Legal target areas
The 5's targets are:
thrust to the mid section
I would also point out that some folks train in a way that shots 4 and 5 are to the torso instead of the legs.
How to throw (attack using) the 5's (minus shield or secondary weapon)
For the purposes of this article a few things apply:
Person A (short dark haired fellow) is the attacker and Person B (long blonde haired fellow) is the defender. It is also assumed that the attacker is right handed.
An 'on side' shot refers to a shot that is delivered to the shield/secondary weapon side of your opponent.
An 'off side' shot refers to a shot that is delivered to the primary weapon side of your opponent.
The head shot - Person A throws a shot coming straight down at Person B's head (not overly hard, in case they miss the block, but believable. See pic. 1.
pic. 1
The 'off side' shoulder shot - Following the head shot Person A's sword should return to rest on their left shoulder. The elbow will be pointing out to signal the shoulder shot that will be thrown into Person B's 'offside' shoulder. This shot is a bit odd as the area to target is not the upper arm, which is a natural shot for many of us coming from other combat groups, but the area from the join between the body of the tunic/kirtle and the sleeve. See pic. 2.
pic. 2
The 'on side' shoulder shot - Following the first shoulder shot Person A's
sword should return to rest on their right shoulder. The elbow will be pointing
out to signal the shoulder shot that will be thrown into
Person B's 'on side' shoulder. Again the target area is a bit odd at first so see
above about exact targeting area. See
pic. 3. The shot should follow thru in a slashing arch across the opponents
body, ending up with the attackers wrist at his hip and the sword tip behind
him.
pic. 3
The 'off side' leg shot - With the tip behind him and the finger tips down, Person A throws a shot into Person B's 'offside' leg arching thru the shot. The shot should arc thru the opponent and leave the sword once again behind the attacker.
pic. 4
The 'on side' leg shot - With the tip behind him Person A's sword should rotate so that his finger tips are now facing up. From this position Person A should deliver a shot to the onside leg of his opponent. Upon contact with the shield or weapon of the opponent Person A should bring the pommel in close to the body and back behind him, this sets up the next shot, the thrust.
pic. 5
The thrust - As stated above when following thru with the second leg shot
shot person A tucks the pommel in close to the body and brings it (the pommel)
back behind behind him so that the entire sword ends up in a horizontal position beside his waist. The elbow
also bends and ends up behind Person
A's body. This sets Person A up to be prepared to deliver a thrust to the Person B's weapon side. See pic.
6.
pic. 6
When ready Person A delivers the thrust to the weapon side of Person B's body he must make sure to NEVER lock the elbow at anytime during the thrust.
It is important to remember that all thrusts should be delivered off line and almost never directly to the opponent. When possible aim the thrust so that it skips off the opponent instead of sticking. See pic 7.
pic. 7
Its a pretty cruddy image but the image below shows the general direction of the shots described above.
