gladiatoriahalfswordintroduction.pdf

Introduction to

in Gladiatoria

by Bartłomiej Walczak

as presented

in Uppsala, May 2004

his handout is by no means any comprehensive guide to half-swording in armour. It serves as an introduction to

understanding the armoured half-swording techniques contained in Gladiatoria. In the whole manuscript there are 50 half-

swording techniques, of which only a small number is presented and explained here. My aim was to give a brief overview

of possibilites that Gladiatoria gives you for the armoured combat, and how it ties in with the diﬀerent period texts on

the subject - Johannes Liechtenauer’s teachings, Martein Hundfeld’s, Andreas Lignitzer’s, Sigmund Ringeck’s and Codex

Wallerstein. It is my belief that Gladiatoria is a compilation of these sources, because it mentions several key elements present

there, and absent from other texts.

If you have any comments or corrections, please don’t hesitate and contact me at feniks@arma.lh.pl.

half-swording

Half-swording stances according to Liechteanuer

he ﬁrst stance . Left leg leading (as in all stances). he sword

is raised above the head. his stance oﬀers immediate upper

thrust to the visor or mortslag .

he second stance . Left leg leading, sword on the right side,

point targeted at the face of your opponent. he picture does

not do it justice. Correct it accordingly to the advice. his

stance oﬀers immediate lower thrust to the visor or to the

armpit or also a mortslag .

he third stance. No picture of this stance in Gladiatoria,

and even this picture from Codex Wallerstein is not a good

depiction. Left leg leading, sword rests above the left thigh

with the pommel on the right side, and the point on the left.

his stance oﬀers a quick transition to the fourth stance and

the lower thrust or a mortslag .

he fourth stance. Executed, if you want to put whole weight

of your body behind a thrust and possibly even penetrate his

breastplate. Put your pommel under your armpit, change the

grip on your sword and thrust. Ringeck also mentions to rest

the hilt on your breast.

Gladiatoria half-sword introductory course

page 2

Vulnerable targets in armour

visor

the inside of the hand

the inside of the elbow

the armpit

the back of the gauntlet

the groin

the back of the knee

sabaton

Footwork

he main footwork principle for ﬁghting in armour is to make

as little and as small steps as possible. Liechtenauer writes that

to ﬁghting in armour belong only a step forwards ( zutrit ) and

a step backwards ( abtrit ), and that man should not make big

steps to avoid too much exertion. Our understanding is that

Liechtenauer’s steps are not the passing steps, but the half-

steps, which do not change the sides.

Also, all Liechtenauer stances are left foot forwards, and it

is our ﬁrm belief that the passing step was not used unless

it could be of real beneﬁt to the swordsman and mostly in

close distance. Stances with right foot forward actually put

swordsman at a disadvantage by not oﬀering any immediate

dangerous attack. Gladiatoria includes one technique with

a ﬁrst stance with right foot forwards and it is a defensive

technique.

From our experience, it is sometimes necessary to make a

longer step. Instead, you should make a step, which we call

a “three-step”. First you move your leading foot forwards,

then you step with the back foot close to your leading foot,

and then you make another step with the leading foot. It

is simple, quick and eﬀective way of moving forwards and

backwards without the necessity to extend yourself, which

would be inadvisable in armour.

Gladiatoria half-sword introductory course

page 3

Basic attacks in Gladiatoria

A thrust from above. Aimed at the visor, executed from

the ﬁrst stance. Straightforward and powerful attack. In the

picture executed by the ﬁgure on the right.

A thrust from below. Either to the visor or to the hand, as

seen in the picture. Executed from the second stance.

A straight, powerful thrust. Executed by a ﬁgure on the right,

from the fourth stance. As mentioned in the stances section,

aimed at the breastplate, sword used as a lance with a whole

bodyweight behind. Possible breastplate penetration.

Mortslag. A long- and medium-range technique, attack with

the pommel towards the head, the arm or the knee. Liegnitzer

gives many more possibilities, but Gladiatoria deals only

with the aforementioned three. here are two ways to execute

mortslag , depending on the side you’re striking from. You can

make a mortslag from the ﬁrst of from the second stance.

Gladiatoria half-sword introductory course

page 4

Mortslag techniques

he ﬁrst mortslag technique is a simple throw. When the

opponent delivers a strike with the pommel to the head from

the right side with a full passing step, the swordsman should

defend by catching it between the hands and then step

forwards to trip the opponent by laying the sword tip on his

neck and putting his left knee behind the opponent’s right.

he second mortslag is almost a mirror of the ﬁrst one. Again

the opponent attacks at the head, this time putting left leg

forward, the swordsman makes a passing step behind his

knee and trips him with the pommel on his neck. Notice,

that mortslag to the left side is delivered in a diﬀerent way

than to the right side.

If your opponent wants to hit your arm between the shoulder

and the elbow on your left side (notice, this time no passing

step on his part) you should defend by lifting your point

upwards and moving the sword to your left. Remember that

the hilt should stick more to the left than the point.

he last mortslag technique is a mirror of the third one. If the

opponent strikes to your right arm, then raise your sword on

the right and defend as before. Notice diﬀerent execution of

the attack to the right, and again left leg in front.

Gladiatoria half-sword introductory course

page 5

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