The Fours of Meyer Dussack

The Fours of Meyer Dussack

What is so cool about Dussack fencing?
Besides it being a very fast paced, and dynamic fight, that requires a mastery of
the measure and tempo, there also exists a rather comprehensive system of
techniques available to us from the works of Joachim Meyer. Not just
techniques, but also actual precepts or rules that governed Meyer's fighting
system. It's one thing to have an original 15th 16th century fencing manuscript
that shows images of fencers in pairs, with a particular weapon, which describes
several cuts or parry's. It is a whole other thing to have one that reveals detailed
rules and advice which ensured success when fighting with this weapon. That is
what Joachim Meyer did within his written Dussack instruction. That's what he
did within all the weapons in his written works. Knowing his Longsword system
will definitely assist learning his Dussack system. Just as learning his Staff, was
meant to teach you rudiments for his Halberd and Pike. Perhaps within Meyer,
the Dussack was a liaison weapon between Longsword and Rappier?
He says it (Dussack) was meant to teach you use of all single hand weapons.
Nowhere better does he reveal this than in the unfinished Manuscript, known as
the Ms 82. Rostock. Wherein, he included a section on single hand weapon
use, aimed at the rappier. This lesson contains twelve cuts. All twelve are the
named cuts from his 1570 Dussack. Yet in the Rostock, he never once used the
word Dussack! He used the word Messer once or twice though. The Rostock
cuts vary from the Dussack cuts of his 1570. But I digress....




If we view certain keywords, from all that he has written about Dussack, several
interesting things are revealed. Overwhelmingly, we see the number 4 as being
used to quantify important principles. I have included four of them here that
Meyer taught. The four main cuts, four main cutting drills, four main rules for the
Guards and of course, the four openings, these are among several things which
he grouped in four. The number 4 featured predominantly in all his art.
If we wish to learn his system, perhaps we ought to look at the Order of his
instruction, while looking for sets of four things that he concluded were
important. Breaking it down is rather easy, as he himself in Dussack Chapter
One, shared what he intended to cover. He reiterated what and how he taught
in Longsword, and interestingly there he says, that he omitted something in the
Longsword, saving it for here, in the Dussack. This was a more thorough
rendering of the divisions of the opponent and how the cuts shall be arranged to
them. see Chapter three, 1570 Dussack. In other words the routes that your
weapon takes, through the lines. Often times these lines and cuts were named
for their intended targets, face, arm, hand etc.
Notice here where he says;
"I will thoroughly teach the division of the combatant, according to which these
cuts shall be arranged, specifically its use and employment, which
I had passed over in the treatise on the sword as being appropriate for here, to
ensure that nothing pertinent to the subject should be left out."
Nothing pertinent will be left out Master. Right there is a glaring and shining
example of something that should be of relevance to us. Something that a 16th
century German Fencing Master considered pertinent enough to omit in the
beginning weapon and better to include it in the Dussack. Why? Why was it
appropriate to put it in with the Dussack?
Something important, I would imagine. It also shows that Meyer was writing
about a complete system. So that any and all precepts from one weapon, can
carry over into any other weapon. Brilliant huh?


4 Openings
Meyer's order of instruction began with the divisions of the opponent. These
directly coincide with the four openings, along with the four main cut lines. We
see them featuring predominantly in Meyer's fighting system. These are nothing
new to the 16th century Kunst des Fechtens, nor did Meyer invent them. He used
them as they were intended. The four openings should form a basis of our
reconstruction attempts. IMO. How you see the targets on the opponent should
be in quarters, four quarters, of the body. But remember that these quarters
move: The skilled opponent is constantly changing which quarter(s) are
protected, and open.
Likewise your opponent is looking at your four quarters. So that your own 4
openings, are also useful, Meyer taught to make certain quadrants open, to bait
and entice the opponent in, to strike. For these, he had prepared and ready
counters.
As to what height the horizontal line was intended, we have Meyer's own advice:
"If you imagine these four lines standing with the Midpoint, at which they cross
over one another, at the level of the chin, such that the Thwart or Middle Line
runs across above the opponent’s shoulders, then the Cross stands correctly."
So that means a low cut would have been aimed at a higher target? hmm.
When we reconstruct unterhauen or low cuts thrown properly to the chin or
lower face, we see a lot of the hard-to-understand cuts or techniques, become
more clear. I think especially with Dussack, we see the 16th cent. Fechtschulen
influence on the art that Meyer taught. Many strikes were from up high, seeking
to strike the head. Many of the plates support this as do the texts and actual
techniques.
For those today who know and practice Meyer's four openings drill with the
Longsword, likewise the Dussack is also to be used when practicing these
series of four cuts to the four openings. The overall importance of the four
openings, and the 4 openings cutting drill that Meyer shared with us, should be
a staple of our practice routines. Always remember to start and finish in a guard.
The Guards form our base from which we launch successful attacks. Meyer
shared with us some advice with 4 things that he considered worth noting.
He used the German word 'regel' to denote these rules that governed his art.
For comparison, look at the 1579 works of Heinrich von Gunderode, wherein it
can be seen how von Gunderode, eight years after the death of Meyer, wrote of
the way that Meyer's art was ordered and ruled. Very interesting.



