Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Galloglaich" data-source="post: 4828291" data-attributes="member: 77019">In Lichtenauer tradition German Renaissance fencing there are two recognized types of fighting: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_school_of_swordsmanship#Unarmoured_longsword" target="_blank">Blossfechten</a>, which means unarmored fighting, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_school_of_swordsmanship#Armoured_combat" target="_blank">Harnischfechten</a>, which means fully armored fighting (literally fighting in Harness).Unlike in DnD, in the real world plate or even mail armor were basically impervious to sword cuts.  So the Harnischfechten fencing emphasizes half-swording (gripping the blade) <img src="http://www.hema.freehomepage.com/_borders/Copy_of_tafel_220.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />and ringen (the German Renaissance equivalent to Jujitsu).  <img src="http://www.selohaar.org/photos/LOFSeminarApril2009/ToddHalfsword.JPG" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Harnichfechten is fairly simple: it boils down to fighting at the half-sword, using ringen or ringen am-schwert (jujitsu while using the sword for leverage) to take your opponent down, and then make use of powerful half-sword thrusting attacks to finish them off...  <img src="http://www.schielhau.org/images/tafel_72.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />...or using the pommel or quillions of your sword like a mace using the Mortschlag ('murder stroke')<img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/ulfberth/dagger1/Image4.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Quite often harnischfechten fights would end up finished with daggers.  Judicial combat among the aristocracy would often be fought in full armor, commoners usually fought in street clothes or sometimes partial armor (or special leather suits).  In many cases these fights were not to the death, but if they were the dagger often had the last word.<img src="http://www.the-exiles.org/Images/lejuepoleaxe/image10.GIF" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />There was also a considerable amount of attention in many manuals paid to specialized weapons like Poll Axes and military picks which were designed to puncture armor.Blossfechten is the more sophisticated fencing system, and would also include fighting in light armor or partial armor.  If your opponent was wearing a mail shirt for example, you cut somewhere else.  Excavations of major medieval / Renaissance battlefields like Wisby show that most of the skeletons with signs of battle damage recieved wounds where there was no armor- primarily the lower legs.  A few skeletons had both legs severed, apparently by the same cut.In many of the Italian fencing manuals and in their surviving legal dueling codes it is recommended to check both combattants before a duel or judicial combat to make sure they aren't wearing mail (armor) under their clothing, or carrying any magical charms <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />G.</blockquote>

Verification