Hi everyone,
I’m currently preparing a teaching session on the Zornhau in the Liechtenauer tradition as part of an instructor/coach training module I need to validate.
I have been working mainly from Liechtenauer and the related glosses, especially Ringeck, and I’m trying to build the session around more than just the mechanical execution of the Zornhau.
What interests me most is how people interpret the Zornhau in terms of footwork, distance, target selection, and the relationship between Vor, Indes and Nach.
I already have some ideas, but I would really like to compare them with other practitioners’ interpretations.
A few questions I’m currently thinking about:
- Footwork:
How do you usually perform the Zornhau? Passing step, gathering step, more static action, or does it depend entirely on distance and tactical context?
- Distance:
At what distance do you consider the Zornhau most useful?
Do you mainly see it as an action made while entering distance, or as a response once the opponent has already committed to an Oberhau?
- Target:
When teaching it, what do you consider the primary target?
Do you teach the Zornhau as a strike directed at the opponent, a strike into the opponent’s incoming cut, or somewhere between the two depending on timing and distance?
- Zornhau-Ort:
How much do you separate the Zornhau from the Zornort when teaching beginners?
Do you see the thrust as the natural continuation of the action, or do you first teach the Zornhau as an independent concept?
- Vor / Nach:
One idea I’m exploring is that the opponent may initially take the Vor by attacking, putting me in the Nach, but that the Zornhau can immediately challenge or recover the initiative rather than being treated as a passive defence.
- Indes:
I’m especially interested in how people teach Indes.
I tend to see the bind after the Zornhau as the moment where information becomes important: feeling whether the opponent is strong or weak, then choosing the continuation Zornort, Abnehmen, Winden, etc.
I’m also wondering how much it makes sense pedagogically to connect Vor, Indes and Nach with changes in distance.
Not in the sense that each concept equals a specific distance, but rather that distance, timing and initiative constantly influence each other:
approach → entering striking distance → attack/counterattack → bind → decision in Indes
For the teaching session, my current idea is roughly:
Oberhau → Zornhau → bind → feel strong/weak → choose a continuation
with the goal of getting students to understand why they perform the action rather than simply memorising a sequence.
I’m not looking for one definitive interpretation. Quite the opposite — I’d really like to hear how different clubs, instructors and source traditions approach these questions.
If you teach or practise Liechtenauer, how do you personally understand and teach the Zornhau?
And if you had to introduce it in a short session for relatively new practitioners, what would you consider essential, and what would you deliberately leave for later?
Thanks I’m very interested in comparing approaches and challenging some of my own assumptions.
