Lew/Per Magnus Haaland MF 2019

Here follow some really useful instructions for mounted combat

When you clash with your opponent to thrust him in the chest on his right side.

Turn the horse and grab hold of his right hand with your left.

Make sure as soon as your saddles join together, you take his sword.

Thrust with the point above quickly, change through or parry the opponent's thrust.

Strike, move the sword over the opponent's arm and parry his thrusts or strikes.

Hold the opponent hard with both hands.

Charge at your opponent with full force with thrusts and strikes.

Twist the opponent's right hand, and put your sword-point into his face.

If he removes your thrust, you grab hold of his right hand with your left.

Aim at where the arms are bare by his gauntlets

Charge at the opponent with full force, and pull his hand from the reins and take his sword.

Against all kinds of weapons, learn two techniques with empty hands.

If you grab his visor and his eyes, all your opponent's wrestling will be for nothing.

As soon as you get close to your opponent, you twist his head with crossed arms.

When riding away from your opponent, you parry with half sword or by the point.

When attacking the opponent on the left side you turn in the pommel in his face.

Attack a stronger opponent on the right/Germ. Attack to the right with your techniques.

Put the point into the opponent's face.

Resist forcefully all your opponent's attacks.

In every battle, use your force at the beginning of the attack.

Keep a close eye on the opponent's lance at the attack.

The nameless grip, is when you move the hand into the opponent's visor.

If he attacks you from both sides, turn the horse to the left, so that you end up on his right side.

If space is given for it by your opponent, you turn the horse.

Remember well to disarm and hold on to your opponent's sword.

Move the arm over the opponent if someone attacks you, and fight him hard.

1	If you drop the lance,  the attack will do you more harm than good.

Explanation

This means above all, that when you see your opponent charging at you with his lance, to be able to deflect his thrust and hit with your own. There are four positions or guards you shall use, of these there are three at the full length of the lance and one in the middle.

First position is done thus:

strech out the lance as far as you can under the arm with the point straight toward the opponent's face.

Second is this:

hold the lance as before, but pretend that it is too heavy, and lower it down on your left side and keep it over the horse's neck.

The third is this:

Hold the middle of the lance with both hands across the saddle.

The fourth goes from the middle of the lance. Do as follows: stretch out the lance as far as you can and shoot the point into the face of the opponent.

You can also hold the lance with both hands on the middle, and hold it in front of you as with the whole.

Above mentioned positions are to be done manly and with full force, and here below you learn them.

Figure

The 20th figure teaches that you must quickly use force in the beginning of all fights.

Know you shall learn what techniques that come from the four positions and how to perform them.

When riding to attack in first position, stretching out the lance far against him as if you were to thrust the opponent in the face, you lower the front end of the lance and change through under the opponent's lance to his right side and move it to your right, and your own will hit him.

Another figure

This is what the first figure shows: aim for the opponent's chest on his right side.

When you turn down the lance under the opponent's, you insert the reins into the lower armour hook, and grab the lance with the left to support your right and thrust the point at him.

Figure

The sixth figure teaches that you shall hold the opponent with both hands with all your might.

Second guard

Lower the lance point down on your left side and then you strike up the lance on the opponent's right side let go of the reins as described before and grab hold of your lance with the left hand to support your right.

A technique out of the third guard

When holding the lance in the middle with both hands in the clash, you remove his lance with the front end of your lance and put the point into him.

A technique out of the fourth guard

If you are holding the lance in the middle, and your opponent is holding it in its full lenght in the clash, you drop the reins with your left hand and deflect his lance with it, and then you continue forward and put the lance-point on him.

Figure

The twelfth show how to parry all kinds of weapons in two ways.

Hold the lance in half lance position in the middle of the lance with both hands, in the same way as in full length guard and parry the opponent's attack.

Instruction on what to do if both your lances miss

If you both miss with your lances, and you want to win, you drop the lance as fast as you can, and ride in on the opponent's right side but do not draw sword nor dagger. Turn the horse and make sure to ride in with your left side to his right and pay attention to his right hand.

Then, when you are beside your opponent and he has drawn his sword and is about to strike you, you grab hold with your left hand in his elbow and push up and lift his right leg with your left foot, and he will fall down.

If you do not want to throw the opponent, you grab hold if his elbow with the left hand and with the right onto his pommel, and pull it to you as you push his elbow away from you with the left hand, and you will twist the sword out of the opponent's hand.

Figure

The third figure shows what to do to your opponent when your saddles join, and how you take his sword.

Or show him the sun, i.e. wring his neck.

Or, if the opponent reaches in with his right hand under your reins to take them, how you lock down his hand with the reins.

If the opponent reaches at your chest or neck, then grab hold with your right arm in his right hand and use the nameless grip, and if you then turn your horse away from him, he will fall to the ground.

If you grab the opponent's right hand with your right, you can take his weight with your left hand on his elbow and even use the nameless grip if you wish.

These techniques are to be used if you ride in on your opponent's right side.

How to show the sun to the opponent

If you cannot enter on the opponent's left side when you both missed with your lances, then enter on his right side and throw him to the ground by wringing his neck.

If he tries to draw his sword you reach in with your right arm under his right and press it to you. Then, if you turn the horse away from him, he will fall.

If he has drawn his sword and is about to strike you, use the ”hidden grip”, and when you don that you break his right arm over your right with your left hand.

If you have grabbed hold of your opponent's right hand with your left, then press it to your chest, and turn the horse around, and the opponent will fall.

Second figure shows how to turn the horse and grab hold of the opponent's right hand with your left.

If you have taken hold of your opponent's hand as before, then lay down with your chest and all your weight on his arm with all your might. If you continue riding forward, the opponent will fall backwards.

If he raises his arms in the air, whether he has drawn his sword or not, grab hold of his elbow with your right hand and lift up as you lift up his left foot with your foot, and he will fall.