Pseudo-Hans Döbringer/Michael Chidester LS 2022

This is the general preface of the unarmored fencing on foot, remember it well:

1	Young knight learn onward,  For god have love, and ladies, honor,
2	Till your honor is earned,  Practice chivalry, and learn,
3	The art that in play adorns,  And brings victory in wars.
4	Wrestle well, grappler;  Lance, spear, sword, and dagger,
5	Wield them, be brazen,  In others' hands raze them.
6	Cut in and close fast,  Advance to meet, or let it past.
7	Earn the envy of the wise,  Win boundless praise before your eyes.
8	Now hold this lesson in your heart:  Measure and moderation are keys to all art.
ⅰ	And whatever you wish to do,  Should stay in the realm of good reason.
ⅱ	In earnest or in play,  Have a joyous spirit, but in moderation
ⅲ	So that you may pay attention  And perform with a good spirit
ⅳ	Whatever you will do  And whip up against him.
ⅴ	Because a good spirit with craft  Makes your resistance dauntless.
ⅵ	Thereafter, conduct yourself so that  You give no advantage with anything.
ⅶ	Avoid imprudence.  Don't engage four or six
ⅷ	In your overconfidence.  Be modest, that is good for you.
ⅸ	It's a brave man  Who dares to confront his equal,
ⅹ	But it's not shameful  To flee from four or six at hand.

This is a common lesson of the sword:

9	To have the art within your sight,  Set left forth and cut with right,
10	You will find that left with right  Is the strongest way for you to fight.
11	He who waits for cuts and follows,  In this art finds naught but sorrow.
12	A nearing cut is good to do,  Your shield to stop him changing through.
ⅺ	† {Don't cut toward his sword,  But rather seek out his exposures.}
13	Toward head and body do assay,  From the skirmish shy not away.
14	With your whole body shall you fight,  For that is how you fence with might.
15	Another rule you should not slight:  Fence not from left when you are right.
16	If on your left is how you fight,  You'll fence much weaker on the right.
ⅻ	So always prefer to fence  Downward from the left side.
17	Before and After: these two things,  They are to all arts a wellspring.
18	Likewise there is Weak and Strong,  And the word 'Within', remember here on.
19	You can learn, then,  With skill, to work and defend.
20	If you easily are spooked,  Then fencing is a poor pursuit.
ⅹⅲ	Audacity and speed,  prudence, cunning and ingenuity,
ⅹⅳ	†† {Reason, stealth,  moderation, deliberation, readiness;}
ⅹⅴ	Fencing must have all of this  and carry a joyous spirit.

A general gloss follows here: First and foremost, notice and remember that the point of the sword is the center, the middle, and the core, which all fencing proceeds from and returns to. The hangers and the winds, which a lot of good fencing plays originate from, are the attaching and the revolving of the center and the core.

They were conceived and created so that if you cut or thrust exactly to the point, though you don't hit immediately, you might still hit your opponent with these plays: with cutting, thrusting, and slicing, and with stepping in and out, stepping around, and leaping.

If you mislay or overextend the point of your sword when shooting or lunging, you can recover and realign it by winding and stepping out, and thus come back to the reliable plays and rules of fencing, from which you can cut, thrust, or slice again. For all cutting, thrusting, and slicing can come from the plays and rules of the art of the sword, according to Liechtenauer's art.

(It's written further on how one play or rule results from another, and how to make one play out of another, so that as one of your strikes is defended, the next advances and succeeds.)

Moreover, notice and remember that no part of the sword was conceived or created without reason, so apply the point, both edges, the hilt and pommel, and everything which is on the sword, according to the specific role of each one in the art of fencing, and according to how you discover and embody the practice (as we will read in a more detailed manner hereafter).

Also notice and remember that when Liechtenauer says, "If you wish to see art", etc., he means to advance your left foot, and with that, cut straight toward the man with threatening strikes from your right side, just as soon as you see where you can take him and would certainly reach him by stepping.

He also means that when you want to fence strongly, fence with your left side leading, and with your entire body and strength, toward his head and body (whatever you can get) rather than toward his sword. In fact, you should strike as though he had no sword, or as though you couldn't see it, and you shouldn't disdain the skirmish or harrying, but be always working and in motion so that he cannot come to blows.

