Janka's log

This picture shows a strike in seconda over the adversary's dagger while he passes to strike⁽¹⁾.

He is in quarta with her sword withdrawn and low, and his dagger high and extended wide.

You will take quarta with your sword extended and your dagger high. Yes, I know this sounds stupid, but bear with me, it'll make more sense in just a moment.

You see, he will likely move with a pass to parry your sword from the high line downwards, and to strike you in seconda.

Draw your right leg in and parry his sword downward, towards your right side, under your right arm. You can then disengage your sword over his dagger and strike him in seconda, as shown⁽²⁾.

(1) Sort of same as the previous, only the other side.
(2) This is obviously a two-tempi action - you draw your right leg back to parry, and the picture shows a lunge on the attack. It is less clear to me and from the translation if the disengage over the dagger needs to happen on the parry, or on the beginning of the attack, though. Probably depends on the timing of the adversary, too.

Here we go again.

I see less and less pattern now that I go on with these. It's just "see where he strikes, parry with the dagger, disengage and strike" from various starting positions. I fail to see what is the crucial difference between most of the plates (I assume there is one). Also bored, as having no intent really to put this into actual use in the foreseeable future.

This picture shows a strike in quarta under the adversary's dagger, into the chest, while he is stepping forward to strike in seconda.

He's in low terza, his dagger wherever.

Go into high terza opposite of him and cross your dagger across your forte.

He might now approach with a pass to strike you in seconda over your dagger, attempting to parry across with his dagger^(1).

Parry his blow, draw back your right leg, disengage under his dagger, and lunge well forward to strike in quarta (see picture).

(1) I put "he might now" here, not "when he", because it seems to me he could do some other stuff too. I realize it's the same for every plate, and to be honest it's been bugging me for some time, but only now it started to get so painfully obvious that the "when he does this or that" more or less means "should he do this or that, you can then" that I actually had to switch... Of course, some actions are more likely than others, but none are guaranteed.

Will this stuff will never end?

Here we see a strike in quarta to the throat that requires very little actual movement. It's done to a disengage from the sword and an attempt to parry by the adversary.

He's in high terza with his dagger crossed at the beginning of the forte of his sword.

Stingere in terza on the outside and hold your dagger high.

When he disengages under your sword, attempting to parry your sword with his dagger, you attack. Bring your dagger from high to low towards your left side to parry his sword, and disengage your sword under his dagger, and strike him. These all actions from you need to happen on the same tempo.

The picture shows an attack in quarta to the face, but really, just strike him wherever seems convenient, it's not like it matters much here.

In this picture we see a strike to the chest with a pass, in falso from down to up, between the weapons. You need to press the weapons together well for this to work.

The opponent is in terza with both weapons extended on an oblique line, so that the point of his sword is aimed at your right shoulder, and the point of his dagger to your left shoulder.

Also take a terza, with the point of your sword low, but your dagger on a high line, bending your body to the left.

When he approaches (it does not matter much why he does this, it'll work in any case), on the tempo of his advance pass with your left foot toward his right side, doing one of the following:

1) parry with the dagger over your right arm, and thrust him from down to up between his weapons, or

2) disengage over his sword, and press his sword with both weapons (shown), and strike him in terza. Note that this strike should land on the same tempo with your pass.

Since it is obvious to anyone who isn't both blind and stupid that the best thing I can do for my swordsmanship is to acquire some fitness, I have been working towards that.

I am happy to declare that I can do one honest-to-god all-the-way-down-and-all-the-way-up "narrow" push-up keeping my elbows at my side, and a bunch of more in a wider position and/or fudging a little (but no more than anybody else) here and there. I can also do other stuff that I could not three months ago, but I'll list that one because it is the one I am most proud of. (People who do fifty before breakfast can STFU. Progress is what matters, no?)

There's a downside, though: I am constantly hungry. Not hungry as in "mmm, I think I'll have some chocolate" or "could eat something if something magically appeared but not hungry enough to bother making something", nor hungry as in craving some particular thing, or hungry as in vaguely feeling like eating, as if something is missing from the diet. No, hungry as in hungry. And constantly as in "I had a large pizza an hour ago, so yes, a steak and salad sounds like a really good idea".

It's probably good for me, but for gods' sake, I do wish there was a food source on campus other than the Unicafes and the student associations' stacks of instant noodles and microwave pizza.

A picture of a strike in seconda over the dagger from a feint, and a parry with the dagger from above to below the right arm.

You are in terza or quarta, with your swordarm withdrawn and your dagger at your wrist.

He is in quarta with his swordarm withdrawn and his dagger extended on a high line.

Feint under his dagger and raise your own dagger. He will seek to parry your feint with a downwards motion towards his left side.

On that same tempo, you will disengage over his dagger and parry his sword. This parry goes under your right arm, pushing his sword further inside (see picture).

