Chapter 230: Swordsmanship Ends

readx;? In the course of historical development, there is a certain inevitability that a weapon has become a trend. The premise of this inevitability is mainly www.biquge.info whether this weapon can play a sufficient role on the battlefield, and how many people have accepted the way of using this weapon to fight and can successfully survive on the battlefield.

The German two-handed sword, which became popular at the mercenary level in the late Middle Ages, fits these two prerequisites very well.

In particular, the German two-handed sword has a relatively strict system of swordsmanship in terms of training methods - Richard Turnel school swordsmanship

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There are three different types of sword wounds in Richard Turnal swordsmanship, namely Slash, Lunge, and Slash, each corresponding to a different attack.

Slashing is a type of striking that mainly relies on the kinetic energy of the weapon to kill the opponent, which is different from dragging. Chopping is also sometimes referred to as "cutting". Chopping isn't as simple as waving your arms. A slash should be well controlled, precise and powerful, as every time you attack your opponent, you will always leave a flaw in your attack, so you should always avoid slashing roughly, and return to your stance as soon as the attack is over.

There are a few things to keep in mind when chopping. The first thing to do is make sure you're slashing with the blade, which sounds a bit like nonsense, but it's true that many beginners will unconsciously turn their blade in the process of swinging, only to end up slashing at the target with a flat shot or deflection. When you start chopping, try to stretch your arms as if you want to reach for your opponent, but be careful not to stiffen your arms because of this. Aiming the weak blade part at the target, it moves faster and strikes more effectively than the strong blade, and is the main part used in the attack.

In the slash, the role of the right hand is to guide the sword body to the right direction, and the main blow force is actually the left hand held in the back, which is used as the force point, and the right hand is the fulcrum to establish a lever that can make the movement of the sword tip faster and more powerful. To understand this effect, you can hold the sword with both hands, point the tip of the sword slightly upwards, and lift the handle with your left hand so that the tip of the sword will naturally move downward.

One of the most important things to do when slashing is that you must start swinging your sword before moving your foot. If you move your feet first, your intentions will be seen through by an experienced opponent, which will at least give him time to defend, or at worst, you may be hit by a counterattack due to this flaw. Make sure that the swing of the sword precedes the movement of the foot, which gives your opponent less time to react, and he has to block without being able to counterattack directly, giving you the advantage of a first move. Now you just have to practice slashing with a long blade, because this is the most natural movement. There are three main types of chopping: downward chopping, upward chopping and horizontal chopping. Each can start with any defense, but for the sake of simplicity, let's assume you're now in a top position with your left foot in front.

Now let's do the first chopping action, which is the next chopping action. Start with a top position, stretch your arms, and slash your sword from top to front to end to close the momentum. When training, make the sword's path of movement slightly diagonal, from the top right to the bottom left, remember the above principle, move the sword diagonally and make an alternate step.

The downward chop is natural and should not be difficult, now let's do the final upward chop to enter the bull position. To the uninitiated, the up-chop may be similar to the swing of a golf ball, although the two are very different in terms of body movement. Or start with the top position of the left front foot, let the sword go from the top right to the bottom right, and finally become a bull-style defense with the sword in the upper left, of course, you still have to do an alternate step in the middle, pay attention to move the sword first, and then move the foot.

It is not possible to move the sword from one position in a straight line to another as in the downward slash, and the trajectory of the tip of the sword in the air should be an arc, which can increase the time of the acceleration phase and make the slash more powerful. You should also move the tip of the sword slightly to the side and back when you start the slash, similar to the movement of the club at the beginning of the golf swing, but the distance is not as exaggerated, as that may allow you to reveal a hole and be hit by your opponent first. In the whole action, first let the long blade face forward, stretch the arm as much as possible to increase the strike range without being rigid in the chop, and the foot that makes alternate steps when it hits the target is also just touching the ground, and finally relax the arm to return to the cow defense, at this time the sword body should be parallel to the ground, the long blade is up, you should have your right foot in front and your left foot in the back.

