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.

Text

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.

Text

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 with its plays

Text

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.

Text

29	Be stronger, wind farther, stab, stab first, then take it farther.

Glosa That is when you strike him with a Wrath Strike, if he displaces and stays strong on the sword in the displacement, then also stay with your sword strong on his sword and drive upward with your arms and wind your quillons onto his sword going forward to his head and stab high into his face, if he becomes aware of the stab and (note in margin: with the short edge) drives up high with his arms, and displaces with the quillons, then stay standing with your hilt in front of your head and send your point below to the throat, or to the chest between his arms, as will be told later.

Text of a lesson on the Wrath Strike

30	Mark well, strike stab stances light or hard,
31	Immediately and truly after, onward the war will not be awkward.

Glosa When he has bound on your sword with a strike or stab or otherwise, then you should not let yourself stop even in your winds, the before will be gained by marking if he is weak or strong when one sword slides against the other and, as you have determined this, immediately work first by winding against the light and the hard, always to the next opening, as will be clarified and examined in plays after this.

Text on the war.

32	When the war roams above, below he will be shamed.

The War is the Winding and the work to the four openings with the point that comes from it, and deploy this thus: when you strike with the Wrath Strike, as soon as he displaces then drive full forward with your arms and immediately wind the point high on his sword to the upper opening on his left side. If he then displaces the high stab, then stay standing in the wind with your hilt in front of your head, and let your point sink below to your left side, if he follows after your sword in displacement, then drive on to his left side with the sword and send the point up to his upper right opening, thus will he be shamed with the war high and low, in that you drive properly from one to the other.

Text of a lesson

33	In all windings, strike stab slice, learn to find,
34	also should you not test, strike stab or slice,
35	in all engagements, you will lose the mastery.

This is when you strike with the Wrath Strike, then you should remember well to end completely with the Windings, and a single wind has three particular elements, that is one strike, one slice, and one stab, and when you wind on the sword, then you should indeed consider well that these elements aren't driven wrongly. Take heed in the winding that you not strike when you should stab, and not slice when you should strike, and not stab when you should slice. Thus you shall always know the elements, that by properly heeding them you will drive all meetings and bindings with the sword, otherwise you will fail or lose the mastery when one displaces against you. How you shall deploy the windings, and how many there are, you will find described in the last part of the verses, which will speak of what will deploy well and what will counter properly.

Of the four Openings

36	Know four openings, space, thus you hit wisely,
37	in all attacks double where he is wary.

Glosa If one wants to be a master of the sword, he should know how to break the four openings with art, and then he will fence properly and wisely. The first opening is the right side, the second the left, both above the belt, the other two are on the left and right side, both under the belt. One should seek the openings by driving on to two from the pre-fencing by following after and shooting with the long point. The second time one should probe with the eight windings, when one binds from one to another on the sword, this you should also understand when you come to him in pre-fencing that you should always drive as best as one can to all with a strike or a stab into the four openings and pay no attention to what he deploys or fences against you. Thus you will force your opponent so that he must displace and, when he has displaced, then seek quickly for the next opening by winding in the displacement on the sword, and thus always roam to his openings and fence not to his sword, in this part you will achieve placement at four end points, stay there and thus end the lesson.

How one shall break the four openings

38	If you will reckon to break the four openings with art,
39	double above, transform below right.
40	I say to you be aware onward, you shoot no man without driving,
41	if you've reached him, make a close hit, then he won't advance

Glosa When you have first struck, if you then reckon to wind to his four openings with art so that he must let you strike as you please, then drive a double against the strong of his sword and then transform when he is weak at the sword, thus I say onward be aware that he won't be able to shoot in the Before as he wants, and so cannot come to strike.

How you shall drive the Doubling to both sides

Mark when he strikes high to you from his right shoulder, then also strike similarly strong and high from your right to his head, if he displaces and stays strong on the sword, then drive on Immediately with your arms and thrust your sword's pommel under your right arm with your left hand, and with crossed arms strike the long edge behind his sword's blade onto his head.

Another

If he strikes high to your head with the long edge from his left shoulder, then do the same, onward if he then stays strong on the sword, then drive your arms up quickly and strike with the short edge behind his sword's blade to his head.

Thus how your sword goes to war and strikes was taught

How one shall drive transforming to both sides

When you have struck him strongly above to the head from your right shoulder, if he displaces and is weak on the sword, then wind the short edge on his sword to your left side and, driving well up with your arms, drive your sword's blade high over his sword and stab his lower opening.

Another

When you have struck high to his head from your left side and he displaces and is weak on the sword, then drive up with your arms and hang the point over his sword from above and stab to his second opening. Thus you will drive the two elements from all strikes as you find him weak and strong on the sword.

Thus are fencing and work with the sword retained to be praised.

Text on the Arc Strike with its plays

42	Arc out nimbly, throw your point to the hands,
43	Arc to whom would attack, striding much allows strikes.

Glosa The arc strike is one of the four displacements against the four guards, in that with it one breaks the guard named the Ox, and it also drives onto the Over and Under Strikes. When you come to him in the pre-fencing, if he stands against you holding his sword before his head in the guard of the Ox, on his left side, then put your left foot forward, and hold your sword on your right shoulder, in the guard, and spring with the right foot well to your right side against him, and strike him with the long edge, from crossed arms, over the hands.