He further means to not directly track and follow your cut with your feet, but rather move aside a little and curve around so that you come to your opponent's flank, since you can reach him more easily from there than from the front. When your cutting and thrusting goes directly toward his exposures (toward his head or body) while stepping or treading around him, then those strikes cannot be defended or diverted by changing through or other such plays.

Also note and know by this when he speaks, "The Before, The After the two things, etc" that he means the five words: The Before, The After, Weak, Strong, Indes. The entire art of Master Liechtenauer's rests upon these very words which are the foundation and the core of all fencing on foot or on horse, bare or in harness.

Also notice and remember that when he says, "Before, after, these two things", etc., he means there are five keywords: 'Before', 'After', 'Weak', 'Strong', and 'Within'. On these words is built the entire art of Master Liechtenauer, and they're the core and the fixed foundation of all fencing (on horse or on foot, armored or unarmored).

With the word 'Before', he means to always take and win the Leading Strike, † {whether it lands or not. (As Liechtenauer says, "Cut here and step there; charge toward him, hit or move on".)} When you approach by stepping or running, just as soon as you see you can reach your opponent with a step or a leap, then drive joyously toward wherever you see an exposure (toward his head or body, wherever you feel sure you can take him), boldly and fearlessly. In this way, you always win the Leading Strike, whether it goes well or poorly for him. Also, be certain and measured in your steps, so that you don't step too short nor too far.

Now, when you execute the Leading Strike (be it cutting or thrusting), if it succeeds, then quickly follow through. But if he defends against it, diverting your Leading Strike or otherwise defending with his sword, then as long as you remain on his sword, while you're being led away from the exposure you had targeted, you should feel precisely and notice whether your opponent is Hard or Soft and Strong or Weak on your sword (in his covering and diverting of your cut or thrust).

Thus, you fully feel how the other fencer is in his action. If he's Hard and Strong Within it, then as you fully feel and notice this, become Soft and Weak during and Within it, and before his cover is complete, execute a Following Strike. In other words, you immediately strike while he's still defending himself and covering your Leading Strike (be it cutting or thrusting). Then seek out other plays and rules, and with those, again step and strike toward his exposures.

Thus, you're continually in motion and in contact, so that you confuse and cheat your opponent amid his covering and defense, and he has too much work covering himself and cannot win the Leading or Following Strikes. When he must cover himself and fixate on your strikes, he's always in greater danger than you: he must continue to defend himself or allow himself to be struck, and thus can only make his own strikes with great pain.

This is why Liechtenauer says, "I say to you honestly, no man covers himself without danger. If you have understood this, he cannot come to blows". You must thus fence according to the five words, which this statement and the whole of fencing are based on.

(Thus, a peasant may end up striking a master simply because he's bold and wins the Leading Strike, as this lesson describes.)

By the word 'Before', as we read earlier, he means to step in or charge, boldly and fearlessly, with a good Leading Strike (or with any initial strike) aiming toward the exposures of his head or body.

Whether you land it or not, you will still succeed at dazzling and frightening him so that he doesn't know what to do against this, and cannot recover or come to his senses before you immediately do a Following Strike, and thus you continually force him to defend and cover, so that he cannot come to his own blows.

If you do the first strike or Leading Strike and he succeeds in defending, then in his defense and covering, he could always deliver a Following Strike faster than you (even though you had the first one). He could immediately cut, or drive in with his pommel, or send crosswise cuts (which are always reliable), or he could just throw his sword forward crosswise (and with that, enter other plays), or begin something else before you get the chance to continue.

(It's written further on how one play grows from another such that your opponent cannot get away without being beaten, as long as you follow this lesson.)

† {So, perform the Leading Strike and the Following Strike as one idea and as though they were a single attack, one promptly and swiftly following the other.}

When it happens that someone defends against the Leading Strike, he must defend with his sword, and in this way, he must always come onto your sword. If he's late and unready in his defense, then remain on his sword and immediately wind, and feel precisely and notice whether he wants to pull back from your sword.

Once you're engaged with each other on the sword and have extended your points toward each other's exposures, if he pulls himself back, then before he can recover from your strike, immediately follow through with a good thrust toward his chest with your point (or otherwise forward toward the closest and surest place you can land) in such a way that he cannot escape from your sword without harm, because when you immediately follow like this you get closer and closer to him, and with that, you direct your point forward on his sword toward whatever's nearest and closest.

