Foreword
This is a book of Destreza. ("Dexterity/Skill/Ability")
Just not what some 'masters' would call Destreza, and that is fine with me, for I have no thoughts of being lumped in with their like- firstly because those Castilians are quite unbearable to be compared with, and second because I do not play at being a maestro ("master") merely a lucky practitioner.
I will admit that I have no intention of putting my half-baked techniques to the text, for I would be bashful be even call myself a diestro ("expert") but many parties, the most prestigious of them being House Getandmark has shown interest in them, and it would be remiss of me to declare their confidence as misplaced.
Thus, I shall attempt to organise what I can recall, into a treatise in hopes of inspiring someone, whether it be a maestro or a layperson.
The Montante
The Montante is roughly 6 Castillian Feet (or 5.5 ft/1.67m) long, with one-quarter of that being the length of the hilt, and weighing around 2.25 kg (5 lbs). The hilts nearly always consist of a straight cross, with or without additional side rings.
The blade itself is divided into two halves: the strong (or forte), which is the half closest to the hilt, and the weak (foible), which is closest to the tip.
The strong of the blade is not physically stronger but is named so because of the stronger leverage you have against another sword here, whereas the weak can be pushed aside easily.
Despite this, the weak moves much faster than the strong, and your attacks should ideally be made with this faster-moving portion.
Because of the weapon’s length, I advise that you do not carry the Montante with a cloak or even a sheath, for it will reduce how accessible it is to you in the case of an unexpected altercation, unless you have an assured means of preparing your Montante for combat in an instant, such as through magic.
Instead carry it as you would a polearm, letting it rest on the shoulder. Do so with your non-dominant hand, so if you are right-handed you would hold it with your left hand and rest the blade on your left shoulder.
Gripping the Montante
The basic grip of the Montante is simple. Hold the Montante with the dominant hand close to the quillons and the other hand close to the pommel.
General Stance
Focus on the body, not the position of the blade.
Key Points
- The head is held upright, not gazing down nor upturned.
- Hips and shoulders are aligned and toward the target, not held at an angle.
- The back and hips are one unit; the spine is not excessively arched nor hunched, and the core is tight.
- Hips are tucked under so as not to introduce spinal instability.
- Front leg points directly toward the opponent, knee bent so that the lower leg is roughly perpendicular to the ground, you should just be able to see the toes of the front foot if you glance down.
- Rear leg extends back and to the side slightly. Also bent somewhat to allow for movement.
- The foot faces out to the right at an angle which can be between 45 degrees and perpendicular to the front foot.
- The front and rear feet are best placed on opposite sides of an imaginary centre line in order to stay well balanced.
Basic Strikes
While the basic motions of attack are near-universal, every tradition has different ideas of what counts as a 'basic strike' under their system, which in turn affects how their systems are structured.
Cuts
There are two main cuts: tajo (literally: cut/slice) and revés (literally: reverse/opposite/contrary)
From the perspective of a right-handed swordfighter, tajos are cuts from right to left, while reves are cuts from left to right.
These 2 cuts can also be ascendiente, (ascending) travelling from low to high, or descendiente, (descending) travelling from high to low.
A third cut is altibajo, which is a directly vertical cut, though it is uncommon.
Thrusts
When you are thrusting with a Montante, the blade should be flat, with the crosses pointing left and right, and there will be 2 positions your dominant hand is in: nails-up (dominant hand in supination) and nails-down (dominant hand in pronation).
Nails, of course, refers to your fingernails and these 2 terms are used regardless of the exact position where your thrust comes from, ignoring factors such as height.
From the perspective of a right-handed swordfighter, nails-up thrusts come from your left, while nails-down thrusts come from your right.
Note that when in a nails-down position, that your arms are crossed, limiting movement.
Basic Footwork
Basic Bladework
Here I name and describe a number of actions done with the blade that the layperson may not know.
Subjection
(Covers a wide scope and has a number of similar terms, just as taking/controlling the opponent's blade)
Placing your blade (and body) in such a way relative to your opponent’s blade (and body) that you cover their most direct line of attack, whilst keeping your own direct line of attack open.
This can be likened to a 'pre-parry' where their primary attack is prevented before execution, while also create an opportunity for yourself to directly strike your opponent.
A common way is to place a stronger part of the blade over the opponent's weaker part of the blade and putting pressure downward, thus subjecting their blade.
A point of contention is whether to keep blades in contact or only very close- when your blades are in contact you can sense your own opponent's intentions, but so can the opponent, while the opposite is true for the latter.
Beat
Hit the opponent’s blade to move it aside, or provoke a reaction from your opponent.
Do it with the bare minimum amount of force needed, to ensure your own blade remains in a line of attack, instead of off to the side along with your opponent due to using too much force.
Try not to telegraph your beat- it must be quick and without warning, so your opponent doesn't see it coming.
Disengage
Use a quick motion to move the point of your blade around the opponent's own weapon, usually to reacquire a new target, such as from a guarded left side to an open right side.
However, experienced opponents might expect, or even bait you to try and disengage, and instead punish you by striking you in the timeframe where you try and disengage, such as when you disengage from the opponent's subjection, beat or a parry, so it must be quick and without warning, so your opponent doesn't see it coming.
Basic Strikes in One on One
Here I highlight advice primarily used in one on one combat, though they can apply even in group combat.
Cuts
My opinion is that cuts can be caught or countered more easily than they can be thrown.
Thus, in one on one combat, they should be delivered when there is a specific opportunity to do so, or when they are thrown with such force that the opponent would be too fearful or unable to parry in the time they have.
The ideal circumstance would be when one’s sword is subjected so one can roll their sword into a cut with safe timing.
