Heinrich’s Guide To Sinister Sword Fighting

Preface:

I would like to preface this guide by saying that opinions expressed within are mine alone. All suggestions made within this document are based on over 10 years of fighting within the SCA. Any input is more than welcome and suggestion for added material or changes to this document are whole heartedly accepted. This is a work in progress and material will be added as often as possible and as appropriate.

In The Beginning:

I started fighting in the SCA over 10 years ago in the Shire of Burning Sands in the Kingdom of Atenveldt. I had a few people around who helped get me started, but they were all right-handed fighters and had never taught a lefty before. My first fight was against sword and shield while I was fighting Florentine as there were no left-handed shields available. I had fun and was hooked from that point on. It took several months for me to save up enough money to get armor and a shield. The shield was the most important as it was one of two things that I could not borrow. With the help of a good friend, I strapped my first heater shield and started fighting sword and shield. It was must more fun than fighting Florentine in my mind at the time.

As a new fighter, you have to keep in mind that everything you do will get better as you practice. There are very few people in this world who can put on armor and pick up a sword and fight like an expert. It will take lots of practice and lots of bruises until you get good enough to prevent some of those bruises. As a new left-handed fighter you have even more to be concerned with. First of all, it is very hard to start fighting without the proper encouragement and training. When you go out to your first event, look specifically for other left-handed fighters. They know what you are going to be going through. They have been there and will probably go out of their way to help you get started. The next person you may want to hook up with is a Knight or Master At Arms who can give you pointers and additional help getting started. It is their ‘job’ to train fighters and to ensure that you learn the proper way to do things. This will also help you down the road should you choose to follow the path to Knighthood or Masterhood (dom?) as you will most likely squire to them or another at some point. DO NOT let anyone force you into a style or handedness that you do not like. If you feel that you are being forced into a style, ask politely for a chance to try the style you want. If they continue to push you towards a style you do not like, you need to find another teacher.

The most important lesson I have learned in my years of fighting is that you need to try everything at least twice. More importantly, you need to give it a good try, not just a half hearted try. The reason for this is that when you look at fighters within a certain region such as a small Kingdom or large Barony, you will see a very common style between them. This style is most evident in right handed fighters who train with each other and tend to learn from the same teachers. This does not usually apply to left handed fighters as they tend to develop a style different from even their teachers. This is what makes fighting left-handed fighters difficult for some people. They get used to the style of lefties in their region but cannot fight lefties from another Kingdom or region very well. I found this out during my first Potrero War in Caid. I was fighting some pickups with my Knight (he was not a Knight at the time) after a bridge battle. The group we were fighting contained a Knight and his two or three squires (it has been a while). I was able to do very well against all of them, the Knight included even though I was a fairly new fighter. It was a good ego boost for me at the time, but I have since realized why I did so well. It came down to the fact that they were unable to do well against my left-handed style of defense and attack. It had very little to do with my skills at the time which were modest at best.

I started a mailing list specifically for left handed fighters to help bring together as much information as possible to help out new fighters. This document is a merging of that information and original ideas of my own put down in words to hopefully make someone’s entrance to fighting left handed in the SCA a little easier.

Now on to the good stuff.

Armor Standards and Suggestions:

Each Kingdom has their own armor standards that add to the standards laid out by the SCA Earl Marshal. These standards usually suggest wearing a vambrace to protect the forearm from harm. For left handed fighters, I make this a requirement. All it takes is a hard flat-snap from a right handed fighter to break your arm which sticks out right in the path of the strike. I have been hit in the arm more times than I can count especially when I first started. I have also received a bone bruise on the forearm from the then King of Artemesia when he and I threw the same shot at each other and his was a bit quicker. Had I not been wearing my vambrace, the shot probably would have broken my arm. As it was, the vambrace I wear barely withstood the shot and did it’s job of keeping me out of the hospital. What do I wear you ask? I wear a piece of leather about ¼ to 3/8 inches thick. Under that, I wear a double sided arm pad as used by football players. This gives my ½ inch of padding and almost 3/8 of an inch of leather and it still caused a bone bruise. I intend to add metal slats to the vambrace to enhance its rigidity and further protect my arm. This requirement goes for right handed fighters who have lefties in their regions. Now some may say that they do not like vambraces and that they get in the way. I say you are taking you own health for granted and that some day a leftie will come along and break your arm all because you do not like wearing a vambrace. Better safe than sorry.

As a left handed fighter, you will also get pounded along the left side of your body much more than a righty would his right. This is because you are mirrored to your opponent. Your sword side is directly across from his sword side. Your shoulders are going to be hit and well as your legs and rear end. Wear enough armor to cover these areas without sacrificing mobility. I myself do not wear should armor, but have tried adding spauders to my harness with limited success. You may also want to try to cover your rear end as well. Again, you loose mobility when you start covering these areas. I prefer a tabard that hangs low enough to cover this area but loose enough to absorb some of the impact. Protect your sword side to a level that you are confident with and then some. You can always remove certain items later as you get better at protecting these areas.

