[Lancelot Chan]

http://youtu.be/K0USeEwXK8Q
Single handed leg cuts from various starting position. The difficulty lies in the blade alignment was all wrong until the moment of impact, and became correct only for the duration necessary for penetration, unaffected by the previous inertia.

[Lancelot Chan]

http://youtu.be/_gfOUQZKJ1E
Just for fun.

[Lafayette C Curtis]

How common are such one-handed snaps in the world's martial art traditions for two-handed sword use, I wonder? I've seen something like it in one interpretation of the "Man yt Wol" English longsword manuscript, and on some videos of two-handed jian (though I forgot from which style or school), but I have no idea about whether it sees much use elsewhere. (I'm not likely to use it myself since I don't see it in the styles I study, but it's still interesting to compare and contrast with other styles).

[Lance Morris]

Hello Lancelot.

I'm not sure how historical it is but form follows function. If it works then some one some how would have and should have used that ttechnique

[Lancelot Chan]

Just for the reference, for example, In Talhoffer's 1467 manual, this technique is called Das Gayslen. So it was a part of German longsword tradition.

[Guy Bayes]

According to my instructor, leg cuts were generally problematic and mostly the manuals recommend against them. By depressing the blade you are decreasing your reach. So if you were to try a normal, two handed cut to the leg, your opponent can simply slip his leg and skewer you

The one handed snap looks like a trick cut to me, used to lengthen the range and possibly surprise an opponent

http://hemaalliance.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1674

[Lafayette C Curtis]

Interesting. Talhoffer is a source I haven't checked out for years, and upon a visit to Wiktenauer I'm really starting to get why some people see him and his works as the red-headed stepchild of the Liechtenauer tradition. Das Gayszlen is a technique I remember fondly -- mostly for having voided it and followed it up with a Nachreissen on all but a couple of occasions because it (or at least the way it was practiced in my group when it still existed) telegraphed like mad. I've also run into it more recently in LARP and lightsabre sparring and dealt with it in exactly the same way. That being said, there are probably better ways to do it and I'd really like to meet someone who could pull it off well.

(Paradoxically enough, two-handed cuts or thrusts to the legs worked much better for both me and my partners/opponents, especially if not done as a Vorschlag.)