The 4 Main rules or reasons governing the Guards;
All of the cuts and attacks in Meyer Dussack begin and end in a Guard. The
guards are both the starting and ending points from which you launch your
attacks. Unlike the Longsword though, he does not name any Dussack Guard
as a Main guard.
Meyer must have felt it so important to convey advice on the use of the Guards,
that he wrote four main rules for effective use of the Guards in Dussack. Which
we will see, actually creates effective attacking and defending.
The following are my interpretations of his four reasons or uses for the Guards:
1. do not stay in a guard, change from guard to guard, seek to be the first to
attack. But if you can't attack first, then position yourself in a guard that protects
you, while you size up the situation.
2. the guards are the beginning and ending positions of our attacks. This is
brilliant because when you start your cut in a guard, and end in yet another
guard, you really haven't ended. Having studied the cuts from each of the
guards, your ending point is actually a new beginning attack point. As you are
prepared to begin yet another attack or cut.
3. The Guards reveal what your opponent may do. Where they will cut from,
where they may cut to. The reverse is true of you as well. The guards reveal
what you may have planned.
4. Because the guards reveal what you may do, what you have intended or
planned, do not stay in the Guards but rather, move constantly from guard to
guard. This serves to confuse the opponent, and allows you to inch in or around
them. Confuse the measure, confuse the direction of your potential attacks. It
works.




4 Main Cuts and the Lines on which they are cut. 
It is interesting how Meyer used the same order of instruction for Dussack as he
did for Longsword. Just as in Longsword, the Dussack cuts revolve around the
four main cuts; the High cut, the diagonal Wrath cut, the Middle cut, and the
rising Low cut. These cuts are thrown from both sides, using full and half cuts.
Long edge and sometimes short or crooked edge.
"I will therefore now proceed to teach how to deliver the cuts through these four
lines in four ways and forms, for they will be no small advantage to you in
correctly executing and understanding the devices."
The devices or stücken, are the culmination of all that he shared. No matter
what question we come up with today about a cut or technique in Meyer, the
answer(s) are always in the stücken. Meyer himself stated this quite a few
times. His preceding remarks speak directly to how we benefit by learning the
stücken.
Of further interest to us should be the routes that our weapons take. Meyer
mysteriously omitted this important section from the 1570 Longsword, yet
included it in Chapter three of his Dussack. Where he was very thorough and
included much advice on the lines through which we should cut. We see a
cutting line chart on Plate A of the 1570 Dussack.
Important to note that even though there seems to be a strict set of hard and
fast rules governing the lines and the cuts, we see Meyer here telling us that the
cutting lines are not as strict a thing as it seems.
"But when you send your cut against your opponent in the Before, and he is not
ready with a stroke to encounter your cut, you may then cut to his body under or
over his Dussack, regardless of where the lines indicate, as I will teach
sufficiently later in the devices."
Ah yes, the Stücken. Another mention by Meyer of the relevance of the stücken.
That is where the reason for learning to cut and parry by the lines, really comes
together. So we ought to be concentrating our initial learning efforts on cutting
these lines. For in cutting, we are also learning defense. Cutting away, from low
to high, and from up above to down below are advocated by the Master. As the
most basic of ways to parry. As we shall soon see.
Let's look at another mention by Meyer of something important;
"and correctly describe how to assemble the elements you have been taught, to
make a full combat device from them." This is the line which tells us exactly
what Meyer has laid out previously; all the elements which make up a stück.
And his desire for us to know that he ordered his instruction such that we can
assemble all the parts, into a 'full combat device”. Having a multitude of
technique combinations, enables us to succeed in the fight. So, Meyer taught
in order, those elements that when assembled, will help to ensure victory with
this weapon.
So you are probably wondering where all this is going? How is all this going to
come together? If we remember the order or progression of learning, we see
the Master combining many precepts he had taught separately, into the four
cutting drills. These are four simple things you can do, as advocated and taught
by the Fechtmeister himself, to improve your understanding of Dussack.
Learning and practicing the following cutting drills is a prerequisite almost, to
progressing on to the stücken. Fluid range of cutting motion comes from
practicing these drills. Which is really essential for us, to open up later, a sound
technical understanding of the stücken. Our skills with Footwork, tempo, the
measure.. all these get put to the test, in the stücken. But practiced in the
cutting drills.

