Basket-Hilted Broadsword (BBB)
Tuesday
6:30-7:00pm Indian Clubs Workout
7:00-8:00pm Basket-Hilted Broadsword
Coaches
Class Overview
The backsword is a powerful, single-handed, cut-and-thrust weapon dating to the late medieval period. It and its descendants the Highland broadsword, the heavy military saber, and the cutlass survived into the Victorian era and even the early 20th Century because of their usefulness on the battlefield.
Gear Equipment
No gear required, loaner gear available.
Recommended: Fencing mask, medium-weight sparring gloves or hockey/lacrosse gloves, gorget
What to expect
Around the time of the Renaissance, sword evolution forked into two distinct paths which can be loosely described as civilian and military. Civilian swords such as the rapier were worn about town. They came to be used primarily in duels: rule-bound, one-on-one fights between gentlemen settling disputes as a matter of honor. The rapier then evolved during the 18th Century to the smallsword and eventually to the epee. These are light weapons used predominantly in the thrust.
Military swords, and the martial arts governing their use, were intended for battlefield environments very different from the structured procedures of a civilian duel. The cut is emphasized strongly, and forms the basis for offense and defense, with thrusts in a secondary role. The hilt is protected by a guard, which in the case of backswords and Highland broadswords encompasses the entire hand. The blade is wide enough to provide weight and strength, making cuts and blocks more effective, even against heavier weapons such as spears and bayonets.
George Silver, whose work supplies the basis for our study, was an Elizabethan gentleman who might be thought of as the last of the medieval swordsmen. In his works he argued passionately in favor of the backsword while disparaging the rapier, which in his day was increasingly popular among young Englishmen. In Silver’s mind the backsword is a weapon that Englishmen can and should use on the battlefield “in the service of the Prince,” i.e. in military service, waging war upon enemies of the crown, while the rapier has no use other than dueling in the streets, wounding and killing other Englishmen over trivial disputes.
Four hundred years later, we are able to step back from those controversies and practice sword fighting based on the work of Silver and others. We use basket-hilted sword simulators with blunt blades, weighing in the general range of 1000 – 1300 grams.
Recommended Reading
Our foundational text is the work of George Silver, an Elizabethan swordsman who published Paradoxes of Defense and Brief Instructions on my Paradoxes of Defense.