An Introduction to

die Schlachtschule: The School of Battle A guide for new students

By:

Hugh T. Knight, Jr. Fechtmeister

Der Ritterlich Kunst des Fechtens Introduction Welcome to die Schlachtschule: The School of Battle! You’re about to embark on an exciting adventure in which you will learn the arts of combat as they were practiced by real medieval knights and recorded in medieval books. The first thing you’ll have to learn, however, is to throw away all the things Hollywood and popular literature have taught you about medieval combat and get ready to see an art like nothing you’ve been lead to expect.

Our School Die Schlachtschule teaches the arts of foEuropean knight. Why resurrect these lost arts in the 21st century? Each student must answer that question for himself, but there is a real fascination in most of us for the Middle Ages and the knights who lived in that violent and bloody time. Martial arts in general give us a focus and discipline in our lives, and medieval martial arts in particular give us a connection to a culture that many of us find fascinating and important.

ot combat appropriate for a medieval

Our Fechtmeister A Fechtmeister or “fight master” is the head of a school of combat. Our Fechtmeister, Hugh Knight, has been studying medieval history and culture for more than twenty years, especially the combat arts. He collects medieval artifacts and reproductions, especially armor and weapons, and practices many of the skills appertaining to medieval knighthood. He is a licensed falconer, has ridden to the hounds, has a brace of greyhounds that he uses to course game, and, of course, practices medieval combat skills in armor and out. His study of medieval combat manuals began more than ten years ago and has continued ever since, opening schools on both coasts and publishing several books on medieval combat.

Our Focus The term "medieval" is a slippery one, and even professionals disagree somewhat as to its precise temporal definition. The earliest fighting manual extant is called "I. 33" and

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dates from the end of the thirteenth century: this gives us a starting date for our study (although we don’t use that book). By the late fifteenth century the use of peasant foot soldiers armed largely with pole-weapons (and not gunpowder as so many, even professional historians, believe – the front-line role of the fully-armored knight was declining long before individual firearms saw much use on the battlefield) had forced the armored knight from his place of pre-eminence on the battlefield. Since the purpose of die Schlachtschule is to study and teach the arts of combat appropriate to the knight, that serves to give us our ending date. Therefore, we will focus on the fencing manuals dating from the fourteenth through the fifteenth centuries. There were two main schools of combat in our period: the German and the Italian. While there are some gross similarities between the two schools, there are major differences of philosophy. Many modern students of medieval martial arts tend to combine the teachings of both schools in their studies, but this, we believe, lessens the effectiveness of each, especially since some of their ideas are antithetical. That being the case, we have chosen to limit our curriculum to only one, and for a variety of technical reasons we have chosen the German school (although one of our major sources is Burgundian, it shows a direct connection to one of the German master’s teachings, as you will learn). Thus, the focus for die Schlachtschule is German Fechtbücher from the fourteenth through the fifteenth century.

The Scope of Our Study Modern fencing scholars have taught that the arts of combat as practiced before the Renaissance were crude and unskilled when compared to the supposedly more "refined" arts of the rapier, but nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, medieval martial arts were refined, elegant and comprehensive. They resembled the ancient Japanese martial ryuha or "schools" of combat in which the samurai would train in a variety of arts such as the sword, wrestling, the spear, the dagger, etc., to become accomplished, all-around warriors. Medieval masters were just as concerned about having their students learn all of the arts appropriate to their world including a variety of forms of combat from wrestling to dagger to sword and buckler to longsword to pollaxe, and teaching the ways of fighting both in and out of armor. Moreover, they taught complete systems of combat, not just disparate tricks; their works included instruction in the strategy and tactics of combat as well as the techniques themselves. Die Schlachtschule attempts to

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match those ancient schools by teaching a complete system of medieval foot combat, both armored and unarmored. Medieval combat could be broken into three categories: Bloßfechten, Harnischfechten and Roßfechten, or unarmored, armored and mounted combat respectively. Due to the expense and rarity of horses in our modern world we have elected to limit ourselves to foot combat at this time, but studies in Rossfechten are ongoing and we hope to add that our curriculum soon. Here’s a complete list of the specific forms of combat we practice at this time: A. Bloßfechten

