Cheezy Hand Snipes

Some people don't like to be hit in the hands, wrists or legs. Especially when they are standing in a guard like Vom Tag and someone closes, whacks the hand with a one handed cut and steps back out range before you can blink. Some people consider that a form of cheap shot, or cheating, or cheezy fighting.

Let's examine the scenario objectively. Two swordsmen draw their weapons and prepare to kill each other. One is angry at some slight to his honor and is a strong, powerful man. He wants to split his opponent's skull or cleave him in two. He raises his sword over his head and prepares to attack. All of a sudden, the other man launches a quick strike that hits the big man on the left wrist, severing most of the tendons and biting into the bone. The fight is effectively over.

When this happens in free fencing, people complain. They criticize the other fighter, they call him names like "hand sniper." Well, guess what. He hit you, you didn't hit him, and if he can keep doing it to you over and over while you stand there helpless, he's a better swordsman than you. The hand sniper in the above story saw a weakness in his opponent and exploited it. The other one had a preconceived notion of how the fight would go and got killed for his efforts. Preconceived notions are for ivory tower academics and fools, not martial artists.

Like them or not, such sniping hits are a perfectly valid vorschlaag (the first strike). When you stand in high Vom Tag, your left wrist is the closest target to your opponent, and getting struck there will end the fight without putting dings on your opponent's sword. Why would someone attack a more distant target and put himself in greater danger? Know your vulnerabilites in any position, and know how to react to their exploitation.

As Liechtenauer says, "do not shun the tag hits." So stop whining about cheezy hand sniping and learn how to deal with it.