TheMesserfechten ofMasterPaulusKal
Christian Henry Tobler, May 25, 2007
Combat with the Messer (‘knife’), a falchion-like weapon favored in late medieval Germany, didn’t come into its own until 1478, when Hans Lecküchner drew upon Liechtenauer’s longsword verse to create his own, and even more substantial, treatise dedicated exclusively to this unique and potent weapon. However, techniques for this weapon appear earlier in the works of Hans Talhoffer, the Codex Wallerstein, and in some brief notes in the earliest manuscript of the Liechtenauer tradition, Hs. 3227a, now in Nuremberg. Paulus Kal also included methods for this weapon in his c. 1470 illustrated work.
Master Kal’s simple methods include one that counter blows from the outside against the opponent’s attack, and three that proceed from a bind with the messers. The last of these techniques from the bind includes a counter-technique. The images appearing in these notes derive from the uncaptioned copy of Paulus Kal’s manuscript in the KunsthistorischesMuseum in ViennaAustria, Ms. KK 5126.
The First Guard
Paulus Kal’s first guard with the messer seems to echo the first custodia(guard) of the I.33 sword and buckler manuscript: you hold your messer at the lower left, in a position akin to left Nebenhut(Side Guard) from the c. 1440 longsword commentaries of Master Sigmund Ringeck. From this position, it is easy to strike up to the back of the opponent’s hand as he moves to strike you from his right. (See the sequence at left.)
Cutting the Hand from the Bind
One of the easiest responses from a bind at the messer is to cut down, inside the bind, to your opponent’s hand. This response assumes that both antagonists have struck from the right, that is, from the guard vom Tag, or, as Lecküchner would later term this guard with the messer, Luginslant (“Watchtower”). From the bind, cut down onto his wrist or hand as you compass step backward a little bit with your left foot.
Winding the Messer from the Hand
The bind also affords the opportunity to disarm the opponent. This technique utilizes the same “Triangle Disarm” that appears so frequently in period dagger texts: one grabs the attacker’s wrist with his left hand inverted; a triangle shape is formed by the defender’s arm, the attacker’s arm, and the dagger blade. The dagger blade rests over the defender’s arm, allowing him to turn (that is, wind) the offending weapon out of his foe’s grip. Here, the same thing happens, only with the messer’s pommel resting upon the defender’s hand, rather than the dagger blade held in the reverse grip. To affect this, as soon as the blades clash, reach with an inverted left hand to his right wrist and turn his weapon over, as Master Kal shows.
Capturing theRight Arm
The right arm capture figures in just about every early treatise in Europethat addresses single-handed swordplay. Here, Master Kal traps his student’s messer arm by performing a quick serpentine around it with his left hand immediately after the messers bind. A step of his left foot brings him into position to either throw his opponent over the left leg or hip to the ground, or break the student’s right arm.
Note that you can perform the arm capture as well from a bind resulting from a rising parry from the first guard at the lower left side of the body, as Hans Talhoffer shows in his 1467 codex:
The Counter to the Arm Capture
For the counter-technique, Master Kal exchanges places with his student. As the student traps his arm, Kal quickly rotates his wrist to bring his messer’s blade to the student’s neck and, with his left hand pushing his own blade, slices his neck, this motion accompanied by an aggressive step forward by his left foot.