1. Longsword (Langenschwert) 2. Sword & Buckler (Schwert und Buckler) 3. Grappling (Ringen) 4. Dagger (Dolch)

B. Harnischfechten 1. Pollaxe (Streitaxt) 2. Spear (Spieß) 3. Halfsword (Halbschwert) 4. Grappling in armor (Kampfringen) 5. Dagger (Dolch)

Source Material All of the techniques you will be learning as a student of our Schule are interpretations of material in various medieval Fechtbücher or “fight books.” Below is a list of the primary sources currently used to develop our training curriculum. These sources were chosen because they complement one another stylistically or else fill in gaps of missing techniques or systems necessary for a complete style to be developed (or, more accurately, "rediscovered"), and while we do use other sources as references, these are our most important ones: • Gladiatoria, Biblioteka Jagiellonski, Krakow - Ms. Germ. Quart. 16, NR: 5878

1989 ROK, 1450 • Kal, Paulus, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek CGM 1507, 1452 • Sigmund Ringeck, Die Ritterlich Kunst des Langen Schwerts - Sächsische

Landesbibliothek, Mscr.Dresd.C487 / Dresden, Sächsische Landesbibliothek • Talhoffer, Hans, Alte Armatur und Ringkunst, Det Kongelige Bibliotek,

Copenhagen, Thott 290 2, 1459 • Talhoffer, Hans, The Gothaer Codex, MS Chart. A 558, Gotha, 1443 • Talhoffer, Hans, The Ambraser Codex, HS XIX. 17-3, Königsegg, 1449 • Talhoffer, Hans, Fechtbuch aus dem Jahre 1467 Cod. icon. 393/ München,

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek • Von Danzig, Peter, Cod.44 A 8 (Cod. 1449) 1452 Bibliotheca dell'Academica

Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana

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• The Wallerstein Codex, Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg: Cod.I.6.40.2 • Le Jeu de La Hache Bibliothéque Nationale France MS FR. 1996 • Döbringer, Hanko, Codex MS 3227a, German National Museum, Nuremburg

Equipment and Suppliers You will need a wide variety of weapons and equipment for your training, but please understand that we require very specific gear. You are, of course, free to buy anything you want, but the equipment to be used in class must be from the approved list below (NB: A “waster” is a practice weapon, usually made of wood, so-called because they were expected to be broken or “wasted” in practice): Weapons: 1. Longsword wasters (get model L1 w/ standard pommel):

http://www.woodenswords.com/WMA/longsword.htm 2. Arming sword wasters (get model SS1 with the wheel pommel):

http://www.woodenswords.com/WMA/short.htm 3. Dagger wasters (get the standard model):

http://www.woodenswords.com/WMA/daggerroundel.htm 4. Rubber pollaxe heads (get the rubber head only; the shaft should be rattan):

http://www.woodenswords.com/WMA/pole_hammer.htm 5. Ash spear shafts (get the 1-1/4 inch X 8-foot long round ash staves):

http://www.woodenswords.com/WMA/staffs.htm 6. DSS study guides: http://stores.lulu.com/hughknight 7. DSS practice uniform T-shirt for men:

http://www.cafepress.com/schlachtschule.104016878 Shirts for women: http://www.cafepress.com/schlachtschule.104107130

8. Steel practice longswords: http://www.armor.com/train204.html 9. Steel practice arming swords (discount for DSS students!):

http://therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c481.html (Therion Arms also carries a good selection of the wooden wasters we use; check his prices before buying elsewhere.)

10. Fencing Masks for Bloßfechten: http://www.zenwarriorarmory.com/04_SCAmasks.htm

Armor: Please do not buy armor until consulting with the Fechtmeister! Rattan Suppliers (for pollaxe shafts): 1. http://www.bambooandrattan.com/ (for those on the East Coast) 2. http://www.cbsc.us/rattan.html (for those on the West Coast) 3. And check out IceFalcon Armory:

http://icefalcon.safeshopper.com/16/cat16.htm?564 He might be willing to do special orders if you tell him what it’s for.

