Introduction to Paulus Hector Mair's Flail [Part 4 Striking with the Flail]

Striking with the Flail

After looking at the various ways to hold a Flail, and the different Guard positions, it is important examine how to actually strike with the Flail. It should first be noted that the Flail is a Quarterstaff with the addition of a rotating cudgel on one end. This means the entire Flail can be used as a weapon; The Back Point, Middle Staff, and Tip of the Staff are all employed as weapons in addition to the Flail-Head. As an example, the illustration of two little people fighting with Flails in Joachim Meyer's Fechtbuch shows the Back Point being used to hook and trip an opponent's leg. Likewise, the War Flail located at the top of this picture has metal spikes driven into the area around the Tip of the Staff. Contrary to popular opinion, the Flail-Head is not kept in constant motion or rotation when fighting. Mair teaches to stand in a ready guard and strike to the appropriate opening when it becomes available. There is no need to 'wind up' the Flail before striking due the particular construction of the weapon. The middle band connecting the two parts of Mair's Flail is noticeably short. This short band produces a tight response to any movement produced by the Stanngen. Thus, the Flail can be wielded in a way very similar to other staff weapons.

Angles of Attack

The 'Codex Wallerstein' is a German Fechtbuch that contains a diagram of various striking angles. According to Codex Wallerstein, and much of the rest of the German Martial Arts tradition; there are Three general openings available to strike to. The first and most common attack is an overhead strike either diagonally or directly down toward the opponent. The German term is 'Oberhaw'. This can be translated as 'Overhead Strike'. The Oberhaw can be thrown from a Hoch Guard, the Zornhut and even the Middle Guard. Any horizontal attack to the middle of an opponent's body is called a 'Mittelhaw'. The 'Middle Strike' can be thrown from a Hoch Guard, a Middle Guard, or the Scales. Finally, the 'Unterhaw' is a rising strike from below that attacks the body or leg. Die Wag, or 'The Scales' is clearly the most obvious guard to launch an Unterhaw from. But the Middle Guard and even the Hoch are also capable throwing an Unterhaw.

Music: Dansereyen
By: Saltarello

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Medieval
• Flail
• Weapon
• Paulus
• Hector
• Mair
• Peasant
• Longsword
• Pollaxe
• Staff
• Threshing
• Western
• Martial
• Arts

[BonnieBloo]

Very useful. Thankyou. >w<