Taking a Stance
Your stance and posture are incredibly important to your sword-wielding success. The ability to generate power, control your blade, and recover well following an attack all begin with proper balance and structure from the ground up. That’s why the first item on our swordplay checklist is
1. Demonstrate proper stance and posture.
Longsword and Sidesword Stance
If you’ve practised rapier or sport fencing you will probably be used to a narrow stance, where the back foot is in line with the front. For mediaeval cut and thrust swordplay the stance is more natural, with the feet on parallel lines or ‘railroad tracks’. It is a stable and centred way to stand, useful with many different weapons (spear, polearm, sword), as well as for grappling.
Feet: a comfortable width apart, so that you could roll at least a 10-pin bowling ball between them. Imagine a square, with your front foot in one corner, toes pointing straight forward, and your back foot in the opposite corner, toes pointing slightly outward, heel lifted slightly. If you’re right-handed, the most natural starting stance will have your left foot forward.
Knees: both bent, lowering your centre of gravity, making sure the knees bend in the same direction as the toes point.
Hips: facing forward and level. Think of your pelvis as a bucket full of water you don’t want to spill by tipping either forward (swaying the back) or back (tucking in the tailbone).
Torso: upright, with your weight distributed more or less equally, chest lifted, shoulders relaxed and back.
Note that this is a starting posture. As you deliver a cut or thrust your feet, hips and shoulders will all move to control direction and generate power. However, you should maintain the balanced, grounded feeling of your stance throughout all your movements.
To improve your stance, simply practise standing in it every day. When you’re in line at the grocery store, standing in class listening to the instructor, or even watching tv, sink into a correct, balanced stance and train your muscles to remember it. Check in a mirror whenever possible, or ask a friend to critique and correct your posture.
When you’ve established your stance, practise moving one or two steps forward and back to change your lead foot. Does your posture fall apart as you step, or can you maintain it as you move?
But how does this relate to mounted combat?
Of course when you are riding a horse, your lower body is doing something completely different (more on that in other posts), but the upright torso, and sense of weighted groundedness is extraodinarily important in the saddle.
When you’re on the ground, if your torso tips too far forward or backward, you will lose your balance and have to step or fall. With a horse underneath you, it’s easy to get sloppy and let your legs drift back, or more commonly, forward. You won’t immediately fall, because the horse is holding you up. But without your legs beneath you, you are vulnerable to sudden movements, you sit more heavily on your horse’s back, and you lose the ability to generate power from the waist.
In short, practising in good posture on the ground will not only improve your swordplay, it will improve your riding as well.
