Bits of Wisdom: Quotes from the Manuals

[Lorraine Munoa]

Is there any particular quotation from the manuals, or even from other martial practicioners, that you find very true or useful?
Lately I've been relearning the principle, supposedly from the german manuals, that What does not Hurt Does not Teach. If you haven't got a healthy fear of the other person's weapon and being hit, you won't guard yourself as well.
Please share your favorite bits of historical or modern wisdom, and why they're applicable in our study.

[SzabolcsWaldmann]

Doebringer: The teaching is less important than practice, for practice can exist without teaching but teaching cannot exist without practice.

Szab

[Matthew_Anderson]

Lichtenaeur: "If you frighten easily, no fencing should you learn."

I think this still applies to our modern mock combat and training, although the "fear factor" is not as intense as it would be fighting for your life with sharp weapons. If you are scared, you will fail, no matter how much skill or training you have. You don't have to be reckless, or overly agressive, but I think you have to be confident and be able to remain calm and focused when fencing to do well.

[david welch]

From Doebringer:

"Liechtenauer has a saying “He who is still, is dead, he who moves will live.

...

Therefore Liechtenauer does not hold the guards in such a
high esteem; he is more interested in that you try to win the first strike [Vorschlag]"

[Mike Cartier]

"Liechtenauer has a saying “He who is still, is dead, he who moves will live.

...

Therefore Liechtenauer does not hold the guards in such a
high esteem; he is more interested in that you try to win the first strike [Vorschlag]"

is that entire quote Doebringer?

what about the second part with the Vorschlag comment?

[david welch]

I just cut out the guard descriptions to get the Liechtenauer part. That was what the "..." was.

"Liechtenauer
has a saying “He who is still, is dead,
he who moves will live”. And from these
guards comes the understanding that you
should move in swordplay, and not wait in a
guard and thus waste your chance.
The first guard, the plough [Pflug], is when
you hold the point [of the sword] in front
of you aimed at the ground or to the side.
After a displacement [Abesetzen] it is called
the barrier guard [Schranckhute] or simply
the gate [Pforte].
The second guard is the ox [Ochse], or the
upper hanging from the shoulder.
The fool [Alber] breaks what [your opponent]
strikes or thrusts. From the hanging
[Hengen] strike and at once and follow by
attacking after [Nochreizen].
The third guard the fool [Alber] is the lower
hanging [Undenhengen], and with it you
break all strikes and thrusts when it is done
correctly.
The fourth guard is from the roof [Vom
tage], is also the long point [Lange ort]. He,
who does it well with outstretched arms, is
not easy to hit with strikes or thrusts. It can
also be called the hanging above the head.
Also know that you break all guards and
positions with the strikes. You should strike
bravely at the opponent so that he must move
away and defend him. Therefore Liechtenauer
does not hold the guards in such a
high esteem; he is more interested in that
you try to win the first strike [Vorschlag]"

[Stacy Clifford]

I've posted this before, but I still love it. From Joseph Swetnam:

"It is true, a man can be but sure if he practice all the daies of his life, but it is not amisse for thee to know more than ever thou shalt have occasion to use..."

The act of fighting tends to distill your actions down to the techniques you know best and can execute the quickest with the most confidence. You may never use more than just your basic skills in an actual fight, but if you never practice the more advanced, fancy or situational techniques, then you will never expand that core of techniques you don't have to think about. Knowing more than you need to gives you greater versatility and flexibility to deal with situations that didn't turn out like you planned. The way I look at it is that the more you know, the better you will be able to make up something on the spot that works when you really don't have time to consult the manual. Knowledge enhances practical creativity.

[Matt_Conner]

Or, to put it paraphrase what Swetnam said, it's better to know more than you need than to need more than you know.

[Craig Peters]

A little bit of practical wisdom from Vadi:

"Note also that: he who wants to fight too much, in

one thousand at least once will soil his luck,

so losing honor from one error only; he thinks high

things which are low, and often clashes;

often he causes grumblings, often he quarrels:

in these things it is seen who in the Art is learned.

If tongue could cut for any reason, and as the sword

could do, the dead would be infinite."

[Josh Welsh]

My personal favorite is the quote at the foot of this post.

[Mike Chidester]

Fiore dei Liberi (Pisani-Dossi version):

My friend, if you want to know the arts of weapons,
bring with you all that this poem teaches.
Be audacious in the attack and let your mind not be old.
Have no fear in your mind; be brave, you can make it.
Take the woman for an example, fearful,
Stricken by panic, she would never face the naked steel.
And a fearful man is worth less than a woman.
If you lack boldness of heart, you lack everything.
Audacity is the virtue that makes this art.

[david welch]

Doebringer, 22V

"If you then find yourself on his sword, then be sure that you feel [Fuhlen] and do as before has been described, [color="red"] since this is the basic tenet of swordsmanship: that a man is always in motion and never at rest [/color] , and it is also based on feeling [Fuhlen], so do as it is stated above."

[Mike Chidester]

And, of course, Fiore dei Liberi (Getty version):

Because he said that without books no one can be a good Master or a even good Scholar in this art.

And I, Fiore, confirm it to be true, because this art is so vast that there is no one in the world who has such a great memory as to keep in mind the fourth part of this art without books.

And not knowing the fourth part of this art I would not be a Master any more.

[Lorraine Munoa]

I'd add a word or so to this one in a few places before I applied it to my own studies, being female ; D

My friend, if you want to know the arts of weapons,
bring with you all that this poem teaches.
Be audacious in the attack and let your mind not be old.
Have no fear in your mind; be brave, you can make it.
Take the [typical] woman for an example, fearful,
Stricken by panic, she would never face the naked steel.
And a fearful man [or woman] is worth less than a [typical] woman.
If you lack boldness of heart, you lack everything.
Audacity is the virtue that makes this art.
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