Pflug: The Plow, a Middle Guard.
Of the Sixteen total figures illustrated in Mair's Flail section, Five of them are holding the weapon in some kind of middle guard. That's almost One Third of the entire Flail section dedicated to the concept of Middle Guards. Like most of Mair's staff weapons, few formal names are given to the various guard positions he uses with the Flail. The Middle Guard is no exception. Despite not having a formal name, the basic position of a Middle Guard is very clear. The fighter holds the back point of the weapon near the hip. The front point of the weapon is directed towards the opponent's face. The length of the weapon is held at an angle, guarding one entire side of the body. Students of German Longsword will recognize this position as being virtually identical to the sword guard, Pflug. An interesting difference between Pflug and the Flail's Middle Guard should be noted; when holding Pflug, the leading leg is always the opposite leg of where the pommel or back point is held. E.G. If the pommel is held at the Right hip, the Left leg is leading, and vice versa. This is not the rule with the Flail. Here in Plate 3 we find a Middle Guard being held with the back point near the Left hip. If it was a Longsword, the Right leg should be leading to be in a proper Pflug guard.
Although they are not direct Western Martial Arts sources, it is helpful to examine artwork depicting the Flail being used as a weapon. Pictured is a painting entitled "Gamblers Quarreling" by Pieter Bruegel the Younger. Painted in 1619, the work was made 79 years after Mair published his Opus c. 1540. A Grain Flail is used as a weapon by a gambler to strike another man who is attempting to attack with a pitch fork. Two things should be noted about the gambler who is holding the Flail. He is holding the Flail using the 'Normal Grip'. And he is standing in something similar to a Middle Guard; with the Flail on his Left side and Left leg leading. It is possible that Mair's work on the Flail as a weapon draws from a tradition of peasant sources instead of being directly influenced by the Noble Longsword tradition.
Zornhut: The Wrath Guard.
In 1754 William Hogarth painted a work titled "Chairing the Member" that depicts a man ready to strike with a Flail. Once again, the flail is held in Mair's 'Normal Grip'. What's more interesting is that this man's ready stance looks almost exactly like a guard called the Zornhut, or Wrath Guard. The Zornhut is a guard position that shows up in the later years of the German Longsword tradition. It is the natural position that is held when one is preparing to throw a forceful strike with full commitment. Such a devastating attack itself is called the Zornhau, or 'Strike of Wrath'. One of the early Longsword masters calls the Zornhau "Nothing else but a poor peasant's strike." The Zornhut is not directly referred to in Paulus Hector Mair's work on the Flail. It is only a speculation that such a common striking guard like the 'Zornhut' would be used by a peasant when fighting with a Flail.
Music: Heroes
By: Maire Brennan
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1:42
Epic Flailby Djemps16,484 views
3:00: The "Wrath guard" with flail... this has to be a deliberate guard position; if he's just in mid-strike, with the flail in motion, then the head of it is going to smack him right between the eyes. We could call artistic license, but that position is only viable if its a formal posture for using the flail.
JCLeSinge 1 year ago
3:20: the "Wrath guard"... notice that the sword is still guarding the back and left side; only a slight variation (lifting the hands) would put him in a very similar guard from Japanese swordsmanship. With the right body positioning, it's a highly defensive guard with the potential for big power-cuts.
JCLeSinge 1 year ago
1:50: Notice that the picture there is not of the weighted, barbed flail, but of a threshal (corn-flail), with the staff only slightly longer than the head; again, looks like a big pair of nunchuks. Although, thinking from nunchaku technique and taking the picture as accurate, the blow has fallen with the chain and base of the flail; the target has effectively ducked, since the kinetic force is focussed at the tip.
JCLeSinge 1 year ago