Shields:

Each Kingdom fights with its own preference for shields and their shapes. The various Kingdoms use smaller heater shaped shields, full size heaters, kite shields, round shields (strapped like a heater or using a center boss), and anything else you could think of. As a left handed fighter, you will hear a lot of things for and against a certain shield style. This is where my earlier advice makes the most sense. You must choose a shield style based on what you feel you will like most. Keep in mind that others in your area may not be able to offer any advice on its use as they have never used that type before. Once you have played with that style for a while, find someone with a different shield type and give it a try. It is better if you can use it several times before deciding to switch to it or stay with your original shield. Keep trying every shield that you can get your hands on until you find one that fits the style of fighting you do. Once you have a shield you like use it and get good with it. But don’t be afraid to pick up another shield from time to time to see if your style has changed enough to make the new shield a better choice. Your style will change, trust me. If it does not, you are not fighting enough.

Now that you have chosen a shield, we have to strap it. The best way to strap a heater shield is to find the balance point at an angle from the outside corner of your shield. This angle is usually best kept to about 45 degrees or directly between the top and side going down. One way to find the balance point is to lay a broom handle across two chairs and then set the shield onto that outside facing up. Put the outside corner of the shield from where your grip will be even with the broom handle. Then just shimmy the shield’s bottom point back and forth on the broom handle until it balances. Draw a line to make this angle. This will be the balance point for the shield. I will add pictures of this process soon to give you a visual reference of what I am talking about. It is an SCA requirement now that you add a shield basket to your shield or at least where thick or padded gloves to protect your hands as shots will occasionally get into this part of the shield. This process will be the same for most shield types except for center boss types. These usually fall into the users choice of where to put the boss. Some will place it squarely in the middle of the shield. Others may want more hanging down when they hold the shield or with kite shaped shields it has to be closer to the top. The only suggestion I have for placement of the boss is to put it where it feels most comfortable on other shields. This is where trying out other fighters shields come in handy.

Shield shape and size is purely up to you and your Kingdom of residence. The general rule for shield size for a heater is to measure from your left shoulder to your right shoulder in width and from the bottom of the chin to top of the knee in length. This will give you roughly a 24” x 36” shield for a person close to 5’ 8” - 6’ 0”. This is also a very common shield blank size that is produced by most armories. Try to keep the shield size to something that you can manage. It is very nice to have a 30” x 38” shield to protect you at war, but just try to haul that thing around on the tourney field if you happen to be 5’ 1”. For other shield shapes, I again suggest that you try out other shields in your area to find something that is right for you. Recently, a lady fighter asked to borrow a shield as she was not happy with a regular sized heater she had been using. I gladly offered my 24” round shield (strapped heater style in the middle) to her. She came back from the field with a smile on her face. The shield allowed her to see what she was doing and still move around and cover up when needed. And it weighed a lot less than the heater which allowed her to move faster as well. Since I try to fight with my 24”x36” heater at wars, I have gladly offered the round to her for her use at war. She is also a right handed fighter which works out as the round shield is strapped for ambidextrous use.

Swords:

Swords are another area of discussion that commonly starts arguments over which style is better. For a left handed fighter, you want a sword that you can swing easily but yet will still have enough mass to hit well (as well as being legal weight). You may want to avoid putting a thrusting tip on your sword especially at first as it will inhibit some of your key shots. By this I mean the quick snap shot to the face. This is a bread and butter shot that all lefties need to be able to throw quickly and accurately. You can end a fight before it even starts by throwing this quick flat to the face of your opponent as they come in on you or as you engage. This works well for rightys as well so be aware. Longer swords will give you a slight advantage over a shorter sword for obvious reasons. But there is another reason for a longer sword, wraps. Along with the flat snap, wraps are going to be the shot that makes or breaks a fight. You should practice throwing wraps as often as you can to perfect your style. Using a Pell will greatly increase your ability and accuracy when throwing wraps and flat snaps. What’s that? You don’t have a Pell? Well get one!!! Or find someone who does have one. Go ask any Knight or Master you may know and they should tell you the same thing. A Pell will help with your style and execution along with your accuracy. More on this later.

Style:

Finding your style is the most ambiguous and hardest part of learning to fight. You will garner suggestions from any and every fighter out there on how to fight, how to stand, how to hold your shield, how to throw shots,.. etc ad nausium. All of this advice is good and should be listened to. The important thing to remember is to throw out anything that does not make sense, or seems wrong. But first, try it out. Give any advice you hear a shot unless it seems like it might cause you or others harm. If the suggestion does not work for you, try something else or modify what they said such that it applies to how you fight or want to fight. A perfect example of this is the situation between me and my Knight. He is right handed and is an excellent teacher through demonstration. But he found it hard to show me things as he could not translate it into lefty-speak/action. I asked him to keep showing me things and I would simply watch him and then mirror what he did. Then I had to look at how a lefty would see that same shot and try to use it. There are some really nice shots that involve twisting and turning and getting your opponent into a certain position that is just not possible when a lefty fights a righty. But I was able to modify what he was showing me until I could use the shot as it applied to my style. The most surprising part of all this is when I last fought another lefty I suddenly started applying the techniques he had been showing me as if I was a righty fighting another righty.