Spikes are mainly used when starting in a plough or ox position, as the tip of the sword is already pointing forward in both defenses. In the thrust, have the tip of the sword stab straight along the vertical axis of the blade, and if you want to stab further, let the heel in front of you take a step. As with slashing, make sure the sword starts moving first, making sure that the sword is in front and that your body and feet are keeping up with each other, and doing so in a thrust will not only make it difficult for your opponent to react, but also make it easier to aim. Finally, remember to return to a defensive stance after the lunge.

As a general rule, you should slash your opponent when they are within range of your starting position and can slash, but if your sword is in a position where you can thrust faster to reach your opponent, you should thrust decisively instead of slashing. Sometimes your slash doesn't hit your opponent but is already close to his body, you should also thrust. For example, if the opponent takes a step back to avoid the slash, all you need to do is immediately turn the slash into a thrust.

The drag method requires less force than the previous two, and when the blade touches an unprotected part of the opponent, such as the hand, pulling or pushing your sword and adding the force of the cut is a drag attack. Drag is mainly used when there is no room for a full-speed slash, for example, when your opponent jumps in with a deception and your opponent quickly rushes in and slashes, you can step to the side and raise the blade between his unprotected hands to slash, which is enough to deal damage to him who can no longer hold the weapon and settle the fight.

Richard Turner's defensive tenets of swordsmanship were that maintaining a stance was not an effective defense. Richard Turner, and all the masters who have inherited his tradition, have emphasized that the best way to prevent your opponent from hitting you is to hit him first, so you should maintain your initiative rather than wait for your opponent to strike a sometimes unpredictable blow before reacting passively. However, this is not to say that the winner always belongs to the side that strikes first, in which case there is no need to learn any complicated swordsmanship, just a competition to see who moves the fastest and has the luckiest luck. When your opponent has taken the initiative, you should do everything you can to take it back. In terminology, this is referred to as the "first hand" and the "second hand". If you're in a back-swing situation, you'll have to use defensive moves to get rid of it as quickly as possible and catch the first move and turn to the attack.

Movement is the most important element of a defensive move. Jumping out of the opponent's range, known as dodging and attacking from a new position immediately after dodging, is a more effective defense than a direct block. However, just dodging doesn't always dodge the blow, and your opponent will usually change the angle of his attack in response to your moves, so you'll often have to use your sword to block your opponent's blade while dodging. But you should always remember that you are fighting your opponent, not your opponent's sword, and don't just use your sword as a target to collide and resist without attacking your opponent's body, which is a laughable fight scene that can only be seen in Hollywood movies in the past. Richard Nell makes it clear:

"A person who merely pursues [the opponent's weapon] will never be able to possess high skill. ”

The sticky sword can be said to be a relatively superb sword defense skill:

The sticky sword in combat is not a stable state, so it is important to judge the opponent's next intention by the force exerted by the opponent's sword on your sword, and this concept is called "listening to the power". There are generally two options when sticking a sword: continue to push your opponent's sword hard, which is called a "sticky sword", or relax and disengage the sticky sword with a technique and then turn to attack, which is called a "sticky sword". Listening is to judge whether the opponent chooses to continue to stick the hard sword or prepare to stick the soft sword, and make corresponding countermeasures to prevent yourself from being in a passive situation. The action scene in the illustration shows the effect of Listening Jin when sticking to the sword: first you slash at your opponent, and the opponent directly blocks the blow with his sword, and both sides stick to the sword.

Now you can tell that he is sticky with his sword, that is, by continuing to exert brute force to push your sword away, then you can suddenly unload your strength and let your sword be pushed away, and then quickly make a handfire, the tip of the sword slashes through an arc and hits your opponent on the other side, while at the same time he loses control of the sword due to the sudden loss of resistance, and he has no time to make any blocking moves. Similarly, if you hear that your opponent is about to stick to the sword, you can take advantage of the moment when he relaxes the pressure and withdraws the sword, depending on the swordsman's ability to listen and the speed of his reactions.

