The Incredible Krumphaw!

[Keith P. Myers]

The Krumphaw has often been a controversial topic in the past, with different people interpreting what the various historical manuals say about this in different ways. I have been working with Paulus Hector Mair’s Fechtbuch from 1540 and would like to present to you how I see Mair doing the Krumphaw, with both the Longsword and the Dussack. I will also include some input from Joachim Meyer’s Fechtbuch of 1570, since Mair and Meyer are often very similar in their methods.
The most direct translation of the word “Krumphaw” is “crooked strike.” For Paulus Hector Mair, the “crooked” comes from the fact that the blow is delivered at an angle off of the direction in which you are stepping and therefore to your side rather than out in front of you. You end up in a position with your sword held at approximately a 90 degree angle from the direction in which you stepped, therefore “crooked” in alignment with your body.
In the older Liechtenauer tradition the Krumphaw is considered a “Meisterhaw.” So we often tend to think of it as a “special use” technique. However, for Mair the Krumphaw is one of his primary and basic defensive techniques. He features it in 29 out of his 120 Longsword plates and in 11 out of his 40 Dussack plates. It is often present more than once in a given plate. In two of his Longsword plates it is the central theme of the action. Rather than just “breaking the Ochs” as it is typically described in the older tradition, Mair uses it to defend against the Oberhaw, Schaitelhaw, Zwirchhaw and thrusts. It is almost always followed by a quick cut or strike to the head directly from the Krump position without withdrawing the blade. It can be delivered to either your right or your left side with either leg forward.
Here is how I would describe the execution of the Krumphaw when practicing solo:

Stand with your left foot forward with your sword held on your right side in a shoulder vom Tag, Wechsel, Mittelhut, or Nebenhut. Do a passing step forward and outward at approx 45 degrees with your right foot as you swing your sword forward leading with the long edge. Just as your right foot hits the ground snap your blade across and CROSS your arms so that you strike downward with the short edge. You should end with your hilt at about shoulder height, your point aimed towards the ground out to your left, and your sword held at approx a 90 degree angle from the direction in which you have stepped.

Now reverse everything. Start with your right foot forward and your sword held on your left side. Do a passing step at approx 45 degrees with your left foot as you swing your sword forward leading with the long edge. Just as your left foot hits the ground snap your blade across and UNCROSS your arms so that you strike downward with the short edge. Like before, you end with the sword held at approx a 90 degree angle from the direction in which you stepped.

Now let’s take a look at Mair’s Longsword plate #2. I think it is significant that in the second plate of his entire Longsword series he has the Krumphaw as the central theme.


Here is my translation:

The Krumphaw from Both Sides

When you come to the closing with the opponent, set the left foot forward and hold your sword with the point at your right side and remain hence standing in the Krumphaw. If he then strikes you from above to an opening, step outward with your right foot and give him a Krump to his right side and strike him at the nearest opening.

If he gives you a Krump like this and you stand with your right foot forward likewise in the Krumphaw, then step in with your left leg and displace his strike with your long edge. Then immediately follow outward with the right foot and drop a Krump onto his sword with your short edge and with that cut through his head.

You may have noted that Mair seems to be giving a stance or starting position the name of “Krumphaw.” But don’t let this distract you. This is just Mair’s way of saying you are standing in a position ready to execute the Krumphaw. He also does this in one of his Dussack plates. There is also a discrepancy with the illustration in the original, which shows the swordsman holding his sword on his left side rather than his right. I will stick with the text rather than the illustration, which makes better sense to me. Here is how I would describe the action in clearer terms:

1st Paragraph:
A: Stands with left foot forward with the sword aimed to the right. This could be in a Wechsel, Mittelhut, or Zornhut. I don’t think it really matters.
B: Starts with left foot forward and does a passing step straight in with the right foot while throwing an Oberhaw.
A: Does a passing step with the right foot forward and outward at approximately 45 degrees as he does a Krumphaw to his left side with the short edge. This is a deep Krump that extends well over to the opponent’s right side, hence Mair’s direction to “give him a Krump to his right side.” Then “A” strikes with a direct cut through the face or head.

