Getting Started
Swordsmanship is simple,
but it is not easy. The basics of the ‘art
of defence’ are Guards, also known as engaging - guards, stances
or wards, Footwork, Attacks and Defenses. By learning and mastering these basics you
will be able to develop your skills as a swordsman. This will take practice, discipline and time,
as with anything, you won’t become an expert overnight.
“It must, nevertheless, be remembered that, to attain any
sort of proficiency with the sword, a long apprenticeship must be served”.
Broad-Sword and Single-Stick, by R. G. Allanson-Winn and C.
Phillipps-Wolley, George Bell & Sons , London, 1898 p. 32
To begin your study of the ‘Art of Defence’, you will need to
acquire certain aides and training tools, with which to practice and develop
your skills.
The Target
The first thing that a
student of swordsmanship should do to commence their practice is to construct a
practice target. A circular target about
14 inches in diameter, with a vertical line showing the ‘plane of combat’,
drawn from top to bottom and another drawn from left to right across the
diameter of the target to form a ‘cross’.
This ‘cross’ forms a ‘fencing line’ and represents the high,
low, inside and outside lines of attack. Draw diagonal lines running from the lower
left edge to the upper right edge and from the lower right edge to the upper
left edge, to form an ‘X’. The target
should be hung on the wall with its center at shoulder level. Directly below the center of the target, a
straight line should be drawn on the floor from the wall and at a right angle
to it. This line is called the ‘Directing
Line’ and should be nine to ten feet long.
Best
Form of Weapon for Ordinary Practice
Sword masters of the 18th
and 19th centuries thought that all initial exercises were best practiced with
a real sword in hand, to prevent the student from forming bad habits and to
accustom them to the full weight of the weapon that they would eventually
wielding in a potentially life or death situation. Since practicing sparring and ‘loose-play’,
with real weapons or even with bated or blunted swords would be extremely dangerous,
sword masters taught that for sparring, a student should use either a single
stick or a waster.
However today, most of us
do not have a battle ready sword just lying about, so practicing with a cane is
the next best alternative to start with.
So, to begin your training you will need to equip yourself with either a
wooden dowel or a cane, which were historically known as either a ‘single
stick’ or ‘cudgel’.
Using a cane or stick as
a weapon is as old as humanity, and during the 18th and 19th centuries would have
been known as practicing cudgel-play. Practicing
with a wooden dowel or cane is invaluable way for the beginner to begin
practicing basic movements, control, and is a valuable exercise for your sword
arm. According to The Sword Exercise
Arranged for Military Instruction, you will want to obtain a cane or simply
a stick “of about ¾ to 1 inch in diameter, and 3 ½ or 4 feet long”.
Gripping
the Cane
Henry Constantine Wayne wrote
in The Sword Exercise Arranged for Military Instruction, that the gripe
should “be held with the fingers clenched round the gripe, sufficiently fast
to prevent the blade wavering, the thumb being either placed on the back or
toward the left...The chief object is to hold the gripe securely with the
forefinger and thumb...relaxing or contracting the other fingers according to
its direction”..
The method of holding your
cane or stick depends entirely upon its weight. If you are using a light cane weighing about
one and a half pounds (about .70 kg), you may easily hold it with your thumb on
the back of the hilt, as in Fig. 14. When
your thumb is held on the back of the grip, with a light cane, you will have an
advantage in speed when guarding and when making short quick cuts and points.
The “sharp” or “true”
edge, would be opposite your thumb if you encircled the grip with your fingers
and extended your thumb straight along the back of the hilt, bringing your
middle knuckles, the second joints of your fingers, and the ‘true-edge’ into
the same line. This is the hand position
of third in fourth.
Similarly, when using a heavier
cane or stick, weighing about two and a half pounds (1.15 kg), keeping your thumb
on the back of the grip, could again lead to a sprained thumb, so grip your
cane as shown in Figure 17.
When you encircle the grip, with your thumb, then the “sharp”
or “true” edge, will be in line with your middle knuckles, the second
joints of your fingers.
Don’t forget to come back next week and read “The Practical
Swordsman’s Compendium, Getting Started – Part Two”, where we will talk about using
moulinets, or windmills’ to practice basic movements, control, and exercise your
sword arm.
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
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That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Sources
Allanson-Winn,
R. G. and Phillipps-Wolley, C.; Broad-Sword and Single-Stick, [George Bell
& Sons, London, 18908, page 7, https://books.google.com/books?id=rNYLickaShIC&pg=PA51&dq=%22Broad-Sword+and+Single-Stick%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZkM2j0NaPAxV_jIkEHd1wCccQ6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Broad-Sword%20and%20Single-Stick%22&f=false,
accessed September 13, 2025
Hutton,
Alfred; Cold Steel: A Practical Treatise On The
Sabre, [William Clowes and Sons, Limited, London; 1889], page 12, https://amhebatesta.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/atelier-sabre-hutton-1889-cold-steel.pdf,
accessed September 13, 2025
Miklaszewski,
Jerzy; “Starzewski treatise ‘On Fencing’ in the eyes of his era”, 2021, https://www.academia.edu/45608547/Starzewski_treatise_On_Fencing_in_the_eyes_of_his_era,
accessed September 13, 2025
O‘Rourke,
Matthew J.; A New System of Sword Exercise, [J. Gray & Co., New
York, 1872] page 48 & 68
United
States Army; Provisional Regulations for Saber Exercise, [Government
Printing Office, Washington, 1907], page10-11
Wagner,
Paul; and Rector, Mark, edited by; Highland Broadsword: Five Manuals of
Scottish Regimental Swordsmanship, [Chivalry Bookshelf, 2004], page 66.
Wayne,
Henry C.; The Sword Exercise Arranged for Military Instruction, [Gideon
and Co, Washington, 1850] page 3 & 7, https://books.google.com/books?id=zS8PAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA12&dq=%22The+Sword+Exercises+Arranged+for+Military+Instruction%22+1850%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj9iJn23daPAxVNk4kEHZKeCjIQ6AF6BAgHEAM#v=onepage&q=%22The%20Sword%20Exercises%20Arranged%20for%20Military%20Instruction%22%201850%22&f=false,
accessed September 13, 2025
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