The Weekly Warfare   Musings martial from across the SCA

 

Translation by Rachel Barkley

Two from-above blows from the staff of the countryman

In this fight thusly you will adapt yourself against the enemy to the commemorated position above[1]. You should place forward the left foot, you should hold the club raised in both hands next to the right side of your head, and moving forward with the right, you will strike the left side of the enemy’s head.

If he has attacked you by the same reasoning and you will have fixed forward the left foot against him, and should you hold the club with both hands behind the your head from the right side, you should draw back the left foot and you should deflect his blow on your left side with your club. Then you pursuing again with aforenamed foot, strike the adversary’s head.

If however he attempts to shatter your head, then with the left foot having been drawn back[2],  you  should deflect the enemy’s attack on the left side. Afterwards, if you will have stepped in a triangle you should bang his right arm by striking and from this position you should retreat from the enemy.

Notes:

[1] The use of “commemorated” is a bit different from other forms so far reviewed.  Looks like a fancy way of saying “in the pretty picture above the pretty words.”

[2] Last we saw Agente, he had his right foot forward, which makes withdrawing the left foot impossible.  Latin says pede sinistro reducto. This is probably not the object of concutere, so another way to take it is as a phrase describing Patiente recovering his left foot (“aforenamed foot” above). So, the adversarius will have his left foot having been drawn back.

 

Interpretation by Owen Townes

Setup:

Agente:
Right side Vom Tag
Left foot forward

Patiente:
Right side Vom Tag[1]
Left foot forward

Play:

Agente:
Onside Oberhau, stepping in with Right foot

Patiente:
Draw Left foot back
Deflect to Left side
Step in with Left foot
Offside oberhau[2]
Recover Left foot

Agente:
Deflect to Left side
Step in a triangle and strike Patiente’s Right arm

 

Observations and Notes:

[1] While the art shows differing angles to the starting positions of the clubs, the starting guards are essentially the same.  Agente’s guard is a more proper Liechtenauer right-side Vom Tag.  Patiente’s guard is more like Fiore’s Posta Dona, which is Fiore’s version of right-side Vom Tag (which he probably learned from a first-generation Liechtenauer student).

[2] The “offside” could be an error, depending on some of the sidedness of the above actions