Hans Sachs, and his visit to Schlaraffenland

The Poem written by Hans Sachs in the early 16th century, Schlareffenland is a comical  tale of the Fool's Paradise. A land of opposites where losing was winning, and your dreams came true.   Replete with sharp sarcasm, and criticism, but with a moral ending, this farcical tale probably achieved what it set out to do.   Sachs was a man of many talents; a shoe maker by trade, he was like a wandering scholar. A Master Singer of Nüremberg, with a knowledge of the fencing arts during the early 16th century.    His countless Master songs, and poems all revealed his worldly sense.

In fabulous Schlareffenland The Sluggards sit in full command. It lies three leagues past Christmas Day; And he who'd go must eat his way (Digging a tunnel like a mole) Through hills of porridge, to his goal. But once he does, with breeches tight, He'll belch at all the wealth in sight: There peaked roofs are Pancake-shingled, Walls and halls are solid Cake, Porches Pork, and ceilings Steak; Stout Sausage strings, all crisp and brown, Are strung for fences in the town. From every well you crank up Wine; Malmsey and Mulberry and Rhine; The hemlock trees are hung with Scones, Buttered well and shaped like cones; The pine produces Pies forsooth, The dogwood - Doughnuts. It's God's truth! The willows bend with Rolls and Bread By waters that run Milk instead; And all streams teem with toothsome Fish Fried, baked, roasted, as you wish; In fact they swim so close to land You reach and catch them with your hand. Roast Chickens, Geese and Pigeons go Flying within reach, and slow: And when the birds are winging South Just gape - they'll fly into your mouth! The Hogs you meet on every side Are sleek and fat and crisply fried: They carry knives - it's very nice - And stand by while you carve your slice! The very horses drop - poached Eggs! And Figs pile up by donkey's legs; For Fruit you never climb a tree: Cherries hang down to each man's knee. The Fount of Youth flows down past benches Filled with oldsters mad for wenches; For others there's the target shoot, Where he who misses gets the loot. The last man wins in every race, And being first is a disgrace. Thus if you loose while rolling dice The winning player pays you twice; If you owe money past one year, The lender pays you back I hear. A whpping Fib is worth a crown: Great Liars gather great renown; Whereas the man with honest wit Provokes the populace to spit. There is no place in all the land For anyone who works by hand, And he who calls for Trust and Order Is promptly shooed across the border. But any good-for-nothing Ass Is honored as a man of class; The laziest lout is crowned the King, The Boor becomes an Atheling; The Poltroon, all afraid to fight, Is promptly dubbed a gallant Knight. If you have hugely drunk and whored You're promptly honored as a Lord; And every kind of Rotter can Announce himself a Nobleman. Are you like that? Alack-a-day! Go to Schlaraffenland and stay! To warn my hearers this was writ; Now go and do the opposite! Not greedy, gross, nor lazy be, And shun my friends, iniquity; Be diligent, and work, and pray, For laziness will never pay. (Translation by Hans Hinrichs)

Ein gegent heißt schlauraffenlant,
den faulen leuten wol bekant,
das ligt drei meil hinter weihnachten,
und welcher darein wölle trachten,
der muß sich großer ding vermeßen
und durch ein berg mit hirßbrei eßen,
der ist wol dreier meilen dick;
alsdann ist er im augenblick
in demselbing schlauraffenlant,
da aller reichtum ist bekant.

da sint die heuser deckt mit fladen,
leckkuchen die haustür und laden,

von speckkuchen dillen und went,
die dröm von schweinen braten sent.

umb jedes haus so ist ein zaun
geflochten von bratwürsten braun,
von malvasier so sint die brunnen,
kommen eim selbs ins maul gerunnen;
auf den tannen wachsen die krapfen,
wie hie zu lande die tannzapfen,

. . .

für ein groß lüg gibt man ein kron;
doch muß sich da hüten ein man,
aller vernunft ganz müßig gan;
wer sin und witz gebrauchen wolt,
dem würt kein mensch im lande holt,

und wer gern arbeit mit der hant,
dem verbeut mans schlauraffenlant;
wer zucht und erbarkeit het lieb,
denselben man des lants vertrieb;

wer unnütz ist, wil nichts nit lern,
der komt im lant zu großen ern,
wan wer der faulest wirt erkant,
derselb ist könig in dem lant,
wer wüst, wild und unsinnig ist,
grob, unverstanden alle frist,
aus dem macht man im lant ein fürstn.
wer geren ficht mit leberwürstn,
aus dem ein ritter wirt gemacht;
wer schlüchtisch ist und nichtsen acht,
dan eßn, trinken und vil schlafn,
aus dem macht man im lant ein grafn;

wer tölpisch ist und nichtsen kan,
der ist im lant ein edelman.

wer also lebt wie obgenant,
der ist gut ins schlauraffenlant,

das von den alten ist erdicht,
zu straf der jugent zugericht,
die gwönlich faul ist und gefreßig,
ungeschickt, heillos und nachleßig,
das mans weis ins lant zu schlauraffn,
darmit ir schlüchtisch weis zu straffn,
das sie haben auf arbeit acht,
weil faule weyß nie gutes bracht.
hans sachs 1520s?