Notice how they focus on countering the common defenses against an attack in the first two examples, and how the same technique is done in the next two with different weapons (with empty hands and knife).  The last example is a fluid combination using the best of the Medieval master's work to defeat the enemy.

Counter to the Shoulder Lock (Flos Duelatorum 1410)

    Note that Fiore's posture is at the End of the Sequence - the photos show one way to "Get Here", and apply the finishing stab and throw by stepping the right leg behind his right and throwing him down backwards with the shoulder lock and dagger point!  Note that in photo three, I slipped the elbow free from the lock before it was secured, and then continued to drive it down in picture four to make part of the counter lock.  You can not let the man secure the lock, but as long as you grab your right arm with the left hand as shown in the plates, you will most likely resist the upper key lock

Counter to the Block and Grapple with a Kick and Throat Strike,
Followed with a Two-Handed Stab (Flos Duelatorum 1410)

    Here I am blocked, and the man tries to grapple me, so I strike him high and low simultaneously, and then follow up with the two handed dagger stab, common to the Medieval military style.  Note that the stab is just south of the sternum, near the zyphoid process (that's "the top of the squishy bits" for the rest of you lot)

Blocking the Forehand Stab, Throat Strike and Rear Leg Takedown
(Seen in Dei Liberi, Talhoffer, Vadi, Durrer, Marozzo, etc.)

    Note that the strike to the throat in picture three also serves to break the attacker's balance, and forcing a man to fight gravity is an important factor in preventing him from countering you.

Block, Draw Dagger and Stab, Rear Leg Takedown
(Seen in Dei Liberi, Talhoffer, Vadi, Durrer, Marozzo, etc.)




    Here is the last technique, but now it is seen with the dagger.  So much of the Medieval work is universal like that.  You will see the same locks and throws with different weapons and different counters in the manuals.  This was all a Unified System of Warcraft, and not "random techniques" or "crude bashing" as is the stereotype of Medieval combat!  Watch out for counters early on (punch or grapple in picture two) and defensive actions later (blocking in pictures three or four).

Combination Technique
Triangle Disarm, Elbow Break Over Shoulder, Spinning Throw, Ground Finish



Past Techniques of the Month

 

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