Thrusts
Thrusting while you are subjecting the opponent's blade is ideal for obvious reasons- it is the safest position to thrust from. This is called 'Thrusting with opposition'
Thrusts are the most direct and quickest attack, and thus should be used as your main method of attack- with this in mind, the objective of the fight is the control over the centreline, an ideal position to thrust from.
Single-handed Thrusts
Slipping a hand off the hilt and stepping forward with the side of the body you are thrusting from inclining forward to extend your thrusting range to the maximum.
One-handed thrusts may seem unwieldy but are actually relatively safe assuming you are making maximum usage of the extended range of such a thrust, which gives you more time to retract your Montante. It can be used to surprise opponents at a distance and/or catch retreating opponents.
Defending
Here are a few methods of defence. The list is non-exhaustive, for there are many techniques and tricks that can be employed, depending on the scenario, but here are some of my favoured means of defence.
Counterthrust in Opposition
When an opponent throws an attack to your body, step forward and intercept the top half of their weapon with the crossguard of your Montante, angling it so as to trap their weapon and move it to the side, so their weapon point is not directed at you, while making sure that your own Montante's point is online, directed at the opponent.
Sir Urag'Rwag throws a swing with a halberd at Dame Gwenevere. Unattended, it would cut through her left shoulder. In response, she steps forward raises her Montante left of her left shoulder and intercepts the shaft of the oncoming halberd, trapping it with the crossguard, all the while her Montante's own point being directed at Sir Urag.
The opponent's weapon is trapped in the crossguard, where you have greater leverage, unable to slide off, and as it's to the side of you the opponent cannot slide it forward as it would not hit you.
The only thing they can do is disengage, but it is unlikely to succeed as in this position your point is already directed towards them. Simply thrust.
Realising his mistake, Sir Urag releases his hold on the halberd and attempts to step back to void the oncoming blow, but before he could do so Dame Gwenevere has already run him through. The point goes to Dame Gwenevere.
Arrebatar (Carry/ Cut Away)
Cut into an oncoming attack, cutting the opponent's weapon to the side, then either quickly roll the blade around to land a forehand cut, or immediately reverse direction, landing a backhand cut. This second cut you might want to do with a step.
Sir Urag'Rwag throws a swing with a halberd at Dame Gwenevere. Unattended, it would cut through her left shoulder. In response, she steps forward and beats the shaft of the halberd to the side, with a strike descending from right shoulder to left chest. From there she immediately reverses the direction of her cut and steps forwards, landing a backhand cut to the side of Sir Urag'Rwag's head. The point goes to Dame Gwenevere.
Balazanda
When your opponent thrusts, take a step back with your non-dominant foot, place your weight on that leg, then incline to the side of the non-dominant foot and lean back to avoid the thrust, all the while your dominant leg remaining in place, then counter-thrust. Essentially, move so that your body and weapon avoid the opponent's thrust, then counter-thrust.
Mandoplado (Slap)
Very unconventional, really more of a trick that I would only use to throw off slower fencers. A hand parry where you slap the opponent's weapon downward or to either side. Use primarily against thrusts.
Guards
Fundamentally, guards are simply a position that you might be in when using a weapon. It might be because you started in that position, or you actively transitioned to it, or you simply fell into that position as the natural end result of another action.
As a whole codifying them into guards is to give a name to important positions that you will find yourself and the opponent in most of the time either because of their utility or because they are the endpoint of certain actions.
There are many guards, but I shall outline 4 to begin with.
Extended Guard
Extend your arms forward, Montante pointing forward. Can be straight ahead or be slightly retracted to your left or right.
It provides powerful defence as it threatens your enemy with the tip and forces them to move aside the Montante to strike at you. It provides breathing room when you are on the back foot and can also be used to enter engagement safely.
Nominally a position used for longsword, using an extended guard with a Montante leaves it a bit vulnerable as has a lot of length for the enemy to manipulate while weighing on the arms. It is also possible to still strike at the hands and forearms with a weapon of similar length.
However, this can still be used to threaten and if subjected can roll into a cut, or turned into an effective thrust with the movement of the body and feet.
Tail Guard
Hold the Montante to the side of your hips, with the point resting behind you. In my opinion, not a recommended guard, but still a viable one with a number of plays.
You can directly launch a cut from it but would be very telegraphed, though you could use it to launch a flurry of cuts to overwhelm someone with a shorter weapon.
However, you can use it to cut into an opponent's attack, whether it is a cut or thrust, and deflect it upwards, thus stealing the tempo and bringing it down as a cut to the opponent's upper body. High attacks will be however break the cut, as gravity assists them, unless you strike with more force, perhaps with the intention of cutting straight through the opponent's attack.
You could also turn the cut into a deceptive thrust, or use it to line up a thrust if your weapons cut into each other and you win the centreline.
Roof Guard
Hold the Montante over the shoulder with the point facing back.
This is an ideal position to deliver a powerful overhead cut, which is vulnerable to a counter thrust, but can break most attacks by cutting straight through, as well as feint by threatening the opponent with a devastating blow, only to do something else.
Hanging Guard
Hands uncrossed and above your head with the blade aimed low. As your hands cannot be crossed, you cannot employ it in a nails-down position, so if you are a right-handed swordfighter you cannot employ this guard on your right side.
If done against someone in the same guard this forms a diagonal cross.
This is ineffective with shorter weapons, but longer weapons like the Montante offer more room to move the sword and longer motions, making this effective.
In this position, you are primed to roll into a cut, or disengaging for a thrust. The line is entirely closed, and parrying cuts is very easy from this position, though if not diligent in the parry the opponent could thrust straight through it.
