen. Someone has an overbind and someone has an underbind, but usually the one with the underbind is 'in control'.

9.7.1 Disengage to the other side and attack

If you have just parried with a fiddlebow or hanging guard of some variety, the most natural thing you can do is disengage and attack from the outside, to the head or the left leg. Use your buckler to provide cover against their sword while you do this.

9.7.2 Disengage and re-bind

If you are too far away to attack the head or leg, you could disengage and re-bind. Now you will have them in a hard inside bind.

9.7.3 Grapple

When you have the high underbind and they have their sword over yours, you can close and wrap your buckler arm around their sword arm and attack them with your sword:

The student parries with a hanging ward and then closes to grapple the sword arm

9.7.4 Disarm

I'm not sure if this is the safest move to perform as it involves grabbing a sharp sword blade, however I think I have it figured out. If your opponent is thrusting at you and you are in a variation of fiddlebow that rests your sword blade horizontally across your buckler arm behind your buckler, you can scoop up the thrust from below and, by twisting your buckler hand clockwise (into pronation) you can trap the opponent's blade between your blade and your buckler and grab the opponent's blade with your buckler hand. The image has you grabbing the weak of the blade but when I practiced it, it made more sense to grab the strong of their blade. You can yank the sword out of their hands, or you can free your sword and attack them.

9.7.5 Hard outside bind

Alternatively, from the above fiddlebow variant, you can also lift their blade up and over yourself and bind it hard to the outside, from where you can perform the hard outside bind plays such as a shield-knock and Nucken.

A hard bind to the outside made from fiddlebow

9.7.6 Shield knock

This is perhaps best illustrated with the play of Priests Special Second Ward. If you are the one attacking with an Oberhau and they parry with a hanging-like position, you can shield-knock their buckler and attack them:

The lady on the left is attacking with an oberhau from special second ward, this is parried with a hanging 'Schutzen', and so she shield-knocks and thrusts over the buckler

9.8 Summary

Phew! That was a long post. I realise there are a lot of plays here to try. The key thing is to practice the attacks and parries (or counter wards and binds) covered in earlier posts, and then try the appropriate plays depending on which bind you are in. These plays won't cover every action you can do. For example, from a low inside bind, e.g. from Low Schutzen, presumably you could attack the leg, but this isn't covered in i33.

Here is the summary of the actions:

High Outside Bind:
- Attack: Thrust to the left or around to the right.
- Hard Bind: Perform a shield-knock and Nucken.
- Weak Bind: Stichslach thrust around the opponent’s sword.
- Step-Through: Attack from the right side behind the opponent's sword.
- Hard Outside Bind:
  - Shield-Knock & Nucken: If you have the overbind, perform this attack.
  - Direct Attack: Thrust or strike without a shield-knock.
  - Grapple: Encircle opponent’s arms and control them.
  - Disengage & Re-bind: Disengage to a hard inside bind.
  - Disengage & Attack: Strike with thrust or false edge cut.
High Inside Bind:
- Step-Through: Attack from the inside, stepping to the right.
- Thrust: Attack around or through the inside of their sword.
- Disengage & Attack to the other side: Rebind or strike to the opponent’s exposed areas.
- Hard Inside Bind:
  - Shield-Knock & Nucken: Perform this if you have the overbind.
  - Direct Attack: Strike or thrust without the shield-knock.
  - Grapple: Encircle the opponent's arms and take control.
  - Disengage & Re-bind: Move to an outside bind.
  - Disengage & Attack: Thrust or cut to the opponent's vulnerable spots.
Low Outside Underbind (Krucke):
- Low Thrust: Attack underneath their buckler.
- High Attack: Perform a high cut or "Oberschilt" attack.
Low Inside Underbind (Low Schutzen):
- Shield-Knock & Thrust: If you have the overbind, thrust or cut over your buckler after performing a shield-knock.
High Inside Underbind:
- Disengage & Attack: Attack from the outside to the head or leg.
- Disengage & Re-bind: Rebind to a hard inside bind.
- Grapple: Use your buckler to entangle their sword arm.
- Disarm: Trap their blade with your buckler and disarm them.
- Hard Outside Bind: From a hanging guard, bind to the outside and perform shield-knock or Nucken.