Sword and Buckler defence

[jeremy pace]

I just started some extensive training with cut n thrust sword and buckler and have a question on some basic defence. In my experience with longsword if an opponent makes a cut to the legs it is usually best just to counter attack as you void out... basically dont bother blocking at all. With the sword and buckler i find this much more difficult. Of course the buckler is right there, but it is often very hit or miss (sorry i couldnt resist!) to try to guard that low with it and usually the opponent is really just trying to get you to lower it anyway. The best method i have come up with is (leading with left foot shield to the fore) as they come in you wind back bringing the rear leg to front and counter attack. Usually it passes me by.... Unfortunately "usually" is not good enough. I know we have some great sword n buckler guys on here so any tricks or tips here?

[Allen Johnson]

You should be able to still void back and counter cut, but cut to the exposed arm rather than the head (if it's out of reach). Though it's more of a medieval technique from I.33, you could use the sword together with the buckler to close that lower line, bind with the buckler and then countercut to an opening.
http://www.thearma.org/Manuals/i33/04.jpg

[JeanryChandler]

There is a different dynamic about leg strikes with longswords than there is with many other weapon types including both sword and shield, pole-axes, and zweihanders.

For sword and shield I always found a slightly crouching stance and a somewhat lowered guard with the shield helps here. Your 'flinch' response tends to work better making your shield go up rather than down, so your guard often works more effectively a bit lower than you may first guess. With training you can pretty quickly determine where it needs to be to provide the most effective cover. Also if you have a center grip, when in defensivve guards with the shield, make sure you are holding it as far out as possible. This is a pretty big advantage of center grip shields over the kind of arm-strap types you see very popular in the SCA and such.

Another thing which helps especially with smaller bucklers is to use your weapon in conjunction with the shield for defense. You can displace with both then bind with one (usually the shield) while you counter.

Also, to be historically accurate, remember you probably want a pretty light shield. Most Historical shields were made of light fibrous wood like Linden or Limewood, around 1/4" to 3/8" thick. The SCA types and those often available at many commercial vendors are often as much as 1/2" to 3/4" thick. That can make a big difference in a larger shield, especially again with a center grip type where weight is a bit more of an issue.

Jr

[david welch]

Yeah, you can do a lot of defense with a shield or a buckler, but you are missing something. If they are going low on you, as soon as you catch with their point off of you and with them still crossed across their body, jam the crap out of them. The biggest advantage we have found in disparate weaponry is that you can get inside the point of the longer weapon and still be able to use yours. Don't just try to defend with your shield. Hit 'em with it.

Hope that helps some.

[Jaron Bernstein]

Hmmmm. Parry the longsword with your arming sword and move in and introduce his nose to your buckler. Go from there. In general when doing S&B vs. longsword, you (as the S&B dude) you want to stay close so he can't use the reach and your can use your 2 tools for his one.

[Brian Hunt]

Here are some possible options off of the top of my head from my own experiences fighting a longsword with a sword and buckler.

1st option: pass the forward leg back to void the strike to your leg, quickly step in before your opponent recovers and bind his hands or forearms with your buckler and hit him at the same time.

2nd option: triangle or compass step to the side away from the strike and strike to his forearms or hands at the same time.

3rd option: block his strike to your leg with the ward known in the I.33 as the krucke or crutch, step towards your opponent while wrapping your buckler arm around both of his arms trapping them under your armpit and hit him in the head or stab him. The picture in the lower right hand corner of this picture is of the krucke being preformed by the priest. This ward can be held high or low.





4th option: step inside his strike and drive in to bind his hands or forearms with your buckler and strike him or thrust him to the face or the body.

5th option: strike his strike down onto the earth with an upper strike of your sword, creating an overbind that stops his strike by forcefully driving it into the earth; step towards your opponent and hit him in the face with your buckler and follow it up with a strike or a thrust to his body or his face. (you can also choose to bind his hands or forearms with your buckler and then hit him with a strike or thrust.)

These are just a few responces that one could do to help protect against a leg strike. Several of these are based upon the I.33 technique known as a shield strike and also a thrust strike. One should generally keep your buckler exended out in front of you unless you are in a specific ward, such as 1st ward from the I.33 for a specific reason (ie. you plan to step to left in order to strike down onto your opponents sword while he is standing pflug in order to bind his sword and follow up with a shield strike). Your sword and buckler can track together to give you better leverage in a bind, or they can move more independent as in Talhoffer. Notice that the figures in the I.33 are up on the balls of their feet, and that they are bent forward at an angle from the waist over the lead leg. This allows one to better protect the forward leg from attack than if you are standing straight up at the waist. Remember that the buckler creates a cone like defensive area to hide behind, the closer the buckler is to your body, the less area it defends. Don't be afraid to bind with your sword against a longsword. It is effective and works, especially if you follow up your bind by placing your buckler onto his hands or forearms to further control your opponent and follow it up immediatly with a strike or a thrust. There are two over-binds one on the left and the other on the right. There are two under-binds also on the left and the right. The I.33 states that the overbind is more useful than the underbind.

hope this helps.

Brian Hunt
GFS

[jeremy pace]

Thank you all for the ideas...

Allen- Thats what ive been doing with the void and counter and i agree it is effective. Binding with both the sword and buckler is difficult as i am using flat padded weapons that have a tendency to grip, not slide. I think this can be remedied with more practice though.

Jeanry- Weapon Master! Those paddeds are still holding up great... any ideas for padding a buckler? Actually we were fighting s&b vs s&b. although we have done quite a bit with cross weapon fights too. And the crouch is very useful... makes smaller target and such.

David- That is a good technique about the crossed arms across the body... i will have to work on exploiting that more. Our biggest issue is that our bucklers arent padded so slams like that can easily turn nasty... what did you do to fix?

Jaron- the main issue was the weapons both being s&b (sorry i didnt make that clearer) when they use longsword against it i usually close as fast as possible. The leg is still a tempting target though.

Brian-....... wow where to start! i have tried most of those options but the 5th is new. Never thought of that. I will let you know my results.

Thanks all for the info. Any more responses are welcomed with sword in sheath.