German school of fencing

The German school of fencing is a martial art with European roots. Most of the preserved sources from the German -speaking world. The heyday was between the 13th and 17th centuries. The German fencing school includes fighting techniques with various edged weapons as dagger, and longsword Dussack based on unarmed combat techniques such as rings, called in the historical context, fighting rings. The German fencing school has since the 17th century no longer living tradition and is only preserved in the form of historical fencing treatises. A few exceptions is sport fencing, fencing the theater and the usual in some fraternities scale.

As the oldest surviving Fechtbuch applies the so-called Tower Fechtbuch I.33 manuscript, which was written by a German monk in the late 13th century. In him the battle are described with the one-handed sword and Buckler (Buckler ) in Latin. In large numbers Fechtbücher occur from the end of the 14th century in the German language area. The authors are primarily in the tradition of fencing master Johannes Liechtenauer, of which no fencing books are even delivered. Well-known authors of historical fencing treatises are Hans Talhoffer, Albrecht Dürer, John Lecküchner, Fabian von Auerswald, Paul Hector Mair, Hanko Döbringer, Sigmund Ringeck, Peter von Danzig, Paulus Kal, Joachim Meyer and Master Ott Jud.

One in fencing treatises often cited key verse of the Master Liechtenauer:

" leit currently Swach strong Indes / to the same words all art / master lichtnawers / And sint dy gruntfeste and / kern everything fencing czu fuzzy vein czu rosse / merely vein in harnuesche. "

Another key verse Liechtenauer reflects the traditional values ​​of knighthood of the 14th century: "Young knight sized / got lip have Frawen io ere / Sun grows your ere / Uebe knightly society and sized / arts dy zyret you and hofiret in krigen sere ( fol 18r ). "

There are now a variety of clubs that are concerned with the reconstruction of the historical martial arts.