From: alaric@sti.com (Alaric Tekiahyn)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.fencing
Subject: Re: Broadsword fencing - StageFighting (Longish?)
Date: 15 Dec 1992 03:01:22 GMT
Organization: Software Transformation, Inc.
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: smurf.sti.com

In article <1992Dec14.062209.27721@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>, scasterg@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Stuart M Castergine) writes:
] The stupid shield [...] was on the wrong side.
] 
] Really. I ended up blocking 90 percent of the blows with my sword,
] while my shield basically just served to deprive me of an arm and
] obstruct my vision. [...]
] I've heard people argue that the Florentine (two-weapon) style
] is/isn't more effective than sword&shield, but does anybody have any
] commentary from a purely left-handed perspective? Just from my
] instincts as a fencer, I felt that I could have been a lot more
] effective if I had had a short sword in my off hand -- something like
] the Japanese two-weapon style. I saw all sorts of things that I could
] have been doing, and since I have very good defense, I feel confident
] that I would be able to parry just about anything that came in without
] the need for a shield.

From your analysis, it sounds as though you would be an excellent
candidate for Florentine work.  You have made the discovery that many
really *good* swordsmen make - that after a certain point, a shield
just becomes an awkward burden.  With the exception of thrown and missile
weapons, you can parry just about anything with a sword that you can block
with a shield.
(Though about that exception - I know one fighter once who, admittedly more
by luck than by intent, parried a crossbow bolt with a lance.  You want to
see a thoroughly intimidated crossbowman?)

Unlike you, I'm not left-handed, so I can't give the left-hand perspective
you were hoping for.  What I *am* is ambidextrous, in most things.  (For
instance, I *can* write with my left hand if need be, but since I don't
do it very often, it's not very legible.  For most other things, it makes
very little difference which hand I use.)
If you're fighting Florentine, the hand that's not parrying at any point
can be attacking, whichever hand that may turn out to be - and you have
three advantages over a conventional sword-and-shield fighter:
(1)	Your attack, when it comes, can come from either hand;
(2)	You can even attack with both weapons at once, against the
	same or different opponents, if you're good enough;
(3)	Unlike a shield, a sword doesn't block your vision behind it.

On the other hand, the biggest trouble most beginner Florentine fighters
have is that they don't use the two weapons effectively - they get in
their own way, or they use them as though they were joined by wires,
or they use the second weapon as though it was a shield.

Your comments sound as though you're unlikely to make these mistakes.
You might want to give Florentine a try, if you can find someone good to
give you some help with the technique.  Based on your comments, I think
you'll like it.


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