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Schule Structure The rank system in our Schule is based around the medieval guild system (since we have no surviving information about how real German martial arts schools did it). A boy would be sent off to apprentice to a master craftsman, and he’d do

lots of busy work and manual labor as the master taught him his craft since the couldn’t do much else. Later, the apprentice would become a skilled worker able to really contribute to the shop and would be promoted to the rank of journeyman; still a learner, but able to add real value. Finally, when he had learned enough and practiced enough, the journeyman would produce a Masterwork (which, contrary to modern notions, was not an amazing piece of work

designed to showcase a lifetime of learning and skill as we use the word today) and, if the other masters in the guild thought it good enough, the journeyman would himself become a master and go off to open his own shop. Thus, again contrary to our modern notions of the word, a master in a guild was simply a craftsman just getting started in the world, not the Asian martial arts meme of a wizened superman of staggering insight and ability, able to leap tall buildings while uttering pithy saying in broken English. We use that same rank system, more or less. A newcomer coming to take our classes is called an “associate” of the Schule since he hasn’t yet really made a commitment; after training for some time (usually at least six months) the associate is invited to test for the rank of apprentice. This first test is fairly wide in terms of subject, but not too deep. The prospective apprentice is given an oral examination of historic and strategic concepts, then he must demonstrate the guards and primary attacks and displacements for each of the forms of combat he has studied (see above) along with a demonstration of very basic techniques for each form. He must also demonstrate that he has a complete set of training weapons for the forms he practices. An apprentice is given a black leather garter to wear below his left knee.

After several years of training the apprentice will be ready for the journeyman test. He must pass a very extensive oral examination on historic and strategic concepts, then demonstrate a very detailed working knowledge of all the hundreds of techniques that comprise our Basic Curriculum; these techniques must be demonstrated at full speed and power and with serious intent. He must have already demonstrated the ability to teach a class in the Fechtmeister’s absence and have

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demonstrated real leadership ability with the other students. Finally, he must have a complete set of steel training weapons and equipment. A journeyman is given a green leather garter to wear below his left knee. The test for master is more of the same plus he is required to demonstrate proficiency in our Advanced Curriculum (see below). In addition, the student must demonstrate the ability to fight successfully at full speed and full power in armor against experienced, highly proficient reenactment fighters. He must also have not only a full set of equipment, to include a full suit of armor, but have enough extra equipment that he could start his own class. Finally, he must demonstrate the ability to run a school of his own without direct supervision. A master is given a white leather garter to wear below his left knee. Our training curriculum breaks down into three levels: The first, or Basic Curriculum, consists of several hundred primary techniques from the sources listed previously. The second, or Advanced Curriculum, consists of supplemental techniques which aren’t necessary to understanding the system as a whole, but which are developments of the techniques or concepts covered in the Basic Curriculum. The third level of curriculum isn’t as precisely determined as the first two levels. This level consists of obscure or difficult techniques from various Fechtbücher, even ones not in our source list, that appeal to the master-level student and are developed by him in consultation with his teacher; a process, it is to be hoped, that goes on for the rest of the student’s life.

Class Rules: 1. We are all training in an art reserved for gentleman and warriors, and all

students will behave in accordance with these ideals at all times. 2. All students will salute their training partners before each round of practice. 3. All students will acquire the uniform of the Schule as soon as possible and

will wear it correctly in each class. The uniform consists of a Schule T-shirt, black or navy blue sweat pants and dark sneakers and will be neat, clean and in good repair.

4. All techniques performed with a partner will be done safely and responsibly. 5. No student will engage in free bouting without the Fechtmeister’s permission

and when doing so will limit themselves to the equipment, forms and types of bouting approved by the Schule.

