On strikes in medieval German fight books

Q: Master Talhoffer, what is the trick to do a perfect strike? A: You strike without wanting to hit. Q: You mean to strike without wanting to hurt somebody? A: No, you just strike, hitting is no matter Q: But if he strikes at me too. What is than to do? A: You strike, the opponen'ts …

The true meaning of “Vorschlag” and “Nachschlag”

The understanding of the terms "Vorschlag" and "Nachschlag" in the teaching of Johannes Liechtenauer is widely based on the interpretations done in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The early reception of the texts had been flavored by the modern understanding of 16th century fightbooks like those of Joachim Meyer. While Joachim Meyer himself never …

On the Five Words “Vor/Nach, Indes, Stark/Schwach”

Q: Master Talhoffer, what is the true meaning of the Five Words of Master Liechtenauer? A: Try to connect all four fingers tipps of your hand to the tip of the thumb. How does it look like? Q: It looks like the number 5 on a dice. Two fingers are opposite and two are next …

Active or Passive, and Double “Vor”

wenne mit dem worte vor als e gesprochen ist / meynt her das eyner mit eyme guten vorslage ader mit dem ersten slage / sal eyner kunlich an alle vorchte dar hurten und rawschen / keyn den bloessen czu koppe ader czu leibe / her treffe ader vele / das her ienen czu haut als …

The simplicity of the “Vor”

The first thing, Master Lecküchner recommends in both his treatises is to open Schrödinger's Box and release the cat. In Dr. Schrödinger's thought experiment an atom is probably decaying in a radioactive source thus killing a cat, using a special device. Because nobody knows when and where an atom is decaying in radioactive substance during …