long sword guards, book vs. website?

[Ryan Ricks]

in John's book (medieval swordsmanship on pages 186-7) he discusses the basic longsword guards. compared to this site: http://www.thehaca.com/essays/StancesIntro.htm they are somewhat different.

in the book, he lists 5 primary positions: high, middle, low, back, and hanging. the five major positions on the site are vom tag, alber, pflug, ochs, and nebenhut.

there are three main differences, the middle guard (pflug) which on page 186 is show in the typical obi-wan kenobi style becomes more like the close-right and close-left guards pictured in the book, page 187.

secondly, in the book the hanging guard is presented as one of the five major guards, while on the site it is replaced by ochs.

thirdly, in the book, inside right and inisde left look much like ochs, but they are shown with the sword at shoulder level, as opposed to head level.

so the question is, what inspired the change from what's in the book? i'm assuming i should do them like it says on the website?

ryan

[Jay Vail]

The website reflects the most recent interpretations, which came about from additional research and study after publication of the book. EMA is an evolving field and views about how things are done are bound to change.

[Ryan Ricks]

i can think of good reasons why the middle guard was changed to pflug. it seems like in the middle guard depicted in the book, one's hands would be especially vulnerable.

[John_Clements]

Yes, the book was written 7 years ago, and reflected what info was obtainable more than 8 years ago. See the update on the site here from the homepage link for more. There's still revisisons and amendments to the guards underway, as was shown just last month for instance at our New Orleans event. What is on the article about stances is the more accurate and recent.

JC