Medieval Martial Arts

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Jean du Plessis

Student Number: 34890963

EED201-J

Assignment: 04 Final Project

The language used in modern day medieval

combat studies by a South African Medieval

Association in Plettenberg Bay.

Aims and Objectives

To study the difference in the language structure and use and the meaning of words

and phrases used in context of an modern day medieval combat school compared to

that of our modern every day use of language.

Dialogue

Sergeant-at-arms:

Men-at-arms, take the crown. Salute ourMaster-at-arms Hein Jooste!

Men-at-Arms:

Master-at-arms Hein, hail!

Sergeant-at-arms:


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At ease ladies and gentlemen. Squires, attend to the arms and armour.Men-at-arms,

apply thy armour.

New members without rank, thesquires will attend to the armour and help the

experienced men-at-arms to get dressed in the heavy plate mailand chain mail.

Master-at-arms:

Men-at arms, fall in at theBasquette. Rank and file! Take Guard PositionFrom-the-

Roof. All members line up from the highest to lowest rank.

Drill One; The Four Guards, in the advance,From- the-roof, Plough, Ox, Fool, From-

the-roof! One, two, three, fourten! Men-at-arms, in the retreat! One, two, three

ten! Men-at-arms, Drill Two, Guard Position, striking Overhead, from Under,

Overhead, from Under, back into Guard Position. The flowing of the blade runs in

the pattern of the Aids sign. Full sequence in one count. One, two, threeten!

Sergeant-at-arms, please form them up in pairs of two so we can practice standing

basics.

Sergeant-at-arms:

The Sergeant-at-arms sorts the men-at-arms in pairs of two: Aye, Master-at-arms.

Right then, all bachelors form up on the right with the squires on the left! Men-at-

arms, in pairs of two!


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Master-at-arms:

The Master-at-arms calls out the instructions: Men-at-arms, Guard position! Group

One, striking with an Overheadto the head, Group Two blocking with a Windingand

countering with a thrust to the chest. One, two, threeten! On the reverse! One, two,

threeten!

Group One,Foolstance. Group Two, striking with an Overheadto the head, Group

One, block with and Under strike and using the cross-guard to lockthe blade of your

opponent between your own blade and yourcross-guard. Now bring the tip inline

with his chest. From there you have the ability to perform a Mutated strikeby

thrusting forward into the opponents chest. One, two, threeten! In the reverse, one,

two, threeten! In your pairs, Group One step forward with a thrust to the chest from

thePlough, Group Two, use the Wheel, using the Weakof the blade, to get the Upper

handand counter with a thrust to the face. One, two, threeten!

Group Two, strike at your opponents head using a Twisted strike. Group One, I want

you to parry by using the Transverse Strike, which will allow you to make a clean cut

to your opponents wrist. One, two, threeten!

Group One, assume the Ox Guard. From there you will perform a thrust to the chest.

Group Two, parry by using theBarrierorFence. One, two, threeten!

Well done! Relax ladies and gentleman. Sergeant-at-arms, will you please take them

for theory.

Sergeant-at-arms:

Aye sir! Men-at-arms, form up in a crescent moon in front of me! All squires, I want

you to heed what will be said in todays lesson. We will be explaining the different


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parts of the swords and the names of the parts and how to use them. Bachelor James

and Clint, if the two of you will please accompany me in the front.

Squires, the sword that I am holding here is a Thomas Bastard Sword. It falls under

the category of swords known asHand-and-a-Halfswords. Can anyone tell me why it

is called aHand-and-a-Halfsword?

Squire One:

Because one can grip the handle with both hands. A full hand grips the handle while

the second hand is half on the handle and half over thePommel.

Sergeant-at-arms:

Well done! Now the part of the sword below the handle, as was mentioned by the

squire, is known as thePommel.

Bachelor Clint:

I am sure you have all heard of the English expression, I will Pommelyou to death.

It originated from the Early Medieval Period. The blade of the sword was not the only

dangerous part of the sword. ThePommelwas used to hit the opponent over the head

or in the face when the blade was out of reach or kept in check by the blade of the

opponent.

Sergeant-at-arms:

Thats right. A thousand years later, swords have long been out of every day use but

the expression is still used today.


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Now the cross-guardis the part that separates the handle and the blade of the sword.

It is there primarily for the protection of your hands but also have other functions,

such as lockingtechniques, as you have already practised in your pairs earlier.

The Pommel, Handle and Cross-guard all form the part of the sword called the hilt

Squire Two:

When were practising in pairs the Master-at-arms asked us to strike with the Short

Edge in a certain move. I have no idea what part of the sword is the Short Edge.