2nd Paragraph:
A: Has done the Krump, but has not yet done the follow up strike, or is in the process of starting his follow up strike.
B: Does a passing step with the left foot straight in as he lifts his sword straight up with the long edge aimed upward and to the left and the point off to the right (in what is essentially a Brechfenster position) in order to lift and displace the opponent’s sword. Then he immediately does a passing step forward and outward 45 degrees with the right foot as he continues the arcing motion of his sword so that it circles above and in front of his head and then flips around and drops down into the Krump to his left with the short edge and crossed arms just as his right foot hits the ground with the step. Then he does the follow up strike as above.

Mair is describing how to do the Krump from the Zufechten or closing in the 1st paragraph, and then from the Krieg/Handarbaiten/Bind in the 2nd paragraph. This deep Krump with the short edge to “trap” the opponent’s weapon prior to throwing a follow up shot to the head is very typical for Mair. This gives the opponent very little opportunity to counter. The swords typically end up “Schilt to Schilt” with this deep Krump. If you are on the weak or mid-point of the opponent’s blade rather than at his schilt or ricasso, he has the opportunity to turn his point into you as a thrust, or to “snap around” your Krump to strike you from above.

[Keith P. Myers]

You may have also noted that I describe the Krump as leading with the long edge prior to snapping the blade across and downward to strike with the short edge. I feel that this is very important. When trying to “tune up” my Krump for use in sparring I had my partner throw full intent Schaitel’s at me at random. He has spent a couple of years doing Kendo, and is very fast and accurate with this strike. When I was trying to do the “windshield wiper” version of the Krumphaw he was knocking the hell out of me every time! Out of frustration and desperation I started leading with the long edge and found this to work much better. When you lead with the short edge in a “windshield wiper” type of motion, the hilt lags behind and the point is leading. If your timing is not perfect, a fast strike is already inside the arc of your Krump and you are hit before you can deflect his blade. When you start the motion with the long edge, the hilt is the leading portion and the point lags behind. In this way you have your long edge covering you during the motion. It doesn’t matter if your timing is a little off because his strike will contact your long edge just before you flip your blade over into the Krump. When I went back and took a close look at Paulus Hector Mair, I decided that this is how he intends the Krump to work after all!

The first clue for this is in plate #2 described above. If someone has done the Krump to you, about the only way you can avoid his follow on strike to your head is to quickly lift your sword straight up in order to catch any blow on your long edge. I think this is what he is intending in the second paragraph when he tells us to “displace his strike with your long edge.” Then you immediately convert this to a Krump. Joachim Meyer has this same action in paragraph 1.51r1 (Forgeng translation) and describes it more explicitly when he says “if an opponent delivers a Krumphaw at you from his right, then set off his cut upward with the long edge..” Meyer then ends with a Schiller to the head rather than a counter-Krump. Paulus Hector Mair goes on to describe this long-edge lead-in to the Krump in six additional plates in his Longsword series as well as two of the plates in his Dussack series. This sometimes even involves doing a full parry with the long edge and then flipping the short edge over onto the opponent’s weapon prior to striking to his head.

In summary, Paulus Hector Mair uses the Krumphaw as one of his basic and essential defensive motions. He always describes it as being delivered with the short edge, and in nearly every case it is followed by a direct cut or strike to the head. It can be delivered towards your left side with crossed arms, or towards your right side with uncrossed arms. Typically you will have your right leg forward when doing it towards your left side and vice versa. But Mair describes it almost as often with your left foot forward and aimed to your left or your right foot forward when aimed to your right. This usually happens when you don’t have time to step, in which case the outward step is used with the follow on strike. Mair’s Krump is typically what I would call a “deep” Krump where you end up “schilt to schilt” in order to trap the opponent’s sword. The Krump usually drops into position from above for this trapping effect. The Krump can be thrown from any position that you would throw an Oberhaw from. The most common follow on strikes are a direct cut through the face, a Zwirchhaw to the temple, a Schaitelhaw, or an Oberhaw. Other than the comment about crossed arms, these points apply to the Dussack as well as the Longsword.

[Keith P. Myers]

Now let’s take a look at some of the variations on the Krumphaw. Mair describes it as directed to the opponent’s hands rather than his blade in one of the Longsword plates, and as a direct strike to the opponent’s head in one of his Dussack plates. He describes it as “shooting in” rather than “dropping” in one of his Longsword plates, and as being “set” and pressing down in another Longsword plate, implying that in these cases it is not a strike at all! Mair also uses it as a “beat attack” against the opponent’s ready position in one of his plates.

