WEAPONRY TECHNIQUES

Weapon technology in the Medieval Era included a wide range of skills, tactics, and strategies. The purpose of the training was to give knights and soldiers the ability to use their weapons effectively, adapt to different combat situations, and emerge victorious in the challenging and dynamic warfare of the Holy Crusade. Knights and soldiers learned formations such as shield walls, wedge formations, and combined weapon adjustments to maximize weapon effectiveness and ensure unity on the battlefield. They were trained to exploit enemy formation weaknesses, carry out flanking maneuvers, and employ defensive strategies.

Sword fighting was a fundamental aspect of the weapon. Knights trained in various sword techniques such as slashing, thrusting, and parrying. I learned the precise and skillful handling of one-handed swords such as Yoroi-ken and Tachi.

Riding Techniques

At the level of individual teams of horses and cavalry, the skills required were considerably more demanding than those of Napoleon’s cavalry. Carolingian horsemen had to be able to retrieve their horses on the right leash on command. They then had to maintain formation at an orderly gallop for a long period of time before contact with the enemy, commanding themselves under fire and brandishing their weapons rather than on a manicured playing field.

It is an inescapable fact of mounted fighting that horse and rider together are bulky, and the horse is highly vulnerable.Tactical literature and Rossfechten manuals show that all mounted actions require the horse to be in motion; a stationary horse is a dead horse