Some Points about Open Ward in Medieval Sword and Shield

This is not a strictly technical video, however, from some grainy sparring footage from about two years ago, there were several exchanges which serve to illustrate a few of the basic concepts in our HEMA Extrapolation of Medieval Sword and Shield.
The system assumes a single combat environment, so there are no concerns about arrows flying about, and builds on existing sources from later periods and iconography to posit a method of using the sword and shield circa 1200-1300. The techniques assume no specific armour, however, we are careful to consider that most knightly combatants in the period would be wearing mail from head to toe, making the face, groin, and to a lesser extent, armpits and neck/shoulder junction prime targets. Of course, many combatants of the time would have had lesser armour.
We use rather heavy shields with edging, Kendo kote for hand protection, and padded hoods with fencing masks on top of them, as well as gambesons and gamboised cuisses (and don't forget the groin protection). The swords are wooden wasters, although when training in Canada, blunt steel is sometimes used (Japan does not permit steel swords from other countries).
if you have any questions, please leave a comment or PM me, and I'll try to get back to you soon.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• medieval sword and shield
• sword
• martial arts
• fencing
• swordsmanship

[valentinsebastian]

tolles Video!!!

Einfach toll, endlich mal etwas qualitatives zu sehen!

Gruss

Valentinus!

[Hugonis]

@valentinsebastian Danke fur die netten anmerkungen. Leider ist die qualitat dieser video nicht so gut. Weil es vom 'sparring' ist, ist es ein bischen schwer die techniken zu sehen. Im zukünft hoffe ich einen video bekanntzugeben (?) der spezifischeren techniken fur mittelalterlicher schwerdt und schild zeigen. Unsere lage war nicht oft richtig, und unsere schilden sind zu niedrig, weil wir waren mude. die folgende video wurde besser sein (ich hoffe). Danke fur das ansehen!

[Hugonis]

Hi Sam, thanks for the comment. This isn't strictly HEMA, as any system of sword and shield must be an extrapolation from primary sources related to other similar systems. In order to inform this extrapolation, sources such as these were used: MS I.33, Talhoffer (dueling shield, but also sword and buckler and messer sections), Ringeck (s&b), Agrippa, Marozzo, DiGrassi, Duarte, and reams of iconography from Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance sources.

[Hugonis]

If you're interested in secondary sources, lots of work has been done by HEMA people looking at centre-gripped round shields, which has also been influential on this extrapolation. Stephen Hand and Paul Wagner wrote two interesting papers for SPADA I and SPADA II available from Chivalry Bookshelf, and on YouTube, a quick search for "Hammabourg" will turn up some nice, dynamic videos. Also, William R. Short (I think formerly of Hurstwic) published 'Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques'. Enjoy!

[FioredieLiberi]

@SamGCampbell Di Grassi, I.33, and working back from langesmesser and longsword.

I do not use Viking Sagas as they are written 250 years after the events and by a cleric.

If both people use open ward, both can slam the shield into the face of the opponent, unless they change ward. It is so obvious that this ward is wrong! You cannot use it in the shield wall either. See my new video's in the next few months.

Col

[avengedbaileyfold]

dont forget the spartan tecnique, advancing with defence, and slicing all weakness

[FioredieLiberi]

Hi, Nice video. I am also researching Sword and shield and I think what is in the SPADA 1 paper is an incorrect analysis of the duelling shield techniques but the evidence is cherry picked to support their theory. Look at Di Grassi's large square targe and see what he has to say about using it. He does not use the open ward. I would be looking to exploit the open shield arm first and then use this to switch to another target. Is there a skill disparity between the two fighters in this video.

[SamGCampbell]

Interesting.

What were your primary sources, as I'd be interested in looking this sort of thing up.