The Provoker Taker Hitter, is based on a thorough knowledge of the Guards or postures, and the cuts that come from them, as well as the openings at which you are cutting. In describing the Provoker, Taker Hitter, Meister Meyer further discusses the ways to Parry. He says that there are two types; those from above and those from below. And that both end in the Longpoint. That is a very telling insight there, that if your opponent strikes at you from below, you are to fall on his dussack from above, with extended arms, and turn your point into his face. Likewise if he strikes at you from above, you go up with your dussack from below, intercepting him as high in the Air as you can, This serves to weaken his cut. And take the opening he has presented. Do not allow the opponent to develop the cut, is the clear message and is repeated throughout his entire book. He goes on to say that these two parryings are done in two ways. One is to catch or intercept the incoming strike, the other is to send it away.
"If an opponent cuts at you from below or across, then fall on it with Straight Parrying, and note as soon as it connects or Knocks, and turn your point in his face, and step out from his cut"
"Now if he cuts from above, then catch it from below in the Bow, and when the Dussacks knock together, then thrust the tip of your weapon in before you at his chest, Sometimes called the Storks Beak (Storchen Schnabel)
There is another type of Parrying that happens when you and the opponent cut in simultaneously. He says:
"Thus when he cuts in, then cut at the same time as him, and with this simultaneous cut, spring well out
sideways from his cut; thus in connecting together his dussack comes underneath, and yours above.
The step has then served you for this, that he has come below with his initial cut and you above with your
countercut."
"Thus you can also counter his High cut with your Low Cut, namely when his cut flies in, then step out
sideways from his stroke, and forcefully cut through upward against his High Cut. For although the Low cut is
too weak for the High cut, yet the step sufficiently strengthens the Low cut for the taking out."
So that all this comes together, Meister Meyer distinguishes the cuts into three uses: To provoke, to take out, and to hit. The Provoking stroke is so named because Meister Meyer uses deception throughout his works, here he is using it to Goad or entice the opponent out of his guard, inviting him to cut, The taker is obvious, this is the cut you use to send away or parry the Strike you just invited. The hitter is a favorite as it enables you to quickly hit the opponent in the nearest opening you also created by your enticing and sending away. There is a sublime beauty to this technique. The simplicity and natural order that it follows, illuminates just how much Joachim Meyer understood about Fencing. Here he talks about a device used to facilitate the Provoker, Taker, Hitter:
"Now in the onset when your opponent positions himself in a posture, guard, or parrying, and will not strike, and you cannot cut against his advantage at his opening, then do to him thus: extend yourself long before him, and deliver one cut, two, or three, through before him against his opening or through his parrying, somewhat with earnest wrathful comportment, as if you were overcommitting to your cuts. And meanwhile, dilegently watch for him to go up and cut in; then step sideways out from his cut., and cut his cut away from you with a powerful cut.
But if his is not sufficiently weakened with one cut, then do this with two or three cuts crosswise through his Dussack, until you feel that he is sufficiently weakened; at once before he is back up to strength or comes up and recovers, then cut at his nearest opening, and from the opening be quickly back on his Dussack, either with binding or cutting."
So we see here Meister Meyer is advocating not just one Provocative cut, but several, also, not just one Taking out cut, but several that may be necessary to weaken him, and even after the Hit that you land, we are told to be ready to fall back on his dussack. I feel these movements He advises after you have apparently hit the opponent are to facilitate the Fechtschulen environment, where one good hit from a Dussack was not sufficient to stop the Fight. But rather, it would take several to the Scalp and Hands before the Blood ran. Many of his devices read like this, where you have worked to an opening and hit the opponent, only to be followed by more hitting. He talks about that a little further here when he says:
" Further you shall also know and note that one always changes off with the Three cuts, such that sometimes the first, sometimes the second, sometimes the third will be a Provoker,Taker, Hitter. Therefore when you can hit with the First, you shall use the second for parrying, but if you hit with the second, then parry with the third. For if you want to fight soundly with one handed weapons, then you shall accustom yourself always to send three cuts quickly, one after another; nor should it be just a single kind of cut, but always vary and change between the High, Middle and Low, in such a manner that always one of the three hits, either the first the second or the third"
He reminds us of this many more times in the devices that follow. It is interesting to note that even after the first hit, then you are expected to parry, and hit again, only to be ready to parry again. This must be incorporated into our modern FreePlay, rather than stopping and resetting the fight, when one is struck on the hands, it must be mutually acknowledged that a Stout blow to the head is a fight stopper. or several!
It is advisable to learn this weapon system in the Order in which Meister Meyer laid it out for us. Namely, the Postures or Guards must be practiced, until they are committed to memory, then you can learn the Cuts to the Four openings, both primary and secondary cuts are included, Then comes this section on Parrying, mainly the Provoker, Taker, Hitter. It is after all the preceeding that Meister Meyer has begun the devices for the Dussack, this is because a knowledge of the Guards, the Cuts and how to parry is necessary to fully understand the devices. I have written previously about the importance of the Devices. These are the methods that guide us through the real Meat of this Art. The devices become your fight repertoire. Your vocabulary of chops and thusts. Not only can they be performed as Meister Meyer intended, but that they may be mixed and matched as the opportunity dictates. He himself advocates this throughout his works.
Kevin Maurer
Meyer Freifechter Guild
11 July 2009
"Everyone thinks differently from everyone else, so he behaves differently
in combat" -Joachim Meyer, Kunst des Fechten, 1570
"For as we are not all of a single nature, so we also cannot have a single style in combat, yet all must nonetheless arise and be derived from a single basis." -Joachim Meyer, Kunst des Fechten, 1570
"Who despises me and my praiseworthy craft,
I'll hit on the head that it resounds in his heart."
--Augustin Staidt, Federfechter
"The Truth in Combat is different for each individual.... Truth lies outside of All Fixed Patterns." -Bruce Lee
