Master Historical European Martial Arts — One Prompt at a Time

The German longsword tradition, as described by Joachim Meyer in his 1570 Gründtliche Beschreibung, identifies four primary guards (Leger): Vom Tag (from the roof), held high to generate powerful cuts; Ochs (the ox), with the hilt raised and point threatening the opponent's face; Pflug (the plow), held low at the hip with the point directed at the opponent; and Alber (the fool), with the blade hanging down in an apparently open stance that conceals counters. Each guard has specific offensive and defensive applications within Meyer's systematic approach to fencing.

The Zornhau (wrath cut) is one of the five master cuts (Meisterhäue) in the German longsword tradition. Delivered as a powerful diagonal downward cut from the shoulder, it is both an attack and a simultaneous defense — when an opponent strikes high, the Zornhau cuts through the incoming blade while threatening the opponent's face or upper body. If the cut binds on the opponent's blade, the fencer can then work the Zornhau-Ort (wrath cut point), thrusting along the bind to strike. This dual purpose — deflecting and attacking in a single action — exemplifies the principle of Indes (instantly).

Ringeck (c.1440) and Meyer (1570) approach winding from different contexts. Ringeck, documenting a living combat tradition in the Liechtenauer lineage, treats winding (Winden) as a direct tactical response in the bind — feeling the opponent's pressure and rotating the blade to find openings or maintain the Vor. His approach is terse and presupposes a practitioner already familiar with the fundamentals. Meyer, writing over a century later when longsword was transitioning to a training art, systematizes winding into a comprehensive framework with named techniques and numbered positions, making it more pedagogically accessible but reflecting the broader shift from battlefield application toward formalized scholarly instruction.

Vor (Before), Nach (After), and Indes (Instantly) are the three fundamental timing concepts at the heart of German swordsmanship. The fighter in the Vor has seized the initiative, forcing the opponent to react. The fighter in the Nach is responding — they must seize the Vor as quickly as possible. Indes is the crucial moment of transition: the instant one recognizes the opponent's action and reacts simultaneously. Liechtenauer's teaching holds that a skilled fencer should always strive to work in the Vor, using aggressive, committed actions to deny the opponent time to set up their own attack. Indes represents the cognitive and physical speed required to shift from Nach back into Vor.