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In many cases when studying historical fencing, fencers fight on favorable ground designed to keep the field even for both combatants while also providing a safe area to fight. Turf fields, tennis courts, and indoor facilities are just some examples of the luxuries HEMA enthusiasts have when learning historical fencing. However, what happens when fencers are forced to fight in less than ideal terrain? Today, we will be exploring how different terrain impacts sword and buckler combat and I.33 techniques. Pre-Conditions Location: Justin, Texas Fencers: Lane, Andres, and Donny (Myself) Fencers’ Condition: All the fencers sparred the evening before the experiment was conducted. Andres was suffering slight tightness in the arm from sparring against a montante the evening before. Andres was feeling overall sore but able to spar with minor discomfort. Lane and Donny felt tight but quickly loosened up before sparring. Temperature: low of 60 F, High of 70 F Humidity: Low of 20%, High of 40% Experiment Setup Each fencer would fight twice on each terrain against each of the other fencers. Fencers would fight to 5 points. Points were determined by the following hits:
Fencers were advised to not stop attacking until their opponent acknowledged that they were hit. This was decided to reduce potential doubles or after-blows that may occur from one fencer thinking they had struck their opponent and stopping while the opponent continued to attack. For safety reasons, all of the fencers were able to survey the ground before they fought. Terrain 1: Sloped Terrain The slope was the first terrain that the fencers fought in for the day. Besides a gradual incline being present, the field was free of any debris (except a cow pie) and the brush coverage was minimal. Terrain 1 Fight 1: Lane verses Andres Andres felt that the high ground was a disadvantage. Andres also felt uncomfortable when leaning forward in a I.33 stance while on the high ground of a slope. There was an unusual amount of doubles in this fight. All fencers agreed that the doubling was likely due to still warming up since this was the first fight of the day. Terrain 1 Fight 2: Lane verses Donny Both combatants felt that there was no issue circling the opponent even when there was a slope in the field. Donny felt that the slight high ground helped setup headshots that do not usually occur when Donny spars Lane. Lane felt that leaning into a I.33 stance felt comfortable when fighting someone on high ground. Lane was nice enough to point out that Donny was close to a fresh cow pie. Otherwise, it is definitely likely Donny would have stepped in it and the fights going forward would... stink… Terrain 1 Fight 3: Andres verses Donny In Andres’ second fight on the slope, Andres did not feel like the slope made much of a difference. Donny felt that it was easier to strike the opponent’s leg when they were up on the slope. Terrain 1 Closing Thoughts All fencers felt that the slope did not make a large amount of difference to the fight. While the slope did even the height advantage against Lane, ultimately his reach was able to counteract any advantage Donny or Andres felt they had on the hill. Binding felt natural and overall, the I.33 techniques did not feel like they were hindered fighting in this terrain. Terrain 2: Brush Terrain This terrain was rockier while also having a fair amount of sticks and branches on the ground. The brush was thick but able to be walked through. However, the brush was thick enough to hide rocks and sticks that could cause footing issues. Terrain 2 Fight 1: Lane verses Andres Both fencers felt that the rougher terrain was a much bigger factor than what they expected. Both fencers also felt that pursuing and retreating required more caution than when fighting on tennis courts or even when fighting on the sloped terrain. No one felt like they could capitalize on advantageous because they were not comfortable with the rocks and branches they may step on. Terrain 2 Fight 2: Lane verses Donny Both fencers felt that they had to be more stationary when fighting. Andres observed that Donny lifted their knee more when placing their foot down on the ground. Lane felt that after one fight already in the rougher terrain that he had a significant advantage over his opponent. Lane then hypothesized that the next fight would look more natural for both fencers because they had both fought in the brush once already. Terrain 2 Fight 3: Andres verses Donny Both fencers felt more comfortable in the rougher terrain as Lane suggested. While they both felt more stationary and less mobile than previous fights, both felt that they did not have to think about footwork as much on their second fight in brush. Unfortunately, Andres took a cut to the wrist that made fighting a bit uncomfortable. After