Pseudo-Peter von Danzig/Mike Rasmusson 2004 LS

The text expanding from the verses follows from here;

Text

9	If you will show art, send yourself to Left and Right in striking,
10	and left with right is how you fence correctly and strongly.

Glosa Mark that this is the first tenet of the long sword, that before all things, to learn the strikes rightly, you will always fence strongly, and undertake this thus: When you stand with the left foot forward, and strike from your right side, your step with the right foot will not follow after the strike, thus making the strike weak and incorrect. When your right stays behind, onward the strike will be short. Also don't make your right step go to the other side, putting it under yourself and ahead of your left foot,

otherwise the play further from the left side shall happen with the step and strike on opposing sides.

Text of a lesson

11	He who strikes after deserves a joyless art.

Glosa That is when you come to him in fencing, then you shall not stay still and wait to see with what strike he would fight against you. Know that all fencers who wait to see the other's strike and who will do nothing but displace the other, deserve indeed less joy in their art when they are overcome and struck.

Text

12	Strike closely at him as you will, that nothing comes unto your hilt,
13	head, or body, allow no attack.
14	With the entire body fence as strongly as you can drive.

Glosa When you come to him in pre-fencing, as you would then fence, then drive with your body's full strength, and strike closely to him, one to his head, and to his body, and always keep your point ahead at his face or chest, Thus he can't change through past the point. If he displaces strongly, and your point goes off to the side, then give him a withdrawing slice to the arm,

Or if his arms go high in the displacement, then hit him with a free strike below to his body and step backward with it. Thus he is struck even as he would (strike) himself.

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15	Hear what is bad, fight not to left, if you are right,
16	and if you are left, the right is very limiting

Glosa This lesson is intended for two people, one right handed and one left, and regards how you should strike, that one is weak when he strikes the first strike not to engage, and this is shown thus: when you come to him in pre-fencing, and are on the right, then undertake not to strike the first strike from the left side where he is weak and does not want to engage against and strike strong with you, so onward strike from the right where you will engage strongly and work at the sword. Similarly if you are left then strike the first not from the right side, as it is wild for the leftie to drive the art entirely from the right side, similarly for the right from the left side.

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17	Before and After, the two things, all arts are from one spring.
18	Weak and Strong, Immediately, do mark this word,
19	thus you will learn work and weapon with Art,
20	know well that no fencing is never learned

Glosa You should first of all rightly undertake and understand two things, that is the Before and the After, and thereafter the weak and strong of the sword and then the word Immediately. From here grows the whole foundation of all fencing arts. When you undertake and understand these things rightly and not forget the word Immediately in all plays, you will drive. Thus will you be a good master of the sword and princes and nobles shall learn well with what proper art of the sword one would choose to fight best and in earnest.

What the Before is

That is that you shall always come before, be it with the strike or with the stab, as when you come to him with a strike or otherwise so that he must displace you, Immediately work ahead nimbly with the sword in the displacement or else with other plays, that he can then come to no work.

What the After is

Is to counter all plays away, and strike to drive the opponent from you, And to take this on even as he comes with the strike, so you must displace. Immediately work nimbly to the next opening and thus break his Before with your After.

Of the Weak and Strong of the Sword

Weak and Strong are taken thus, on the sword from the hilt to the middle of the blade, this is the strong of the sword, and farther past the middle to the point is the weak, and how you shall work with the weak and strong of the sword shall be clarified afterward.

Text of the Five Strikes

21	Teach Five strikes from the right hand,
22	that the weapon will be exalted by a praiseworthy art.

There are five secret strikes of which many masters of the sword know nothing to say. These you shall learn to strike well from the right side, which you can then strike with proper art to break and damage the fencer, which will be praised by other masters. How these shall be learned fully and how to strike when one fences in your plays will be clarified afterward.

Text on the verses' parts.

23	Wrathful strike, Arc, Cross, has Glance, with Vertex,
24	Fool displaces, Traveling After, Overrun lets strike,
25	Change through, Disengage, Run Through, Slice Away, Hand Hit,
26	Wind with openings, Slash against strikes, Stab with thrusting,

Here will be named the proper main parts of the verses of the Long Sword, as they are known, as well as their names, so onward you know well and can understand. The first are the five strikes as they are specially named.

The first is called the Wrath Strike,
the second the Arc Strike,
the third the Cross Strike,
the fourth the Glance Strike,
the fifth the Vertex Strike.

Now mark these elements,

the first being the four Guards,
the next the four Displacements,
the third the Traveling After,
the fourth Running Over,
the fifth the Parry,
the sixth is Changing Through,
the seventh is Disengaging,
the eighth Charging Through,
the ninth is Slicing Off,
the tenth is Hand Hitting,
the eleventh is Hanging,
the twelfth is the Winding.

And how you shall fence with the plays and how you shall gain openings with the Hanging and Winding so that you will go from one to the next, you will find described after here.

Mark that you come here to the first text and glosa

on the Wrath Strike (Zornhau) with its plays

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27	To him who strikes you from above, Wrath Strike point concludes.

Glosa The Wrath Strike counters all high strikes with the point. And it is indeed nothing other than a bad peasant strike. Deploy it thus: when you come to him in the pre-fencing: if he strikes to you from his right side high to the head, then to this also strike from high on your right wrathfully displacing with him on his sword, if he is then weak on the sword, then aim to shoot ahead with the point and stab to his face, or attack the chest between the arms.

Text

28	If he wards, then take off high without driving

Glosa When you strike him with the Wrath Strike, then thrust the point long to his face or chest as described before. If he is wary of the point and strongly displaces and pushes your point to the side, then wrench off from his sword high above you with your sword on his sword's blade, and strike one to his other side, yet again on his sword's blade, to his head, this is called taking off high.

Counter against the take off

When he takes off high, then bind strongly on his sword above to his head with the long edge.