Sergeant-At-Arms:

We will get to that now. The blade of the sword as you can see is doubled edged and

symmetrical on both sides. The blade can be divided into four parts; the Short Edge,

Long Edge, the Weakof the blade and the Strongof the blade. When holding the

sword with the Pommel facing towards the ground and the tip of the blade towards the

sky, the sharp edge facing you is the Short Edge, and the edge facing away from you

will be theLong Edge. It is called the Short Edge because it is the shortest distance

from you and then of course theLong Edge is the furthest distance from you.

The Strongof the blade is from the Cross-guardto the middle of the blade, while the

Weakof the blade is the part of the sword from the middle of the blade to the tip of

the sword.

Bachelor James:


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The reason why it is called the Strongof the blade is that one has more control when

blocking orlockingwith that part of the sword and less by using the Weakof the

blade.

Master-at-arms:

Thank you very much Sergeant-at-arms and our bachelors. Bachelors, Please take all

the men-at-arms for theIron Desert.

Procedure:

The medieval combat arts have always been an interest of mine and therefore I

decided to use the language of modern day medieval combat as my area of interest. I

am a member of the PBSMCS (Plettenberg Bay Society for Medieval Combat

Studies) and recorded and transcribed spoken language from an actual training

session. Originally I made a tape recording of the actual session on 27 July 2006. It is

from this tape recording that I made a written record of which I could use for my

analysis. It is obvious that it was impossible to record the whole session, as it would

accumulate into a very long and pointless script. Therefore I changed the structure of

the recorded language used by omitting much of the unnecessary but kept all of the

essential parts I would need to complete the analysis. The written form of the tape

recording is in dialogue form, which provided much clarity for myself when I had to

refer back to the record, and will do the same for whoever reads my analysis. The

dialogue form makes it clear of who says what and brings order to a script which

would be chaos without it.


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All the analysis I have made in this study is relevant only to the PBSMCS and can not

be seen as a study of all Medieval combat schools but only to the German style of

PBSMCS.

Please note that the terms used in the medieval combat studies had the same meaning

in the medieval period as in todays medieval combat studies. Used outside the

context of medieval combat studies they had the same meaning as in modern every

day language.

The first study I made was to compare seemingly familiar words and phrases we find

in the language of medieval combat studies to words and phrases we use in our every

day modern language. I made use of an Oxford Advanced LearnersDictionary, 6th

Edition and a medieval combat manual, Sigmund Ringeck, The Knightly Art of the

Longsword, used by our combat school to compare the meaning and use of these

words.

My second study was to compare the tone of language used in the modern medieval

combat studies to that of the modern every day language.

Findings:

The comparison of seemingly familiar words and phrases we find in the language of

medieval combat studies to words and phrases we use in our every day modern

language.

The first example one finds in the very first sentence of the recording of the dialogue

spoken by the Sergeant-at-arms. Men-at-arms, take the crown.Hein Jooste.

Looking at the word crown it is a word we still use in our every day language but in


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the context of medieval combat studies the meaning of the word changes. In the

medieval combat studies the word crown is a verb as it is a defensive position a

swordsman takes. The book written by Sigmund Ringeck, The Knightly Art of the

Longsword, defines the verb crown as a defensive stance where you stifle a strike

from above or turn a thrust to the side or up by lifting the sword high point up. The

Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 6th Edition defines the modern every day use

ofcrown in verb form as; to put a crown on the head of a new king or queen as a sign

of royal power or in a noun form as; a circular ornament, usually made of gold and

jewels, that a king or queen wears on his or her head on official occasions. The

dictionary also gives several other definitions in verb and noun form but none is a

defensive position in a combat art. The defensive position crown is so called because

the crossbar of the sword is brought inline with the forehead of the wielder and so

from the front resembles a crown on his or her head.

Other examples we find in the Four Guards called out by the Master-at-arms:

...From- the-roof, Plough, Ox, Fool, From-the-roof! Again the words such a

plough, ox and fool are all words familiar to us and words we use in our modern every

day language. The difference again lies in the change of meaning once they are used

in context of medieval combat studies.The word Ox, a castrated bull is a noun when it

is used in the modern every day language. Once placed in the context of medieval

combat studies the word remains a noun but the meaning changes. It is one of the

Four Guardpositions assumed while in a combat session. The tip of the sword in the

Ox position faces straight ahead and resembles the horns of an ox, hence the name for

the position. There is thus clear difference in the meaning of the word when used in

the different contexts. Even the meaning of the wordsFoolandPlough that can be

found in both verb and noun form in our modern every day language has a different


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meaning from the words used in the medieval combat context. In our modern every

day use of the word fool in noun form is a person who behaves or speaks in a way that

lacks intelligence. In its verb form, tofoolis to trick something into believing

something that is not true. The modern every day usage of the noun or the verb fool,

differs from the useFoolin medieval combat studies. In medieval combat the word

Foolis a noun and another one of theFour Guards. The position one assumes when

one is in theFoolappears that one is in a position from where one is not likely to

defend oneself nor able to counter-attack. One thus fools ones opponent by appearing

defenceless. We can clearly see the connection between the modern every day use of

the wordfooland that of the use in medieval combat studies but also the difference in

the simple fact that one is a noun and the other a verb.

