The Armor of Blossfechten
A major grievance I have participating in clubs that practice the art and sport of Kundst des Fechtens is the little regard they have for the equipment of a medieval fencer. Historical Fencing guilds I have put great care in studying their swordcraft and mastery of the blade. On the other hand. I notice many historical fencers I've come across have little-to-no knowledge of the effectiveness of the protective equipment they wear in context to their medieval counterparts. In this post I will discuss the protective equipment of "unarmored"medieval fencing known as Blossfechten.
The idea of "blossfechten" has more depth to it than the simple expression of sword fighting without armor. The first key to this understanding is that medieval clothing was armor, or at least was designed with some level of protection in mind. The medieval outfit was multi-layered. Typical outfits had 2-3 layers depending on the season with extra layering to places like the arms. These items of clothing weren't impenetrable, but it did provide a level of protection against slashes from swords which could have varied in levels of sharpness.
Aside from their regular attire, the medieval fighters of the Holy Roman Empire are depicted wearing gambesons in the manuscripts. A gambeson is a heavily padded jacket fighters wore to protect them from sword strikes. These gambesons were mostly effective against cuts but provided slight protection from well-powered thrusting attacks. The fighters in training knew the risk of thrusting attacks even within a controlled environment, and discouraged fighters from applying such techniques in non-lethal duels. Of course all was fair in war, or when only one combatant may walk away from the duel.
A picture of me in a modern sport styled gambeson is above. This Axel Patterson gambeson from SPES is made to a level of quality and thickness the medieval fighters would have worked with. The jacket has modern design additions such as a convenient zipper but most importantly it it thick in the front. The thickness allows my jacket to resist a direct thrust upwards to 350 newtons of power. This is the standard jacket for any kind of sword fighting in the modern era- therefore thrusting attacks are fair game unlike in the old days.
My main issue with how we practice these days is that we have forgotten the protective capability of gambesons. The cause of why we are ignorant of gambesons is unknown to me but I have theories. Firstly, the blossfechten scene as it stands today has become highly sportsman-like and competitive. Most sport rules halt a bout at first touch anywhere on the body. Because all that is needed to score a point is a simple tap of the sword, many sport fencers rely on the tactic of staying out of the way of danger and simply touching the jacket with either edge of the sword. If the understanding is to be truly "unarmored", then these light hits would certainly end a duel, however in my opinion it is not true blossfechten.
My goal is to immerse myself in the art while I fence- to fight how they did, with the equipment they used. I build all of my techniques around the requirement of doing damage through the opponent's gambeson. This is a staple in most martial arts which is missing in many Historical Fencing rings. Kickboxing coaches teach their trainees to strike through their opponent and not just simply at him. Our swordfighters should be expected to have the same level of discipline in order to truly understand their swords.
Many techniques in the manuscripts focus on damaging the opponent's jacket. It is recommended that strikes which land on the opponent's jacket should be followed up with a slice. The slice is done by pushing or pulling your sword upon contact with their jacket. The cut's level of severity will depend on several factors such as speed, sharpness, and structural integrity of the target area. In sparring this can only be simulated and not experienced. The equipment does not take much damage from these strikes as the swords sparred with should always be unsharpened. The demonstration of slicing an opponent's jacket is enough for me to consider a point be granted to the attacker.
Due to my focus being on striking through an opponent's armor as opposed to merely tapping them with my sword, I disregard the light taps I make on my opponent. This is mostly a stylistic choice and I understand that my method is not the expectation from most fencers. Since I am fluid I don't put up a fuss when I'm out training. If you wish to experience blossfechten I encourage to also adopt this mindset shift and be mindful of your gambeson and how it protects you and your opponent. Know its strengths and weaknesses- and fight like the old masters.
