Edge on Flat: Part II
A few months ago I wrote about my exploration on the concept of parrying edge blows with the flat of your blade. I was turned onto the idea whilst researching how swordsmanship was being taught in the early stages of its revivial in the modern era. A common practice I witnessed was this idea that parries were actually performed with the flat of the blade instead of the edge. Doing so meant that the quality of your edge would remain preserved and it allowed your opponent's blade to slide downwards when using a hanging guard. I perked up from this lesson because this was a concept never taught to me. I tested the idea over the following weeks and today I will leave my final thoughts on this.
First of all, the Liechtenauer commentaries heavily discourage intential parrying with the longsword (my sword of choice). Purely diffensive movements leave wide openings that can be exploited if your opponent outtimes you. Therefore, better defensive tactics utilize disciplined footwork alongside switching between the four positions (vier leger). By doing so, you will always be threatening the opponent whilst protecting yourself. Therefore, intentionally parrying with the flat wouldn't be the smartest tactical decision to make.
There is also the issue of your opponent's sliding blade. It seems like a big advantage at first but when I tested it I found that I lacked sufficient power in these maneuvers. It's almost as if the technique worked too good. I had zero control of the opponent's sword nor my own. When you bind edge on edge, you engage your whole body into a solid structure which allows you to make split second decisions from the bind whilst keeping their sword under control.
There's also the issue of the crossguard. Flat parrying doesn't keep my crossguard in the correct alignment to meet my opponent's sword. The crossguard requires prudent control in order to maintain its effectiveness or otherwise it is useless in protecting my body.
Based on my experience in testing I cannot condone flat parrying as a serious tactic in a duel. It may still be something that will manifest on a moment's notice, but the benefits do not justify the risks in using them.
