Swordplay Knowledge
In the Horsemanship portion of the Green Spur curriculum you needed to know the common vocabulary of the rider. Similarly, for the Mounted Combat checklist, you will need to demonstrate a basic level of swordplay knowledge:
- Describe the anatomy of the cut and thrust sword
- Describe two different types of cavalry sword
- Describe three alternate types of mounted weapons
Anatomy of the Sword
The cut and thrust sword is a fairly simple creature, and the parts you need to know are:
Pommel: The counterweight at the end of the handle. It stops your hand from sliding off the end of the sword, balances the weapon's weight, and can be used to strike in close quarters.
Grip or Handle: The length of the handle not only determines whether a sword can be used in one hand or two, but also provides extra counterweight and hooking power for disarms.
Cross-guard or Quillons: Often just referred to as 'guard', these stop the opponent's sword from hitting your hands, and can be used like the pommel for striking.
Hilt: this refers to the the entire section of pommel, grip and guard.
Forte: literally the strong part of the sword, this is the half of the blade closest to the hand, used for parrying, collecting, and crossing the opponent's sword.
Mezza-spada: the middle of the blade, where the forte and debole meet. This is the harmonic 'sweet-spot' of the sword.
Debole: the 'weak' part of the blade, furthest from the hilt. The weakness doesn't refer to the actual strength of the steel, but the mechanical weakness of being far away from the hand. The debole is used for deflections.
Point or tip: the sharp end of the sword, used for thrusts.
True edge: The edge of the sword that aligns with your knuckles and elbow. If you were using your sword like a knife to chop veggies, it would be with the true edge.
False edge: The edge of the sword that aligns with your thumb and the inside of your arm, and is upward in the more natural hand positions.
To get a better look at sword anatomy drop into our museum sometime, where you can see a dissected longsword and rapier on display.
Next week: the mounted arsenal
o o o
Our fabulous weather luck for Mounted Combat continues to hold and we had a gorgeous day for our Intro and Mounted Combat Workshops last weekend.
If you're hoping to get into the Cavaliere Program, there is currently only one spot left in the April 7th Intro to Mounted Combat Workshop. The next workshop after that will be on June 2nd.
A new series of Cavaliere Classes starts this weekend. It's not necessary to have taken the Intro in order to do these classes, but you must let the front desk know your level of riding experience, and sign up by Friday so I can put you in the appropriate groups.
Cavaliere Classes
Sundays, 1 - 4:30pm
Mar 10 & 24, April 14 & 28
cost: $60 ea or $200 for a series of 4.
The mounted section of our Mounted Archery workshop is also almost full. However, we have a number of spaces for people to work from the ground. You will still learn all the mounted archery techniques and have as much (if not more) shooting time as those of us working from horseback.
Mounted Archery
Sunday 5 May, 1 - 4:30pm
cost: $60
Jennifer Landels, Maestra di Scuderia
Academie Duello Cavaliere Program
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Jennifer Landels heads up Academie Duello's Cavaliere Program. She has been swordfighting since 2008, and riding since before she could walk. She started the program as an excuse to combine those passions. Read more from Jennifer Landels.