Introduction to Meyer Staff
Meyer has a polearms section in his 1570 book which clearly outlines the uses of Staff, Halberd and Pike for use in the tournaments of the fechtschule but also with an eye to developing skills with polearms so that use on the battlefield would take very little readjustment to the realities of the battlefield. The fechtschule aspect is more concerned with one on one duelling whereas the military or battlefield application of polearms focuses more on team work, discipline and how the fechtschule techniques should be adapted to the battlefield.
This introduction to the Staff work of Joachim Meyer focuses on his 1570 work and describes the basic guards, footwork methods and the over all strategic concepts involved in the use of Meyer's staff art. It should be mentioned for I consider the staff as described by Meyer as much a spear as a staff and its understanding as such is integral to the movement onto Halberd which is a direct extension of the staff/spear work.
We generally separate the attributes of staff/spear into these elements which will serve as our guide in this introduction to staff/spear.
Staff/Spear Elements
- Guards
- Parryings
- Handworks
- Strikes/Devices
- Drills
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Guards
Meyer Staff guards are five fold and can be done to both sides with the usual weaknesses of the off-hand making it undesirable to use the non-orthodox hand. Nevertheless we should train the various elements on both sides as a good practice even if when we fight we tend towards one side due to familiarity and comfort.
High Guard
Side Guard
Middle or Field Guard
Low Guard
Rudder Guard
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The High (Striking) Guard
The high guard is done to either side with some variations for applications. The foremost one being the straight up at the shoulder guard. This guard shown in the figure above. This position lends itself well to downward strikes and deceptions.
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High Thrust Guard
The figure above shows the "Ochs" guard of the staff, this high thrusting guard is described in the devices yet not outlined as a standard guard. But given the interplay between the many weapons of the Kunstfechten and the use of Ochs-like positions in longsword, dusack and rappier I feel this guard must be at least understood if not added to the primary standard guard collection. Its role is something more than merely transitional so its exclusion seems unwise. |
The Side Guard
The side guard as shown in the picture has the point out to the side and the butt of the weapon facing the opponent.
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The Secondary Side Guard Position
This guard is somewhat more transitional and tends to result from the end of strikes and large defensive movements. The wound up position somewhat resembles a Zornhut from Longsword/Dusack.
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The Rudder Guard
The Rudder guard as shown above, defends the head from strikes and thrusts and sets up running in under cover. This guard also has a rear version with the point sent out behind. | 
The Field or Middle Guard
Shown above with the weapon held slightly higher that desirable. This is the basic Pflug of the polearms, this guard threatens the thrust while providing great defensive cover. Keep the point in the opponent's face and always go back to the center line after any parry or attack. At the bottom of this page is another example of the Middle Guard but instead it is held high and tight with the body upright, allowing the fighter to explode out into an elongated attack. |
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Parryings
parrying with the staff, spear or halberd is done with 4 primary parts of the weapon and so the 4 part or divisions of the staff are also the same as the 4 parryings.
Weak (front of the staff)
Strong (staff near the front hand)
Middle (between the hands)
Butt (near the rear hand)
The four parryings are Weak, parryings made with the last 1/4 to 1/3 of the staff/spear. Strong parryings use the 1/4 to 1/3 section of the staff immediatly out from the front hand. Essentially everything behind the weak section up to the forward hand. The Middle parrying is anything between the hands towards the middle of the staff. The Butt parrying is done with the last 1/4 to 1/8 of the staff down by the rear hand. The Butt parrying is done on the outside or (if there is no staff extending out from the grip) Immediatly in side the rear hand.
It is of the utmost importance that any parries be done so with the most judicious attention to efficiency with an eye towards protecting oneself. Keeping the point of your weapon centered on the opponent even after a quick parry or thrust is no easy task but it is necessary to keep yourself protected. When parrying try to never go outside the outline of the opponent's body, keeping any parries in tight and only moving the weapon as much as you have to to parry. By doing this you not only protect yourself but you set yourself up for a successful counter following the parry.
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Handworks
The handworks of the staff are of course familiar to us from the handworks of the greater Kunstfechten which form a layer across all the weapons with small differences dependant on the weapon. The handworks are not spelled out like in the other weapons but we can recognize many of them from the devices and use the terminology used in the great Kunstfechten handworks.
Some of the most important handworks are.
Changing Through
The Change Through is the action of sending the tip of your staff/spear below the opponent's weapon and out to the other side from where you started. This is done by striking and stepping in a more shallow manner than you would with a full blown attack. The weapon is pulled back slightly towards oneself as you step out.
Changing Around
Changing around is taking your weapon around or often above the opponent's weapon to the other side from where you started.
Feeling
In the bind feeling is the evaluation of the opponents energy on your weapon with an appropriate response.
Setting off
batting aside the opponent's weapon to displace it and counter strike.
Running Off
from whichever side you bind the opponent, then reverse your hands and run off to the side with the short edge down and pull up in the air to prepare for a strike to an opening.
Transmutation
The art of turning a strike into a thrust or a thrust into a strike. transmutation helps us smoothly turn disadvantage into advantage by re-purposing an attack in the moment, into a more wisely targeted area.
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Strikes/Devices
Naturally the primary strikes of the German school apply even here in the thrust focused spear/staff work and of course the importance of strikes takes on a much more elevated importance in the halberd work. Meyer also includes several specialty strikes for Halberd and Staff which we will cover in a later article.
The 4 primary strikes to the four targets as well as the 4 openings serve as our star-like target acquisition diagram just like with all the weapons. Each line has a striking element and a thrusting element and by transmutation we can go from one to another.
The cutting diagram can be seen in this Rappier plate from Meyer's 1570 manual.
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Drills
Field Guard Drill
This drill is a partnered drill that goes back and forth. Each participant starts in the Field Guard and one attack with a step forward and a thrust, the defender steps back and parries. do this 3 - 5 times and then switch sides. Each step should be a full passing step so that sometimes you may end up in a crossed position. This drill develops good tight defensive skills and precise distance management. The attacker trains the forward moving thrust attack. Keep a good rhythm and maintain the same distance with each other. use large passing steps and keep your parry in tight and don't use excessive movements with the weapon.
4 devices
This video shows 4 devices from various guards. Chosen primarily because of the core nature of the techniques.
1. The first technique shows a changing through handwork from a High Guard with a step out to thrust to the face.
2. The second device is another device from High Guard followed by an Setting Off handwork on the opponent's weapon with a step out and a thrust in the face.
3. The 3rd device is once again from the High Guard with an attack to the opponent's lead arm as he attacks (with a step out)
4.The 4th device is from the Field or Middle Guard with a Change Through handwork to a thrust in the face.
Sideways Drill
The Image above shows two fighters facing off against each other from a Tight High Guard position with the posture more upright than the other plates. On the ground to either side of the left side fighter is footprints indicating two alternate step positions for his feet, presumably in response to the other fighters attacks. From the placement of these footprints we can deduct several possible step and body positions. Each of these variations on the possible positions includes the left side fighter stepping off line from the right side opponent's attack and using footwork similar to the orthodox and non-orthodox triangular footwork of Meyer from Longsword, Dusack and Rappier. To turn this into a drill we face off against each other and one fighter attacks and the other responds then resumes the original position, cycling from side to side in response to each attack. This can even work in a circular manner with the two fighters circling each other seeking an opening. The focus is on the defensive footwork and weapon placement with many possible follow ups then made possible.
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This is the basic introduction to the Staff/Spear art of Joachim Meyer, we will further our look at the polearms in the future with some articles on Halberd maybe even some Pike.
Mike Cartier
Meyer Freifechter Guild
Contact me Here
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