Another

You should also try the arc strike from the barrier guard, from either side, And thus set yourself in this guard: when you come to him in the pre-fencing, then stand with the left foot forward and hold your sword close on your right side with your point to the ground so that your long edge is above, and give an opening on the left side. If he strikes to the opening, then burst out from the strike with your right foot toward him well to your right side, And strike him with crossed hands and the long edge with the point out to his hands.

Of the Barrier Guard

Put yourself thus in the barrier guard to your left side: when you come to him with it in the pre-fencing, then stand with the right foot forward and hold your sword near your left side to the ground with crossed hands, so the short edge is above, and give an opening with your right side, if he Strikes to your opening, then burst out of the strike toward him with the left foot well to his right side, and strike in the burst with the short edge over the hands.

A good bit of text regarding the Krumphau

44	Arc strike to the flat and you will weaken the master.
45	When it glides above then stand off so I will praise.

You shall deploy this play against most binds with the sword, and drive it so: When you come to him in the pre-fencing, then lay your sword to your right side in the barrier guard and stand with the left foot forward, or hold it on the right shoulder, if he then strikes high to the opening, then strike strongly with the long edge to cross arms against his strike, and as soon as the swords clash together then immediately wind the short edge on his sword toward your left, and stab him in the face. Or if you will not stab him, then strike him immediately with the short edge, from the sword to the head or body.

Text on a part of the arc strike

46	Strike an arc not a short, show changes through with it.

Glosa That is when he will strike one high from his right side, then drive up high with the hands and as he strikes you will arc strike to bind on his sword, and drive the point through under his sword and stab to his other side into his face or chest, and be sure you wait to keep your hilt high before your head. Also to break the guard of the Ox with this play, you drive so when you go to him in pre-fencing, when he stands against you and holds his sword with the hilt on his left side, in front of the head, then throw your sword to your right shoulder and act as if you would bind onto his sword with the krumphau, strike short and change through with it below his sword, and shoot your point long under his sword to the other side and at his throat so he must displace, then you will come to hit and work with the sword.

Here observe the counter against the Cross Strike

When you stand against him in the guard of the roof then strike high to his head, if he then springs from the strike and means to come forward with a cross strike by striking to the left side of your head, then let your sword's long edge fall on his sword, if he then strikes across over to the other side, Immediately strike your sword ahead crossing under his sword to his throat so that he cuts himself with your sword.

Note:

Mark that when you have bound on a fencer's sword, if he then flies from the sword over in a cross to the other side, then let the long edge fall on his hand or arm and hit with the edge of the sword with your arms well out from you and snap the sword's edge from his arms up to his head.

Counter against the high cut to the arm

When you strike across to his right side, if he then feints with a cut to the arm, then strike and double with the short edge behind his blade to his mouth.

Or if you strike across to his left side, and he then feints a cut to the arm, then strike a double with the long edge behind his blade to his mouth.

Mark if he counters the doubling when you cut high to his arm, if he doubles high to your head, thus drive on and wind against the blow with your sword below his and drive the sword's short edge to his throat.

A bit of verse on the Cross Strike

50	Cross with strength, mark your work with it.

Glosa That is when you will strike with a Crosser, then you should strike with your body's full strength and always bind on his sword with the strong in order to win and take the openings. Thus when you have struck with a Cross from your right side, if he displaces then drive a double or thrust in from the Cross with the hilt of your sword off to the side and then strike in to the other side.

Counter

When you have had a sword driven to the throat, then drive your sword inward with the pommel up and let the blade hang down and thrust his sword from your throat and strike high to his head with a snap, or strike a double with the right hand up over his sword and under the face while he has his sword at your throat.

Text on striking across to the four openings

51	Cross to the Plough, fly hard to the Ox.
52	That is you cross to the head with a spring.

Glosa You heard the Ox and the Plough being named before. These two stances or guards are named here as they address the four openings, for the Ox the upper two openings and the right and left of the head, the plough is to the lower two openings on the left and the right below the opponent's belt. You should also aim for these same four openings with cross strikes in pre-fencing.

Thus strike the cross to the four openings

When you come to your opponent in pre-fencing, stand with your left foot forward and when you are in range spring against his left side with the right foot and strike an artful cross to his left side's lower opening. This is called striking to the Plough. If he displaces then hit him quickly to the upper right opening, which is to the Ox, and then always drive the cross strike nimbly, one to the Ox and another to the Plough, across from one side to the other, that is to the head and to the body. You should also consider that you always shall spring well to his side in every cross strike, thus you will hit well to the head, but be sure that you meanwhile keep your hilt high before your head.

You should also remember that in broad terms, you should always spring out off to one side facing the opponent with each and every crosswise strike so that you can fully connect to the head and take care that you are fully covered the entire time with your hilt up in front of your head.

