Ever been in class drilling a new play, and can't figure out why it won't work? Ever been an instructor watching your charges doing a thrusting drill standing a foot too close to each other? Ever fought some one who seems to slip in and out of the range of your attacks at will? It is all about measure. Often times in HEMA students and instructors get so caught up in the plays, and mechanics we don't discuss some of the most basic and universal elements of fighting. Or worse yet we don't know how to teach it yet, so we let new people figure it out only with trial and error. That is not to say that we can totally eliminate the trial and error part of learning measure but more of if we better understand the different measures, what we can do, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of them we can point students into a much better direction for their experimentation.
Author's Note: I reference the mechanical advantages of the sword several times. Will write a blog post detailing those in the future and linked here. Movement and Tempo, one in the sameIn Viggiani's book Lo Schermo he has a great discussion about what tempo actually is, and how it relates to fencing. What is important to keep in mind is that this idea is based on Aristotelian Physics. In fact that was the only physics at the time and possibly the reason we see the same ideas from different parts of Europe. According to Aristotle time and movement are the same thing and you can not have one without the other. A big movement is a large time. A small movement is a small time. What is important to remember is that at this point in history, The second hand wasn't a popular addition to clocks yet. No one was timing things with precision, they just looked at what took longer or shorter. Our friend Silver spoke of the True Times. i.e. Time of the Hand, Time of the Hand and Body, Time of the Hand, Body, and Foot, and finally Time of the Hand, Body, and Feet. While there are plenty of interpretations of what this means, when looking at it in the light of Aristotelian Physics it makes much more sense. The tempo that it takes for me to just move my hand is much smaller (in both movement and in time) than the tempo it takes to do a passing cut. Take away from this? Tempo is both time and movement. At longer measures, the tempos are larger. The MeasuresApproaching MeasureThis is where I'm going to get myself in trouble trying to discuss ideas from rapier. But approaching measure or out of measure both combatants are safely out of range, and it would take multiple steps to harm each other. However fencing has already started. Fabris speaks about forcing your opponent into obedience as we approach measure. This is done with movement, threatening the point as we walk in, and setting up a position where if the opponent walks in and does nothing we will have the mechanical advantages over his sword and easily kill him. While this is an important stage of the fight, a Fabris scholar would be able to speak much more eloquently to the concepts than I can. While the Bolognese don't explicitly teach approaching measure as they do wide and narrow measure, they tell us how to approach to the wide plays in their various assaults. Typically it is with a strike, and in the sword and small buckler they like to step in and out of measure testing the opponent.
Wide Measure (Larga):
The Mezza Spada (Middle of the Sword):
mechanical advantages of the sword, this is what Silver would refer to as "The Place" where you can attack with time of the hand. In Bolognese you typically are only in this position for an instant. Parry, counter attack, and back out into guard or with a stram. Or enter range with advantage, attack, and back out. Meyer even tells us that we need to exit from Krieg safely. Important! DO NOT ENTER MEZZA SPADA RANGE WITHOUT ADVANTAGE! You either have the mechanical advantages, or you are working a provocation to set the opponent up. Stepping into this range without having advantage gives your opponent a free tempo, to extend his hand and stab or cut you. A much smaller and faster tempo than your step. Narrow Play (Stretta, i.e. some one messed up measure)This is what Fiore is known for. While it is possible to still cut and thrust with the sword sans grappling it is it is far more prudent to include a grapple (Presse for the Bolo crowd) in what you are doing to control the opponent and his weapon. That is, you are so close grappling is pretty much the only thing that makes sense. From personal experience, this is not the range you want to be in against secondary weapons such as daggers and bucklers. Typically I see people accidentally enter stretta. Or I should say, at least one person accidentally entered this measure. At that point though either person can go for a throw or grapple and it becomes a different game. ConclusionsManipulating measure and learning how to maintain it is an essential skill. Developing a sense of measure involves experimentation, finding your max range with passing, lunging, leaning, and standing upright. Keep in mind, your measure will differ from your training partners. Your partner may be able to reach you and you have to take multiple steps. Your height, ability to lean into attacks and length of weapon are all going to effect your measures. While I can't give you that experience online, perhaps by helping give you some vocabulary to talk conceptualize the different measures I can give you a jumping off point to build drills, and tactics on how to learn and use measure.
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Will PhillipsInstructor at Dallas Renaissance Sword Guild, and co-founder of East Texas Historical Fencing. Archives
September 2019
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