Styles

Styles

Singlestick

Singlestick is typically used as a training tool for military swordsmanship. Often played on village greens and in pubs across the United Kingdom, it also had the military purpose of training for the use of the saber. Our practice of singlestick allows the beginning fencer to train with as little gear as possible while still gaining the skills they will use in the practice of the saber.

Single-stick is to the sabre what the foil is to the rapier, and while foil-play is the science of using the point only, sabre-play is the science of using a weapon, which has both point and edge, to the best advantage.

— R. G. Allanson-Winn, Broadsword and Singlestick, 1911

British Military Swordsmanship

Although the saber (or sabre) is the weapon we focus on the most, British military swordsmanship applies to multiple weapons: spadroon, sabre, cutlass, broadsword, and hanger. Through study of Roworth’s Art of Defence on Foot, we are able to gain understanding of their use by members of the British military during the Napoleonic era. We plan to expand our study of saber to different nations of the period as well, including French, Prussian, and Hungarian sabre styles.

The sword is the weapon in which you should have the most confidence…Its blows are the more certain, accordingly as you direct them coolly; and hold it properly.

— Antoine Fortuné de Brack, Light Cavalry Exercises, 1876

KdF German Longsword

The longsword is one of the most prolific weapons studied under HEMA curriculums around the world. It has been widely portrayed in film, video games, fantasy literature, and other mediums for decades. The style our club focuses on is that of the German master Johannes Liechtenauer and his descendants. Through his Zettel, and the interpretations of students and contemporaries, we attempt to understand his school of the sword. We also include the works of Joachim Meyer.

Here begin the zedel of the knightly art of fencing, which were composed and made by Johannes Liechtenauer, who was a high master in the arts, and on whom God may have mercy.

— Johannes Liechtenauer, MS Chart.A.558 (Talhoffer Fechtbuch), 1448