You probably know how to fight properly according to the rules of your local kingdom. Fine.

Now you would like to add some juice to your style of fighting, won`t you? Okay, here are some of my personal views concerning nicely done combat on the SCA-field-of-honour.

Which weapon is best?

You may chose from quite a range of weapons, as long as you`re qualified for using them. Nevertheless I would recommend the most common combination of one-handed sword and a shield (Heater). No problem with using different kind of weapons, but if you like the two-handed sword, Kendo may be a fine sport for you, if you like a thrusting-sword, consider joining a fencing-club for some foil- or epee-fencing. This is the SCA and the main purpose is Chivalry. Maybe it`s just a clichee, but I have the tendency to connect chivalruos sword-fencing very strongly with sword and shield. It`s the only way of showing your heraldic devices, anyway. And - it makes a great sound! :-)

Okay, you`ve got your sword and your shield (preferable a heater, no round shield), you`ve been to some fights, things are developing. You know the basic movements, how to hit your opponent, how to evade getting hit yourself, generally speaking: you are a qualified fighter.

Adding some juice

I very often missed my opponents because of having stopped my sword after hitting the other`s shield or whatever. Now what can be done better?

I found the following very useful: make a precise cut against the shield of your opponent. Keep your sword parallel to the ground and hit from your own back or front (YES!). Draw your sword alongside the shield and without hesitating perform a back-draw. While your footwork is doing what it is used to for a single shot against the shield, your upper body including your swordarm performs a double-shot. The second shot will be a good one, believe me. You can vary this technique. Go for the helmet with your first shot and not for the shield (yet this will usually make your opponent suspicious and get him into some kind of counter-attack or well-working evasive action). The tricky thing with that double-shot is the fact that it is primarily aimed against the shield. That seems to be without great danger, so you can ´dull` your opponent. But be careful: do not use this technique too often. Once you are known using it, it will soon lose its danger.

You like the idea of hitting with your second attack? Okay, here is more stuff for you. Ever thought of hitting your opponent`s sword? No? Try it, it can be a terrific technique. Wait for you opponent to attack you, then step inside his attack with you weapon-foot forward and parry his sword with your own sword. You could have the chance of parrying with your shield, too, but you do this with your sword which is in a position just before your own shield, usually pointing upward. Now, without hesitating, deliver a sharp shot against whatever part of your opponent`s armour is open. There will be lot of free space for you sword to hit... This one is dangerous for you, because you are open yourself, too. So chose this technique with wisdom. If properly done, it is definitely a kill-shot-technique and also one of the most elegant techniques I know. You may even combine your shot after the parry with a slap-shot against your opponent`s back (if this is legal in your kingdom). Keep in mind that your shot must be executed with the back of the sword to gain the proper and desperatly needed speed for this kind of attack.

Coordinating footwork and swordwork

You may have heard suggestions to add some power to your blows by means of coordinating your shots with your footwork. Maybe stepping with your sword-foot while hitting, hitting with your whole body by means of adding power with rotating within your hips and so on. This may be fine and well-working, but I don`t do that. I prefer to do both footwork and swordwork as separate moves. Which means, that I try to hit from any moves my feet may be doing. The job of my feet is to bring my arms in a position of being able to hit my opponent and doing the general manouvering ahead/back, left/right that is so desperatly needed when fighting. This way of moving makes my intentions unpredictable and leads to very fast shots from any position. It`s swordplay, not Baseball, isn`t it? 

How many techniques are necessary?

As many as possible, one might think. To be true: I don`t think so. I`ve noticed within some twenty years of playing this game, that I scored with just not more than let`s say a handful of techniques. So it might be a nice idea finding out which techniques are the best ones exactly for you. A good friend of mine stands six feet five tall, is about twohundredtandtwenty pounds, and his favorite technique is just taking his sword, entering the field and blowing his opponent away with one or two really powerful shots against the helmet. He is a nice guy, warm and friendly, but an animal with his sword. Technique? Not his cup of tea. Anyway - it works for him. What I am saying with this example is: every fighter is different. And - the easyer a technique is, the better it will work. So try to keep your attacks simple unless you really practice on a dayly basis. Try finding out which techniques work fine for you and improve these techniques. Work on some variations, change the speed and timing, try them from a left stance, a right stance, while advancing, while heading back. Concentrating on just a few techniques and their variations can be more effective than knowing lots of tricky things.

The TINSTAC-Principle 

or: there is no such thing as calibrating. It is my belief that calibrating makes no sense. There are burlies and there are girlies. Instead of trying to calibrate one`s amount of power used when hitting, it might be wiser just to learn the art of accepting hits. Basically there are three types of fighters. The first type has just the smallest armour necessary, a helmet, ellbow- and knee-cups and some other stuff around the chest or so. This one has no probs with accepting hits. Every hit hurts and bruises and it`s quite reasonable to accept each fine hit. The second type uses whatever armour he can get, he walks around with tons of steel. The pure amount of steel prevents even noticing yet the hardest hits. No fun playing with those kind of fighters. If you are one of that kind, please learn to accept a hit WHEN YOU HEAR IT! Since you cannot feel it, you should learn to train your ears to get acquainted with the typical sound a good hit makes on your armour. The third type of fighters is the most common one: reasonable armor with good protection and a mixture of feeling and safety. My suggestion to that type of fighter is: accept a blow when you feel it. Don`t think about ´light` or so, be honest and accept any hit you feel. If it was ´light`, well, your friendly opponent will tell it. If you`ve hit yourself with your shield, eerrr, there might be a marshall, I suppose? Accepting hits is always honorable.

-more will follow, soon-