that wrist strike, doubles became more common in the fight. Likely the discomfort Andres felt was resulting in less clean engagements. Terrain 2 Closing Thoughts All fencers were surprised by how much just a little bit of brush and rockier terrain impacted their fights. However, all fencers felt that this terrain was easy to get comfortable in once they were able to fight in it once. There appeared to be more quick strikes to the arms in this terrain than what was seen in the sloped terrain. This may be in part due to the fact that the fencers were thinking more about footwork and less about where their hands were. Binding also did not seem to be an issue when fighting in brush. However, fencers were less likely to try and deliver a shield-strike because of the hesitation to close on their opponent. Terrain 3: Cattle Creek Terrain The Cattle Creek was an open creek bed that had recently been stepped through by cattle while muddy and had dried. This resulted in quite a bit of uneven and jagged clumps of dirt which made footwork difficult. Terrain 3 Fight 1: Lane verses Donny Both fencers felt exhausted after fighting in this terrain. While the fencers moved less, much more effort was put into checking the ground they were standing in. Both fencers constantly checked their footing and smaller movements took much more effort due to not feeling confident. Both fighters preferred to fight defensively in this terrain. Terrain 3 Fight 2: Lane verses Andres A lot more doubling in this terrain than normal. The fencers stayed closer than they normally do even though less points were scored per minute than when fighting on tennis courts. Binding did not feel worth risking without stable footing. Both fencers lost track of the score during this fight so the fight ended up going to 6 points instead of 5. This speaks to the fatigue the fencers were feeling as well as the mental taxation of fighting in this terrain. Terrain 3 Fight 3: Andres verses Donny Both fencers felt exhausted after previous fights in the creek. Donny did not feel like he could hold his arms out at shoulder level to initiate good sieges and binds. This resulted in a number of openings that Andres was able to capitalize on. Terrain 3 Closing Thoughts This terrain was exhausting and difficult to fight in. All fencers felt that fighting anywhere else would be more ideal than fighting in this rough creek bed. There were more doubles in this terrain than the sloped terrain or the brush terrain. While binding was possible, the moment the fencers had to take a step they felt uncomfortable in the bind. This resulted in more open fighting (or fighting from the wards) than a true I.33 style. Terrain 4: Muddy Narrow Creek The last terrain fought in for the day was a muddy narrow creek bed. This creek had large rocks throughout it. The ground was still wet from the rain a few days earlier. Terrain 1 Fight 1: Lane verses Donny This was an ugly fight. Both fencers felt like they could not retreat or pursue but because of the rocks, they were forced to stay engaged. The creek was narrow enough that when a fencer fell, they could use the side of the creek to get back up. The narrowness of the creek paired with the tree branches above forced the fencers to bind and use more I.33 techniques. Final ThoughtsFighting in different terrain really emphasized the importance of footwork in binding systems like I.33. It appears that when terrain is so rough that fencers are constantly checking their footing, they will be less likely to bind. Luckily for the sword and buckler fencer, when binding is not an option they can still fight from wards. Distance management seemed to be less of a concern in difficult terrain. Because pursuing and retreating was more difficult, fencers seemed to be engaged or disengaged and not trying to manipulate the grey area in between to catch their opponent off guard. Interestingly, narrow areas like the muddy narrow creek terrain forced the fencers to bind and use more I.33 techniques. This appears to be true even when footing is compromised by terrain like slick mud. Ultimately, this is a small sampling of data in a much larger discussion about how terrain impacts different fighting styles. This was a fun experiment and definitely one Andres, Lane, and myself want to explore even more with different weapon systems and variables. Music From VideosThe Sloped Terrain:
One Bard Band by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The Brush Terrain: Vetur Frosti by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The Cattle Creek Terrain: Homeworld Collapse by Arthur Vyncke | https://soundcloud.com/arthurvost Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US The Muddy Narrow Creek Terrain: The Decisive Battle by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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