The Sword

The sword consists of the blade, the crossguard, the hilt, and the pommel. The blade is divided in weak and strong: The strong is from the crossguard up to the middle of the blade, the weak from the middle to the point.

Additionally, one distinguishes the long edge from the short edge. Of course, both edges have exactly the same length but according to medieval terminology the long edge is the one that shows to the opponent when the sword is held in the outstretched arm. The short edge shows to one's own wrist.

One shouldn't grip the sword with the right hand exactly at the crossguard. A distance of a couple of millimetres provides sufficient protection as soon as the opponent's blade makes contact with the crossguard. When holding some guards (e.g. Ochs, Pflug, or the priest's special longpoint in I.33), it is helpful to stabilize the blade with the thumb on the flat.