Plate 33

The start of this play is a thrust at the visor, which shows the emphasis on attacking vulnerable points on an armored opponent.

The “bind” in the play is a core concept of the KdF tradition, being a crossing of the sword that occurs from attacks or parries. This crossing keeps you safe, and a great deal of emphasis is placed on gaining, controlling and leaving the bind safely, in order to injure one’s opponent.

The hanging parry shown in the plates is not described in the early KdF tradition, but is shown in the later KdF and Fencing guild manuals, such as Mair and Meyer.

The counter blow is also described against a weak spot in the armor.

The finishing sequence would be accomplished with the triangle step described above along with the hanging parry to get offline if this was foot combat, but again relies on the horse movement,

The sword work in this play is clear, but impacted by horse movement.

Impact One: The canter stride has a wave like motion (see plate 39). The attacker is at the stride's apex. The defender is traveling upward/traveling forward. This relative difference simplifies the defensive parry from below. The attack travels up to down and the defender rides forward the parry catches the attack as if the horse performed a fencing lunge.

Impact Two: The key to completing the play as written is a horse that will turn readily. Grissone (1550) teaches two types of turns. The first are simple circles, too slow for the motion described. The other are very tight turns where the horse brings his shoulders rapidly around his haunches and “crosses his forelegs”. These tighter turns are "volte sempie" (180 degree half turns) performed at different gaits and speeds (Tobey ed, 2014). A rider on a horse spinning his shoulders rapidly around the haunches will have time to complete the play with the cut or stab almost as a single motion within the volte sempie.