[E Stafford]

This came up in the SCA thread, and I wasn't able to address it there. Also, a side question completely off topic.

The first question is, what is the wind, as used in longswords? Someone said that all techniques started from "the wind", and I am confused. The primary reason for this is I rapier fight, as opposed to longsword.

Second question, why is it that forums expand when I log in? When I do so, a 3 page forum suddenly expands to 10. ?? And, is there any thing I can do about it? Thanks in advance.

edit: corrected grammar

[Sean Flynt]

Here's a good intro:

http://www.myArmoury.com/feature_arms_gls.html

[E Stafford]

ok. So, you come to cross swords, where doesn't matter, and do a disengage, more or less. Question 1a answered, but why do ALL moves begin from the wind? You either catch the opponent on the downstroke of the blade, or you get him on the wind.

[Craig Peters]

I think you're confusing "winding" and "binding". When two swords are in contact along some portion of their blades, that's termed a bind. Winding is any action wherby you attempt to gain leverage and control over your opponent's blade with your own, which enables you to slice or stab them in the process.

Not all actions start from the bind. Initially, two swordsman fighting will not be in a bind. The tendency, however, is for binds to occur, particularly when your opponent tries to displace one of your attacks. As another example, if I throw a Zornhaw (a descending, diagonal cut, the one you'd instinctively make with a sword) and my opponent strikes one at me, so long as both of us are striking at our opponent, our blades will contact in a bind. If, however, my opponent starts to distort the line of his strike in response to my attack, a bind will still probably occur, but the position of our two swords will be more haphazard and awkward than what's depicted in the fencing manuals.

[Jesse Eaton]

Craig said

'When two swords are in contact along some portion of their blades, that's termed a bind.'

Let's clarify that a bit. The 'bind' is the place where two blades remain in contact. As opposed to a versetsen or parry where contact is made to change the direction of an attack. Saying that 'all techniques started from "the wind"' is a bit of an exaggeration. especially since you need to bind (binden) your opponents blade in order to wind (winden) into a strike. So, a wind is a strike that occurs from a bind. For example: Two opponents strike down (ober hau) from high guard (vom tag). As the blades connect (i.e. bind) one opponent spins his hilt to the left (i.e. winds to the blade to the right). He now has his opponents blade bound and has wounded his tip towards his opponent, ready for a thrust to the face or torso. If he doesn't do this very skillfully, his opponent may simply wind against his bind and force some other defensive action. You see how this is going? A lot depends on careful positioning and timing. Bind and wind techniques pervade both Italian and German schools of fighting (it seems to me to be a little more true of German). As opposed to rapier fencing, which most binds occur with an secondary, the two handed longsword techniques require thorough use of the wind. What really messes with modern fencers, especially collegiate, is that where fencers are trying to make a 'clean' i.e. untouched strike, Longsword fencers are usually trying to make contact with their opponents blade in order to ensure that their opponents blade is under control and then use it as a lever (i.e. wind) into a safe and often brutally close and powerful strike.

BTW:There's some interesting work going on at ARMA where it seems they've shifted their focus from strikes and wards to positions in the crown (Crom). The crown is an area roughly in the shape of a sphere with the center being at about your neck line and where your hands connect when you extend them in a relaxed position. The crown is where most of the winding and binding occurs. Think of it as the center of the chess board. Or since you fight SCA rapier you probably fight in a cone shaped area. A rapier fight pits two opposing cone shapes jocking for superior angle and position. Long sword has more of a shpere because of the winding techniques....Hope I'm not confusing you.

[Jesse Eaton]

BTW my posts have the same effect....either that or hardly a peep don't know why...

[E Stafford]

[Greg Coffman]

[Michael Eging]

[Bill Grandy]

[William Carew]

[Max W.]

Good morning,
i cant hesitate to attend to the explanation brawl

The "Someone said that all techniques started from "the wind"." has already been discussed very well,
but i want to add some more visual information about the Winden.

Joachim Meyer 1570:

[Michael Eging]

[Bill Grandy]

[William Carew]

No worries Bill, I hope it didn't seem I was splitting hairs. It's just that in the past I've seen winding defined as strictly a leverage gaining thing, but IMO it is so much more than that, as we seem to agree.

Cheers,

Bill