Thus, even if your opponent cuts or thrusts wildly around as he pulls back, you can always come faster into the Following Strike (cutting or thrusting) before he comes to his first one.

Now, with the word 'After', Liechtenauer means that when you have made the Leading Strike, you should deliver a Following Strike in the same movement (immediately and without pause), and be always in motion and in contact, and always do one after another. If your first strike fails, then the second, the third, or the fourth lands, and your opponent is never allowed to come to blows. No one can have greater advantage in fencing than he who executes the five words according to this lesson.

But if, once you have come onto his sword, your opponent remains on your sword with his defense and covering, and you also remain on his sword and haven't yet delivered a Following Strike, then stay on his sword and wind, and feel precisely and notice whether he's Strong or Weak on your sword.

If you feel and notice that he's Hard, Strong, and firm, and wants to press on your sword, then be Soft and Weak against him and give way to his strength, and allow your sword to be swept out and driven away by his pushing. Then quickly and rapidly divert and pull your sword back, and drive swiftly against his exposures, toward his head or body, with cutting, thrusting, and slicing (however you find the nearest and surest way).

Because the harder and surer he pushes in and forces with his sword while you're Soft and Weak against it, giving way to him and allowing your sword to go aside, the more and the further his sword also goes aside, and he becomes quite exposed. Then you can meet and harry him however you want before he recovers from his cut or thrust.

But if the opponent is weak and soft against the sword in this way, just as you clearly note and feel that, you shall then be strong and hard against their sword in response and you shall then move in strongly with your point while against their sword and keep moving on in fluidly, directly to their openings, wherever you can, that is closest, just as if a cord or thread were bound at the end of your point, which guides your point to their opening in the shortest way.

And with the thrust that you just executed, you become fully aware whether the opponent is so weak that the opponent lets your sword force them out and allows themselves be struck.

However, if you feel and notice that he's Soft and Weak on your sword then be Hard and Strong against him, and charge forward with your point firmly on his sword and drive toward his exposures (whichever is closest), just as though a cord or a thread were tied to the point of your sword which would lead it to his nearest exposure.

With this thrust, you become well aware of whether he's Weak, letting his sword be pushed aside and letting himself be hit, or he's Strong, defending and diverting your thrust.

If he's Strong on the sword, defending against your thrust and diverting the sword, then become Soft and Weak against it once again, giving way to him and letting your sword be pushed aside, and then swiftly seek his exposures with cutting, thrusting, and slicing (whichever it may be). This is what Liechtenauer means by the words 'Hard' and 'Soft'.

This is based on the classical authorities: as Aristotle wrote in his book Peri Hermeneias, "Opposites positioned near each other shine greater, and opposites which are adjoined are augmented". Thus, Strong against Weak, Hard against Soft, and vice versa. The stronger always wins when strength goes against strength, but Liechtenauer fences according to the true and correct art, so a weak man wins more surely with his art and cunning than a strong man with his strength. Otherwise, what's the point of art?

Therefore, fencer, learn to feel well; as Liechtenauer says, "Learn the feeling; 'Within', that word cuts sorely". When you're on his sword, and you feel well whether he's Strong or Weak on your sword, then during and Within this, you can well consider and know what to do against him (according to the aforementioned art and lesson). For truly, he can't pull back from the sword without harm: as Liechtenauer says, "Strike in so that it snaps at whoever pulls back in front of you".

If you act firmly according to this lesson, you will always take and win the Leading Strike, and as soon as you execute it, charge in with a Following Strike immediately and without delay (that is, the second, third, or fourth strike, whether it be a cut or a thrust), so that he can never come to blows. If you come onto the sword with him, be certain in your feeling and do as was written earlier. The foundation of fencing is to always be in motion and to not delay, and fencing is also based on feeling (as was made clear above).

Have measure and moderation in all that you begin and do. If you win the Leading Strike, don't deliver it so impetuously or aggressively that you can't deliver a Following Strike afterward. This is why Liechtenauer says, "Thus you will see, all things have measure and moderation". You should also understand this when stepping, and in all other plays and rules of fencing, etc.