Posts: 599 Location: Brooklyn, NY
Sat 06 Sep, 2008 7:34 pm
I thought I would list and classify the main
shields types. The significant characteristic that defines them is how you block with them and how much help you need from your sword to block. There is no hard rule as to their exact size and their characteristics can be somewhat mixed.
1-Heater-(24"x36") shield 100% defense and sword 100% offense. Corners are vital to blocking.
2-kite- (22"x40") No top corners so you must punch block or sword-block to cover your head.
3-round- (24") no bottom corner so sword has to do more defending then kite
4-targe- (18") smaller then round so sword has to do even more defending.
5-buckler- (10") sword has to do even more defending then with targe. At this point the sword is almost on 100% defense. You have to be very conscience of closing off incoming angles of attack with your sword as you attack.
6-two handed weapon- The sword or polearm is your only shield and must close off incoming angles of attack in every instance it attacks.
The pattern you see in the manor I have have listed these is that as you move from large shield to smaller one, the sword must be dedicated more and more to defense. With larger shields you have to actively work your offense around your shield (not move the shield out of the way of the sword). This takes a lot of training to do. Without doubt a large shield will restrict you offense in favor of defense.
It is interesting to observe that while the smaller shields give more range of motion, and thus easier offensive capability, they are also self-restricting in that they become more and more dedicated to defense.
The two wild cards here are a scutum (square) and two-weapon forms. I classify a scutum in the same category as a kite. The reason is because the scutum gives good leg protection (like kite) but is too bottom heavy to efficiently bring the top corner up to block your head (like heater), so you have to do some sword blocking for your head. So a scutum defense is more kite-like. A coffin shield would also require a similar sword defense as a kite.
I regard two-weapon forms (two swords, two axes, mixed) in the same category as buckler. After all the buckler makes a good iron-fist for punching too. It is a similar situation where both hands are almost 100% dedicated to defense. So it appears to me that two-weapon forms are more buckler-like in their defense.
The way I am currently fighting with my heater is... the heater is 100% defense and sword is 100% offense. This is the standard I gave above. My training is about to move in a direction where the sword will now be on 95% defense except for that moment that it is actually attacking (shield still 100% defense). This is done by fighting from a guard with the sword blade blocking the opening on the right side of my shield. The sword attacks from there and returns to there. The effectively gives 195% turtle defense. This is the standard of the knights who are training me and why they are able to beat me 95% of the time.
note: there are some very good reasons to also fight from a "sword back" position and a shield. You can use the shield to hide the position of the sword. You can also generate more power. This might be useful with a heavier sword, mace or axe.
Heaters
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Kites
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Oval
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Rectangular
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Round/Wankel
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