We find another difference between our modern every day use of the word plough and

that of the medieval combat school use of the wordPlough. In the medieval combat

school context the wordPlough is another one of the Four Guard positions. Again in

this context it is a noun and the position one assumes is similar to that of a medieval

ploughman. Our modern everyday use of plough in its noun form is to describe the

actual implement we use to plough lands. The connection again is clear but so is the

difference.

When the Master-at-arms instructs the men-at-arms to use the weakof the blade

another example emerges. The weakof the blade as the dialogue explains is the area

of the blade between the tip and the middle of the word blade. It is called the weakof

the blade because one has very little control and strength when one blocks with that

part of the blade. In the context of medieval combat school language the word weakis

thus a noun because it is a physical part of the blade but in our modern every day

language when we use the word weakit is usually an adjective.


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Amongst these same instructions given by the Master-at-arms we find the word

Winding. Again Windingin the context of the medieval combat is the name of a

block. The name Windingin the medieval combat context is a noun but in our modern

every day use it is used in an adjective meaning that something has a curving and

twisting shape. The reason why it is called the Windingis the shape ones arms end up

in. The arms cross over each other giving it the twisted appearance.

The word Wheelis used as a noun (although it can also be used as a verb in our

modern every day use) in both the modern every day use and also in the medieval

combat studies. The difference is found in the fact that in our modern every day use it

is the actual object such as a circular object under a car etc., but the noun Wheelin

medieval combat studies derives its name from the circular movement that is

preformed by the sword. A similar example would be theBarrierorFence guard. In

modern everyday use the words barrierorfence are nouns and so are they in

medieval combat studies but as in the previous example the modern every day use of

the wordfence and barrieris used to represent the actual object but in medieval

combat studies it represents a defensive position.

When we look at the word bachelor it is a modern every day word, but the word was

used in a different sense in medieval times and it also has a different meaning in our

modern medieval combat studies. A bachelor today is someone who has never been

married but in medieval times a bachelorwas a young knight. Thus, in our modern

medieval combat studies we use the term bachelorfor a young man-at-arms with a

knightly rank, which he earned at tournaments.

We have all come across the phrases pommel to death. It has its origins from

medieval combat. As mentioned in the dialogue the pommel was an essential part of

the sword and could be used to strike your opponent with. The phrase was created in


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early medieval times and is still in use today. The meaning is still similar but for the

slight difference that in modern every day use one would rather use you fists than the

back of a sword topommelsomeone. The ancient meaning from medieval times is

however still in the same use in our modern medieval combat studies, it has not

changed in meaning or in practice.

The next phrase is to get the upper hand. We know the phrase to mean that one has

an advantage over someone or something else. It can be used in any sense, from two

political candidates trying to get the upper hand over each other through speeches to

actual physical contest such as a wrestling match between two men. To get the upper

handwas another phrase that was developed in the medieval period from medieval

combat studies. It meant that one had to try and get the opponents blade under yours

while the blades are locked together. If you succeed your hands would automatically

be in a higher position than that of your opponent. Once again we see the meaning of

the phrase being extended over a period of time so that it is not just limited to sword

fighting. In our medieval combat studies however the phrase has the exact meaning it

had in medieval times.

Findings in my second study made it clear that it is not only in certain words that we

find difference between modern every day language and that of the language used in

medieval combat studies but also in the tone. When we look at the dialogue we can

clearly see through, militaristic titles, the commands and orders issued by the Master-

at-arms and the fast ordered response of the men-at-arms that the tone is authoritative.

The atmosphere is very militaristic. Compared to our modern every day use of

language it differs night and day, since the militaristic sphere is restricted to the

military and police. It is true that modern every day life has its authority situations


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such as parents over children, teachers over the kids in class but in most

circumstances it is not militaristic. All the members of the medieval combat

associations language tone is one that is very casual but once the training session is

in order our use of tone changes from casual to one that is militaristic.

Conclusion:

The conclusion that I could draw from the studies I made was that language is subject

to change when it is used in different context. Meaning of words has the potential of

changing when they are used in different context. It is not only the meaning of words

that is subject to change but also the rules of language itself; words that would be used

as verbs in one language context can change to nouns once placed in a different

context. We also saw that the tone of language differs once used in a different context.

It is thus clear that language is dependent on the context it is used in.

Bibliography

Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 6th Edition

David Lindholm & Peter Svrd; Sigmund Ringecks Knightly art of the Longsword


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Medieval Martial Arts

Documents

Transcript of Medieval Martial Arts