Your strike from the disengage will be in seconda, over his dagger (shown).

It bugs me that I cannot see a pattern to the dagger plates. They seem to me just all separate pieces of he does this, she does that, without any sort of continuum between them.

It does not bug me enough that I could be arsed to actually look at either them or what other people have to say about it, though. So I'll just whine about it in my blog instead.

A picture of a strike over the dagger, in seconda, to the left shoulder. This is done against the adversary trying to gain the sword on the outside.

You are in an extended terza, with your dagger over the forte of your sword, close to the hilt.

He is in the same guard and seeks to stringere on the outside.

Disengage to beat his sword with yours (in quarta). You will be able to immediately parry his sword with your dagger, because it was already being pressed to the side.

This leaves you all the time in the world to strike him over his dagger in his left shoulder.

This picture shows a guy parrying under his right arm and striking in seconda to the face.

You are in terza, low or high, with your dagger at your wrist.

He is in whatever guard that works for a stringere on the outside. Which you will then do.

Lift your dagger to invite him to disengage to attack on the inside. He might do this in quarta or seconda but it does not really matter which.

Now parry down with the dagger, under your sword arm (see the helpful picture), and you can strike him. The picture shows a strike in seconda to the face, but you could also do other stuff, like a stramazzone in the arm.

Everything is stupid lately, and when everything is stupid also swordsmanship is stupid. I do not feel like I am going anywhere, which contradictorily makes me put in less effort, which obviously does not help much, and, well. You get the point.

This picture shows a strike to the chest after a parry over the dagger⁽¹⁾.

You are in extended terza with the dagger over the wrist.

He is in low quarta with his sword withdrawn⁽²⁾ and his dagger extended high.

Begin to feint above his dagger⁽³⁾, remaining in terza and keeping your dagger at the wrist. He will parry upwards with his dagger and will attempt to strike on you the same tempo, in quarta or in seconda.

When he does, disengage under⁽⁴⁾, parry his attack⁽⁵⁾ at the same time, and strike him in quarta.

(1) Don't you wish he'd say at these points whose dagger it is, instead of having you figure it out from the context?
(2) I have to say it looks like I was correct when about the dagger position pictures I said that what strikes me as the common denominator for the positions beyond the solo sword is how the arm is withdrawn. I also have to say it is not clear to me at all what the benefit of that withdrawing is supposed to be.
(3) Oh! Thanks, Mr CF.
(4) Under his dagger, one assumes. Then again, the picture shows the attackers sword below everything else.
(5) Picture shows the parry to happen with your dagger, not with the sword.

I. Do. Not. Like. Daggers with rapier, and now they are invading the classes too. Seriously.

Here we see a parry with the sword in quarta and then a strike in quarta to the face or a riverso to the arm.

You are in terza, extended, with the dagger at your wrist. Adversary is in whichever guard such that stringering on the outside makes sense.

You'll close in terza, then, high or low depending on his guard, but without moving the dagger from the wrist.

When he disengages to attack, you parry with your sword in quarta⁽¹⁾, supporting that parry with the dagger as shown, and then you can strike him as described.

(1) That's what the text says, but I am not sure the picture shows really shows a quarta. Maybe once you got the dagger there to support the parry you can turn the hand, and what's shown as the hand position is the end of the riverso rather than the described attack in quarta.

Despite my objections or maybe because of them, we did rapier and dagger in class on Wednesday. My rendition of plate 24 is clear-ish, but it totally misses the point (which I am not going back for, so you are screwed if you actually expect to learn something here). And you can attack in quarta on the line of seconda, and you can disengage to quarta when stingered on the inside - the dagger defies all common sense by closing lines for you.

I am with CF when he says the dagger should be introduced only once one has mastered the sword alone. Things get way too muddy and slurred to my liking when you put the dagger in play - especially considering it tends not to be clear and exact without it either.

Sorry about the whining. Not the one here - this is my blog and I whine if I want to! - but in the class.

Here we see a high parry with the dagger to⁽¹⁾ the inside, with either a riverso cut to the leg or a thrust in quarta to the chest.

You are in quarta with the dagger high. Adversary stringeres you on the inside, in whichever guard he can do that in, as long has he has the right leg forward.

Take control of his blade, stringering on the inside in quarta. When he disengages in order to strike you in the face, parry on the inside⁽²⁾ with your dagger, and strike him. You can do either a riverso to the thigh or a quarta below the arm⁽³⁾.

(1) Judging from the picture, maybe this should be "on" the inside, not "to"?
(2) I am unclear on the parry here. The text says "to the inside, over your right arm", but in the picture the parry is nowhere over the attacker's right arm, or do I see why it should be, from the starting descibed.
(3) Though why the hell would anyone go for a cut to the leg, if you can just stab him in quarta instead, is beyond me.