6. All students must inform the instructor if they are unable to attend class.

Bouting Bouting is the term we use for free fighting and it is a cornerstone of our Schule, but while we consider it essential for learning our art there are some limitations that must be understood. Bloßfechten bouting requires the addition of protective gear that limits the student’s

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ability to move as an unarmored man would move and it requires safer weapon simulators that do not move or function as real swords do, rendering the combat even less realistic. This same situation existed in Japanese swordsmanship and lead to the devolution from real swordsmanship the modern sport of Kendo which has virtually no relationship to its more realistic roots. And since it is our intent to rediscover a real medieval form of combat it therefore behooves us to limit ourselves to practices that further rather than obscure that aim. Students are forbidden, therefore, from doing Bloßfechten bouting, even outside of class. Harnischfechten, conversely, is most realistic when done in complete safety equipment; the less armor you wear the less accurately you’re recreating the kind of combat we seek to simulate. Students are therefore encouraged to get full armor that is as realistic as possible as soon as they can so as to begin practicing faster and harder with an eye toward preparing to bout as soon as possible. Understand, however, that bouting begun before a student has a thorough grounding in the basics and many, many hours of controlled drills designed to instill correct muscle memory will, inevitably, lead to fighting with inaccurate techniques. Therefore students will not begin bouting until they have demonstrated in full-speed drills that they have a firm and instinctive grounding in the basics of our system.

Was Sehrt, das Lehrt!

Glossary Arming sword: A one-handed sword Bec de faucon: The spike on the back of a pollaxe; used for hooking. Bevor: Chin and throat armor worn with a sallet (q.v.) Blade: The portion of a sword or dagger used for cutting. Bloßfechten: “Open fighting”; unarmored combat. Breastplate: Armor for the chest. Couter: Armor for the elbow. Croix: The head of a pollaxe or the top third of the weapon. Cross: The guard on a sword. Cuisse: Armor for the thigh. Dague: The top spike on a pollaxe. Demy hache: The middle third of the shaft of a pollaxe. Die Schlachtschule: “The School of Battle.” Pronounced: “dee shlacktshooluh”; learn to say it! Fauld: Strips of plate attached to the breastplate to protect the abdomen. Fechtbuch: “Fight book”: A medieval German book about fighting (pl. “Fechtbücher”). Fechtmeister: “Fight master”: The head instructor of a Schule (q.v.). Greave: Armor for the lower leg. Harnischfechten: “Harness fighting”: Armored combat.

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Hilt: the portion of a sword or dagger that you hold. Kunst des fechtens: “Art of fighting.” Languet: Metal strips on the side of the pollaxe shaft. Long edge: The edge in line with your middle knuckles when holding a sword. Longsword: A sword intended for use in either one or both hands. Lower cannon (of the vambrace): Armor for the forearm. Mail: The hammer head on a pollaxe. Mail: Armor of interconnecting metal links worn in the gaps between plates. Pauldron: Armor for the shoulder. Point: The part of a blade used for thrusting. Poleyn: Armor for the knee. Pollaxe: The ultimate hand-to-hand combat implement ever designed. Pommel: The counterweight on the end of a sword’s handle. Queue: The spike on the bottom of a pollaxe shaft. Queue: The lower third of a pollaxe shaft. Ritterlich: “Knightly”. Roßfechten: Mounted combat. Roundel dagger: A dagger with a disk for a guard and sometimes for the pommel, too. Sabaton: Armor for the foot. Sallet: A type of fifteenth-century helmet. Schule: “School”. Short edge: The edge of a blade facing the holder’s forearm. Spear: A shafted thrusting weapon from 6.5 to 10 feet in length. Strong (of a weapon): The portion of the weapon closest to the holder’s hands. Sword & buckler: A type of combat with a one-handed sword and a small shield. Tasset: Armor that hangs from the fauld (q.v.). Upper canon (of the vambrace): Armor for the upper arm. Vambrace: The term for the entire arm harness. Was Sehrt, das Lehrt!: “What hurts teaches”: Our motto: “No pain, no gain”. Weak (of a weapon): The portion of a weapon farthest from the holder’s hands.

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Equipment Nomenclature

Bec de Faucon Dague Mail

Croix Demy Hache Queue

Queue

Languet The Pollaxe

Notes