School of European Swordsmanship

I.33 - sword and buckler

Royal Armouries Manuscript I.33 is the oldest fencing manual known, and comes from Southern Germany, written about 1300 by an anonymous priest. It offers a comprehensive system for using the single handed sword and a buckler, with a clear and simple tactical structure.

Guy Windsor and Jukka Pajarinen practise our first drill with the sword and buckler: the entry with halfshield against first ward, countered by falling under the sword and shield, countered by being bound down to the right and the shieldstrike, countered with durchtrit.