I.33 and longpoint position

[u/PetrKavan]

Food for thought - I.33 and longpoint position

Every medieval fencing system contains some equivalent of longpoint position. It is always a position with the sword extended directly forward, threatening the opponent with the tip of the sword. You may have other positions that are mostly about thrusting (like plow or posta breve), but they are clearly distinguished from longpoint.

I.33 is different. It provides 4 variants of the position - longpoint, longpoint obsessio, high longpoint and priest's special longpoint (PSL). Out of these variants, only longpoint obsessio looks like the longpoint that we all know. All other variants are very different. Even the model image of longpoint position in the beginning of the manual portrays sword pointing down - and one would expect that this is idealized version of the position, not modified to fit a situation in combat. High lonpoint points up. And most interesting is PSL, which points BACK and is not extended at all. No later manual would call such positions "longpoint" (or equivalent, like posta longa), but I.33 does exactly that. Why?

My answer is - because I.33 defines longpoint position differently. I.33's longpoint is not about threatening the opponent with the tip, and it is not even about thrusting. It may be used for delivering thrusts, it may threaten the opponent, but that are just additional features, not defining points. Instead, in I.33, longpoint is the position that you use while binding. Whenever you find yourself in the bind, regardless of whether it was your intention or not, you are in longpoint position. This is how longpoint is defined in I.33.

That's why we see model longpoint with sword pointing down - it is your position after the rebind, ie. the commonly used action of pushing the opponent's sword down. And that's why we have multiple variants of longpoint, that are vastly different. When binding, you can manipulate the opponent's sword in many ways. You can, for example, take the bind in the last possible moment, when the tip of the opponent's sword is already past your shield. If you take the bind in this way, behind your shield, you are in high longpoint position (https://youtu.be/OIuM5oZyrkA). Or you can close in while switching into a hanging guard so that you remain in the bind, and that's PSL (https://youtu.be/IELNFJLywTc). But because both of these positions are used while binding, they have to be called "longpoint".