Art of the Sword by Jon Rister

What makes a great Swordsman? Who can answer? Is it his Sword that makes him great? Or is it his speed or quickness used in drawing and cutting through the air? No, its his feet!

The true art of the sword is in the foot of the Swordsman. It is the style and grace in the soles of his feet as he moves upon the Earth. Why is this you ask? The sword is so deadly to stay within its range is not possible. The common thought process is that there are parries and blocks to deflect and counter your opponents thrusts, slashes and strikes. However let me tell you this is not the case.

A blade vs blade contest should last no more than three strokes especially at medium to close range. The parries and blocks you see so often in movies and demonstrations are pure fantasy. They are simple embellishments to make the scene more appealing. The only way for the Swordsman to survive is to use distance as a shield. To move in and out, left and right, circle and cut his opponent off first with his feet, then with his blade.

Look closely at a fencing match. Much of the clash of blades is like a kind of radar or a means to constantly measure the distance and get a sense of the opponents timing. Fighters are gaining sensitivity and feeling out the opponent. Most of the strategy is involved in getting the opponent to make a range or timing related mistake. You will see fighters use small forward and backward motions to draw the opponent in, then lunge to score the kill. Or to draw the opponent into a lunge to counter and thus score a point. In both cases footwork is the primary cause of the victory, not hand or blade speed. It is the foot speed and timing that are the key.

Now lets go into another realm of blade fighting and look at the keys to success. Take for example a heavy bladed weapon such as a long sword or bastard sword (hand and a half weapons). The pacing or footwork will be decisive in victory, not the ability to block and then counter. If a heavy steel weapon is swung at you, covering or blocking the blow would be suicide or near such. It is the least effective method of warding off the attack. Also, these two blades coming into contact with even minimal force will produce severe blade damage. Most likely the defender that is blocking would still receive wounds, even if he met the blow with optimal power and opposing force. Moving to the inside arc of the weapon to block or parry would be poor tactics and should be used only as last resort.

The ideal response would be for the defender to move off line of the attack line and deliver a decisive blow in return, instead of making a defensive motion followed by an attack of his own (a riposte). Truly in blade to blade fighting, the only safe defense is not to be at the point of impact. To move during this motion will put you at the optimum angle for a counter attack or intercepting motion. This is not always possible to achieve in combat. However it is often the most overlooked aspect of blade training.

Even in a more up close and personal type of blade combat like knife vs knife. The chance of surviving this combat strictly at close quarters for more than three seconds is far fetched at best. There would be a disabling or death blow by the third motion in most cases.

It might also be said that in certain situations, like multiple opponent or engagements where there are drastic differences in weapon type or length, footwork wouldn’t be decisive in the outcome. I would say that to crash or jamb and close distance rapidly footwork and timing are still essential (along with a fools luck of course). In mass attacks or heavily armored engagements the same will still be true. Movement and timing of formations and leadership will still be decisive.

Many trainers, teachers, sensie, guro and sifu teach their pupils primarily along the line of riposte instead of counterattacks. They teach a block and return, or block first then counter type of scenarios most of the time, forgetting or ignoring the counterattack stroke altogether. This I find personally very annoying, because the art of the sword is being lost to the sport or tournament style with heavily padded opponents continuing after receiving what are clearly damaging and deadly blows. The true blade arts must be kept alive!

Stick fighting arts are falling into the same deadly loop due to untested instructors misinterpreting skill development drills and exercises, and teaching the beginner's art instead of teaching the master’s art to beginners.

I do not wish to glorify or beautify this deadly art of the sword, it is a terrible thing to see or do. Meeting flesh with a sharp steel blade is a nightmarish sight indeed. However, if the art is to be taught then let it be true to fact, and not flashy and fantasy. The blade is designed to cut and kill, not bang against another blade. Practice this concept and see for yourself the clear truth.

A Swordsman must have good feet to survive long. It might be said that a sword fight is really a foot fight and a game of distance and timing.

Jon Rister is a practicing Instructor and student of Wing Chun Kung Fu, Filipino martial arts and Jun Fan Gung Fu under the guidance of Sifu Francis Fong and Guro Dan Inosanto. He is the head instructor of the Wu Hsin Kuen international martial arts association.