Counter against the Lower Cross Strike

When he strikes you with a Cross from his right side high to your head's left, then displace with the long edge and stay with the point in front of the chest, if he then strikes from the sword over with a cross to your lower right opening, then you also strike across through low between you and also to his right side, and so bind on his sword and immediately stab to his lower opening.

Text on Feinting

53	Feints mislead from below against intent to move

Glosa Feinting is a play in which many elements become blended as in you want to pull out and strike to those who will displace and fence to the sword and not the body.

Mark when you come to him in pre-fencing, then move as if you would strike to the head in a free downstrike, then disengage off the strike and strike him with a cross to his lower opening on either the left or right side as you will, and see that you keep the hilt over your head as you deploy the cross strike.

Text on Inverting

54	Inverting forces running through with grappling too,
55	know to take the elbow and spring on the way.

Glosa The Inverter is the name for fencing with a half strike or the twisting hand which one forces to the opponent in running through and trapping to wrestle.

Drive this thus,

when you have gone to him in pre-fencing, then go with the left foot forward to strike a half strike from the right side and reversed long edge, go and go on with your left foot until you come to him and as soon as you thus bind with the sword, Immediately hang the point and stab at his face, if he displaces and drives his arms high, then charge through to him. If he keeps his hands low in the displacement then grab his right elbow with your left hand, hold it well and spring with the left foot ahead of his right and push him over your foot.

Or if you would not push him by the elbow with your left hand over your foot as was described before, then drive with the left arm behind him around his body and throw him forward over your hip.

Text on just one of the Feints

56	Feinting double makes one hit with the edge.
57	Let it double stride left and forward with it.

Glosa This names the double feint which is driven thus: when you come to him in pre-fencing then stand with the left foot forward and hold your sword on your right shoulder and when you are near then spring with your right foot to his left side and do as if you would strike a free cross strike to his left side of the head and pull out of the strike and spring with the left foot to his right side and strike to his head, if he displaces and you engage his sword then spring away close to the side and cut him with the short edge behind his sword with a double to the mouth.

Or fall with the sword over both his arms in the cut to also make the feint from the high strikes, thus driving full to strike from the Crosser when it is open to you or when you wish.

Here you rise to the Glance Strike with its plays

Text

58	Glance strikes break once what buffaloes strike or stab,
59	Changed defense concludes glancing outward to deny

Glosa The Glancer breaks the guard named the Plough and is a particularly well applied strike as it breaks strikes and stabs with force and closes with an inverted sword, many masters of the sword do not know what to say of this strike

How one shall strike the glancer

Mark when you come to him in the pre-fencing to stand with the left foot forward and hold your sword on your right shoulder, if he strikes then to your head from above then twist your sword and strike long against his strike with your arms upward and the short edge right over his sword to his head. If he is then unsuccessful and disabled on your sword and would then change through below, then let your point shoot far forward from yourself so he won't try to change through below.

Another

When you stand against him and hold your sword on your right shoulder, if he then stands against you in the guard of the plough and would stab you from below, then strike him with the glancer to point high and long to his chest, thus he will not reach you with the stab from below.

Text of a lesson on the Glance Strike

60	Glance short on his Changes Through onto his face

Glosa Mark the lesson when you come to him in pre-fencing, then you should glance to the face and see if he would fence short against you, so by it you should know when he would strike right at you, if he does not strike with his arms long from him then his strike will be shortened, Or when you stand before him in the fool's guard if he will then arc to fall out with the sword, then his sword is shortened,

Or when he stands against you in the guard of the Ox or the Plough, then his sword is shortened.

Also know that all windings with the sword are short in front of the opponent and shorten the sword and the Changes which the fencer then drives through freely from strikes and from stabs and shots in the long point, those that you force from one opening to the next so that he must displace, thus you come to work properly.

Text on how one breaks the Long Point with the Glancer

61	Glance to the point and take the throat without effort

When you come to him in pre-fencing, if he then stands against you and holds the long point to your face or chest then hold your sword on the right shoulder and glance facing the point and act as if you would strike and then strike strongly with the glancer with the short edge against his sword and shoot the point long to his throat with a step ahead with the right foot.

Text on just one element of the Glance Strike

62	Glance high to the lead hand should you threaten

Glosa Mark that this is a second counter when he stands against you in the long point, then glance at him with with your face to his head and act as if you would strike onto it, and strike him from the glance strike with the point over his hands.

Of the Vertex Strike

63	The top of the face is endangered
64	with your turn threatening the chest.
65	That which comes from him is taken at the Crown,
66	cut through the crown then break hard
67	as the strike hits, pull out with a slice.

The Vertex breaks the guard called fool and endangers the face and the chest with your turn.

Then drive this thus,

when you come to him in pre-fencing, and he stands against you in the fool's guard, then put your left foot forward and hold your sword in guard on your right shoulder and spring to him and strike strongly with the long edge from above to his head, when he displaces the strike so his point and grip are above and to each side in the stance called the Crown, then keep your arms high and with your left hand raise the sword's pommel high and sink your point over his guard to his chest, if he thrusts his sword to push your point away, then wind your sword below his crown with a cut to his arm and hit, thus breaking the crown again, and with the hit then cut hard on the arm and pull out with a slice.