Fundamentals of
Swordplay
©Robert Reeder
The following are very brief notes on the rudiments of the particular form of Ryukyudan Kenjutsu we use to approximate Irish longsword technique. Do not be fooled by the apparent simplicity of these techniques; the best fighters in any system practice the basics of their system for hours each day, perfecting them and building muscle-memory of the techniques. It is in this way that body, mind and spirit become One; the same principle applies to the musical and sorceric aspects of our Line.
Throughout these notes I will presume that the fighter is right-handed, simply because I happen to be and so that’s how I think of it; if you are left-handed simply reverse the directions, for both hands and feet. Regardless of handedness, “inside” means going toward your rear leg, “outside” means going toward your forward leg. This may be easier to visualize if you assume (regardless of your actual stance at the moment) that your legs are in a proper ready stance (described below), but that you have relaxed your spine and upper body to face diagonally away from your opponent, in the direction of your rear leg. “Inside” then becomes “moving to inside your field-of-view, away from your opponent”, “outside” then becomes “moving to outside of your field-of-view, toward your opponent”.
The basic stance we use is somewhere between what is called a “cat stance” and a “forward leaning stance” in karate-do, there’s also a name for it in Italian fencing but I forget it at the moment. I’m describing it here with your right foot forward for clarity, but obviously you need to practice this stance, and all of your blocks and strikes, with both the right foot and the left foot forward. Just as obviously, perhaps, you will not be standing still as you are sparring, or even maintaining a steady stance in the rare moments that you are standing still. But if you train yourself to return to this stance whenever possible, you’ll be a better fighter for it.
Your right foot is pointed directly at your opponent, with your leg vertical below the knee. Your left foot is about one shoulder-width behind the right, pointed 90 degrees to the left of your opponent; the heel of your right foot should point at the heel of the left. Both knees are slightly bent, about 60% of your weight is supported by your left leg; however, you should be able to easily shift all of your weight from one leg to the other from this position. Rotate your shoulders and upper body so that it is directly facing your opponent; if your opponent were a wall, your shoulders would be parallel to it. This takes some getting used to, and is, by the way, contrary to most forms of European fencing, in which your right shoulder is pointed toward your opponent; this is simply the difference of a two-handed weapon over a one-handed one. The blade is held, with the grip described below, with both arms extended nearly straight downward, with the sword pointing up at your opponent, so that the tip of the sword appears to be touching your opponent’s nose.
The proper “grip” for this sword is almost no grip at all, and is in fact very loose, with both hands completely open at all times. The right hand holds the sword “choked” all the way up to the hilt, with the handle in the crook of the hand so that if the sword were held upright, its weight would rest on the thumb and forefinger. The thumb of the left hand is held out at 90 degrees from the palm, the tip of the thumb just touching the wrist of the right hand, with the palm of the left hand resting on the handle of the sword. All of your fingers except for your left thumb should be splayed and pointed at your opponent; if you find yourself tending to “grip” the sword, just consciously revert to this. Remember that while you have to be able to write code, do taxes, change diapers, clean toilets, pull weeds, analyze stock reports and hang-glide in addition to being able to handle a sword, the sword only has one function. Because it only has one function, it is much better at that particular function that you will ever be. Once the sword is in your hand, the sword is much smarter than you are, much faster than you are, and a much, much better fighter. So loosen your goddamned grip and let the sword do the one thing it does so very well, all you really have to do is support its weight while it does it. Really.
Our blocks are divided into three sets of two, to protect a total of six zones of the body. Note that with each of these, the area we are try to protect is only our own body, and any block which extends beyond this is not only wasted energy, but also tends to hyperextend ourselves and our blade, diminishing our ability to block a second blow as well as diminishing our ability to attack. It is very helpful to practice our blocks in a full-length mirror, so that we can see how much area we actually need to protect; it’s much less than most of us realize.
A middle
inside block starts with the blade held vertically facing your opponent, and
then moving to the left, remaining vertical.
A middle outside block is identical, except that the blade moves to the
right instead of the left.
A downward inside block or a downward outside block lowers the angle of the blade to protect your legs, either to the left or right respectively. In a downward block the blade comes straight down. Resist the urge to swing the blade down in the opposite direction of your opponent’s strike; this looks great for movies but is much slower, and there is a tendency to misjudge and “come in behind” your opponent’s blade. Even when a downward block is being used as a parry (to deflect a thrust as opposed to blocking a cut), bring the blade straight down and then to the side.
Upward blocks are the only case in which the “inside” and “outside” versions are not nearly identical. The important thing to remember with both of them is that the blade is held as close to vertical as is possible and still protect the body—never, ever try to block a downward strike with a horizontal blade. An upward inside block is a lot like a middle inside block, except that the blade is raised and angled slightly to the right to protect the head, and direct the opponents blade to the “inside”. An upward outside block, on the other hand, is a lot like a downward outside block that has been raised over the head, with the pommel pointed upward and the blade pointed downward, past your right shoulder. Note that an upward outside block to an inside blow, while sloppy, may work in some instances, an upward inside block to an outside blow may be cause for plastic surgery. I say this because we generally don’t allow head-shots in sparring, so there’s not as much opportunity to learn this the “hard way”.
The strikes in Sean Ciall swordplay are exceedingly simple, consisting of three cuts and one thrust. If you visualize each of these as being directly aimed at (and stopping at) your opponent’s heart chakra, you can’t go very wrong. When you are sparring, obviously you only want to use enough force to touch your opponent. However, at some point in your training it is most valuable to find a butcher who is tolerant of martial artists, and practice on a side of hanging beef or pork with live steel to get a feel for how much force is actually needed against a real opponent who actually means to hurt you (hint: it’s a LOT). In lieu of this, use an upright wooden pole, no less than 12” diameter, to get some sense of this.
Inside cuts and outside cuts move horizontally, at just below shoulder height, toward the heart chakra from the right and left, respectively. Downward cuts come down vertically, aiming at the heart chakra via the head. Downward cuts, or any strikes which may potentially hit the head, are never used in sparring.
Thrusts are simply pushing the tip of the blade into the heart chakra of you opponent. Great care must be exercised when attempting this while sparring, especially when accompanied by a lunge; probably 90% of fencing and kendo injuries have resulted from this. In fencing, a combined lunge and thrust is called a fleche, and is considered something of a “suicide throw”; effective if it works, but placing yourself completely off-balance if it doesn’t.
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