The other Longsword plate that has the Krumphaw as its central theme seems to have been included in order to illustrate one of the variations that Mair features. It is Longsword plate #56.

Here is my translation:

A Krumb Aufsitzen (Set Upon) from Both Sides

When you both come together at the closing and have each struck your swords in the weak, take note of his weak and set the Krumb upon his hand with your short edge with crossed hands such that your left foot stands forward.

If he is setting the Krumb upon you like this and you stand with your left foot forward, follow outward with the right and strike Krumb against Krumb. Then with that cut high to the right side of his head. If he displaces this cut drive out with the short edge over your head and let the weak run on his left side. Then strike high to his head.

If he strikes high towards you like this, then displace this with the long edge and immediately strike with crossed arms to his right ear. If he displaces this, hang and wind and immediately thrust with your point to his face or chest. Then strike yourself back away from him.

This is the only plate that describes the Krump being delivered to the opponent’s hands rather than his sword. The illustration accompanying the plate suggests that the fighters have started with a bind from the left on the weaks of their swords with the left foot forward. So in this case the Krump is unusual in that it goes to your right but with crossed hands. The second paragraph says only to counter his Krump with your own Krump. This would be a Krump to your right with uncrossed hands while stepping out to the right and effectively “jamming” the opponent. This plate would also involve the lifting displacement as we saw in plate #2 so that the blades clear your head without hitting you prior to doing your own Krump as a counter.

So described in what I hope are clearer terms:

Paragraph 1:
A & B: Both stand with the left foot forward in the bind after each has thrown a backhand Oberhaw.
A: Shoots his point forward and to his right with the short edge down while crossing his arms ending with his Schilt against B’s right hand. (The ending position is shown in the illustration)

Paragraph 2:
B: Steps forward and out at approximately 45 degrees with his right foot as he lifts his sword up with the long edge directed to his right and the point aimed up to his left, and then uncrosses his arms to drop down with a short edge Krump towards his right side. Then he does a Zwirchhaw to the right side to A’s head.
A: Lifts into a “Hangen Ort” position to parry
B: Circle your point around to your left and then forward with a Schaitler to the top of his head.

I’ll let you figure out paragraph 3 on your own. This crossed arm Krump directed to your right side as in Paragraph 1 above is also described by Joachim Meyer in his paragraph 1.48v1.

Speaking of Joachim Meyer, let’s take a brief look at how he describes the Krumphaw for comparison. Meyer defines the “crooked” connotation of the Krumphaw with the Longsword as meaning “with crossed arms.” He never names a strike going toward your right side with uncrossed arms as a “Krumphaw”, and he comments that the Schielhaw delivered on your right side qualifies in general terms as a “Krumphaw” since it is delivered with crossed arms. He notes that it can be delivered with either the long edge or short edge, though all of his descriptions of the technique are with the long edge. The one illustration of the Krumphaw that Meyer provides is what I have called the “deep Krump” ending Schilt to Schilt, as we have seen with Paulus Hector Mair. It looks more like it was delivered with the short edge rather than the long edge. Other than not describing it thrown to your right with uncrossed hands, Meyer seems to use the Krumphaw with the Longsword exactly like I have described from Mair. But there is a significant departure when it comes to the Dussack. Meyer defines the Krump with the Dussack as being any strike with the short edge, and does not seem to use it as a parry nearly as often as Mair.

I hope all of this made some sense! I will try to include some video later, when I can get with my training partner again to shoot it. Illustrations of the plates noted along with my translations can be found over at the Meyer FreiFechter Guild website at http://www.freifechter.com

[Joel Norman]

Looking forward to the video.

[Jeremiah Smith]

Kieth, so far all of your interpretations have fallen almost directly in line with how I do things.
keep them coming I love these discussions

[Jake Norwood]

Keith,

Would you be interested in article-izing this for the HEMA Alliance page, complete with pictures and/or linked video?

Jake

[Joey Nitti]

I was gonna suggest that this post and even the others on Meyer's Rose, Fligelhau, etc be put somewhere. I was thinking the wiktenauer, but the article page here is better I guess. good stuff Keith!

[Jeffrey Hull]

Keith, you have pretty much done the best analysis of the PH Mair presentation of Krumphau that seems possible to do.

[Keith P. Myers]

Thanks for the feedback guys! And yes, I will "articalize" this for the website. Just not sure when I'll be able to film video.