Stance

Understanding the WHY of the stance used

In most fencing, the stance used has two main purposes. It serves to provide a stable base from which to make strikes, and it attempts to minimize the target area presented to the attacker. In modern sport fencing for instance the body is held highly profiled with the legs bent and ready to move. This provides only a narrow target area for an opponent's blade to strike as seen in the photograph of Jim Emmons below.  

 

Once you add in an offhand weapon however, profiling becomes less useful, as it leaves one shoulder much further back than the other and thus limits the reach with one arm. Many systems deal with this in different ways. For example, in Rapier and dagger, the body is often held in such a way that the different lengths of the two weapons help bring things back into balance while preserving the profile. Most relevantly perhaps, is the way that the body is held by the fighters depicted in the oldest known sword and buckler treatise, MS I.33. In this text, the fighters are shown with an interesting forward lean to their bodies.

In this stance, the shoulders are held at the same distance from the opponent, and critically, the upper thigh is withheld from being an easy target for a strike. Experimentation has taught us that with Lashkroba, like with MS I.33 the torso MUST be hinged forward at the hips, or else you will get hit in the thigh a lot. However, unlike I.33, the Khevsur often take a much squarer stance with their feet. This allows for very quick sideways movements which are reported to have been favored by Khevsurs over the in and out movements we see in modern HEMA or sport fencing. They also tend to crouch somewhat, further reducing the available target area.

It is also fairly common to see the Khevsur drop to a very low crouch, or even to one knee while fighting, as seen in this photograph of two Khevsur in a Parikaoba-esque duelling setup. Here, the left hand fighter is in a typical, if somewhat more hunched than usual stance, and the right hand fighter has dropped nearly to one knee.

 

The khevsur hold a stance like this for all guard where both hands are held forward of the body. Elashvili also records two guards positions where the sword arm is refused and held behind the body, with the buckler out in front. In these cases, the fighter adopts a stance more like a modern fencing stance and profiles the body sideways to allow the buckler to cover as much of their body as possible.

           

Getting into stance

The common square stance

To begin, start with your feet square under your shoulders, bring one foot forward, but no more than about one half of a foot length to one foot length. From here, bend your knees and sink down, hinging forward at the waist. Bring your arms in front of your body with your hands together while keeping your shoulders square. It is a temptation to pinch your shoulders forward, but resist it. While it makes it easier to reach the correct forearm position, it opens you up to shoulder damage.

The kneeling stance

Begin by entering the common square stance as above. From there basically bend your knees and lower your weight straight down till you are nearly kneeling. Commonly, the heel of the back foot will raise off the ground, and the glute on that side will rest on the heel.  You may also squat onto your haunches in the stereotypical "slav squat" position of internet meme fame.  But the low stances are a place where many people struggle in my experience.  These stances, and movement within them require more mobility in the hamstrings than many American adults are comfortable with.

Practice taking each of these stances with both left and right foot forward, as well as dropping into the kneeling stance and standing up into the crouching stance first slowly, and then quickly. Remember, traditionally the Khesvur were a mountain dwelling people, and had lower body strength in proportion to the terrain they spent their lives traversing.

The profiled stance

Here, stand left foot forward, in something akin to a fencing stance, but with the legs slightly less bent. The left (buckler) arm is held out ahead of you straight with the left hand a fist pointed at the opponent. The right hand for now hold back and slightly lowered, with a loosely bent elbow.