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From the above techniques, it can be said that the popularity of the two-handed sword in Germany should have a lot to do with the popularity of Richard Turnel swordsmanship in Germany.

The German two-handed sword was a very lethal weapon for infantry and was popular in the 15th and 16th centuries. Two-handed swords, although huge, generally 150 to 170 centimeters in length, are not as bulky as they seem, probably between 2.3 and 3.6 kilograms. In the Middle Ages, a two-handed sword was in the hands of a Swiss or German infantryman, and it was the most effective tool for killing.

Moreover, making a two-handed sword requires specialized skills, and the swordsman has to go through a certain amount of training to master it. Two-handed swords are suitable for charging into battle. However, unlike the greatsword that was usually used against heavily armored soldiers, it was aimed at light infantry, and it was arguably the most common weapon in the German peasant uprising, so it was often designed with a flaming blade or a serrated design.

The giant sword mentioned here is not a German two-handed sword, but a longsword used by both hands with the back of the sword.

Large-scale chopping weapons based on two-handed use are generally about 1.5 cm thick and 160 cm long, with a handle of 40 cm. There is a 30 cm bladeless part of the knife near the handguard. There are blood grooves, usually with multiple decorative protrusions. Two-handed swords vary in weight depending on the material they are made of, usually around 15 to 20 kilograms. The two-handed sword is so huge that you can't wield it with one hand, and you can use two hands to get the most out of it.

By the late 16th century, however, spears and halberds, which were longer than greatswords, became popular, and the two-handed sword became a symbol of great defensive power, more often than ceremonies and military parades

There is a concept that many people agree with, that is, the German two-handed sword corps is actually a surprise attack force, specializing in dealing with the infantry phalanx that uses spears, quickly approaching the enemy, and cutting down the opponent in the hand-to-hand encounter, and at the same time, because the two-handed sword is very long, the soldier can also make a sword like a spear, and it is easy to kill a bloody way in the enemy camp.

But by the 15th century, the Swiss had begun to embrace a new weapon, the 17- to 18-foot spear, which became their new favorite. But in Germany and Italy, two-handed swords are still prevalent. However, the two-handed sword still did not shine for a long time. Historians tell us that by the 16th century, there were very few units that actually used German two-handed swords, and spears and halberds were the most commonly used weapons.

In war, German and Swiss spearmen would generally let (the most elite samurai, they were mercenaries, charge double the price) to form the first phalanx, let the brave ones resist the enemy's spear formation, tear apart the opponent's line, let the infantry behind rush into the enemy camp, and so that hand-to-hand combat began. Thus, on the battlefields of the mid-16th century, the two-handed sword seemed to have completely disappeared and became only a symbol of a powerful defensive force, appearing at ceremonies and military parades.

The first to use two-handed swords were actually the Swiss. From the 14th to the 16th centuries, many Swiss two-handed samurai were employed by other European countries. At that time, two-handed swords and halberds were even seen as symbols of Switzerland. Switzerland and Germany made their own two-handed swords, while Italian swords were exported throughout Europe. However, the two-handed sword made in Germany represents the highest level of craftsmanship of the two-handed sword.

This is most likely the reason why the German two-handed sword has become the representative of the two-handed sword.

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For Zhang Jiashi, the two-handed sword is ...... In fact, it is not as effective as the actual combat efficiency of the Glaive, especially against the enemy's armored samurai.

But Zhang Jiashi had to admit one thing, that is, the weight of the medium-handled glaive knife is not light, and the lethality of unprotected personnel is excessive, and the development of weapons of the two-handed sword system is also a good direction in a sense.

It's just that there is a very critical problem with the introduction of German two-handed swords, that is, two-handed swords use steel and fine iron, and it is difficult for Zhang Jiashi to imagine what kind of practical effect there will be if iron is used to make two-handed swords.

After thinking about it for a long time, Zhang Jiashi came to a conclusion that the style of the two-handed sword looks better, but in the case of the same material, it is not a weapon with much practical significance.