My progress in Lancefencing in 2022

In this article, we will discuss my approach together with my progress in lancing. After some time of preparation, research and also improving my riding skills, my riding instructor and I were able to slowly and systematically work our way up to lance fencing. I will explain the different phases here in the article as well as the respective sources I referred to. There are also videos of the individual phases. This makes the progress and the approach to the training clearer. Before riding, however, I first had to sew the right breeches and make a practice lance. These were improved and applied from time to time. For the later phases, we also built rings to hold target exercises.

 

Phase I – The beginnings

The first phase was about getting both the horse and myself used to the feeling of riding with weapons. To do this, we started by doing our first exercises with the cavalry sword 89 (KD89). In accordance with the regulations, we also started with small circles and riding figure eights. First in walk, then in trot, until we were finally confident enough to try galloping. For the exercises, we not only looked at the German regulations, but also the English ones. It was a little unfamiliar at first, but then it went pretty well. Another point of orientation was the so-called “Tent-pegging” and “skill-at-arms” when it came to handling the weapons.

Then we quickly moved on to trying out the lance to slowly progress to lance fencing. In order to do this, I built one in pretty much the same dimensions as the originals to get a feel for both the length and the weight. The riding routes became a little more complex and we started by targeting the cones. When hitting them, it was important to have the right distance, the right speed and also to hit the right spot on the cones so that they could tip over accordingly. at this stage, the lance was still bare, i.e. without a flag.

 

Phase II – Continuous Improvement

For the next step, I made a few things again, like another pair of breeches. I also used the flag for the lance, which the horse had to get used to. I also added higher targets now, i.e. tjosting rings. This meant that I had both ground targets and targets at body height available in this step. Of course, the horse also had to get used to these again. And this was also done step by step. Starting slowly, above all continuing to work with the handling of the lance. We wanted to work on the lance fencing itself through the various exercises.

Again, it was important to pay attention to the correct distance so that the hits could be placed properly. Alternating between high and low hits was another very exciting element that brought a lot of variety to our exercises. It was also important to improve the handling of the lance when changing the hits, as a constant change of grip from upper to lower grip and back was very important for the different targets. There are three different techniques:

1. Throw the lance up or drop it briefly, then immediately grab it again with your hand
2. Clamping the lance under the arm, changing the grip and then twisting it out, or twisting the lance in, clamping it under the arm and changing the grip
3. Hold the lance briefly with the thumb and index finger of the other hand in order to change the grip

The first version is the fastest, but also the riskiest, as it can easily happen that the lance falls out of your hand. The second variation offers the highest level of safety, but it is quite complicated, requires a lot of practice and takes a relatively long time. I have found the last variation to be the most intuitive. However, the problem with this variation is that the rein hand is temporarily blocked by holding the lance. When changing grip, you always have to assess what would be appropriate at any given moment. Of course, how often which grip change was practised with the lance also plays a role.

Another point is the handling exercises, which we will look at in more detail in the final phase.

 

Phase III – The End of the Year

In the final phase, we moved on to a few finer points. In other words, I rode various tasks and patterns suggested to me by my riding instructor. This required various manoeuvres and safe control of both the horse and the lance. To further develop my skills with the lance, I also worked on handling exercises in the previous phase. There are two basic exercises:

1. Firstly, rotate the lance around your hand with your arm stretched out to the side
2. The other is to rotate the lance in the hand with the arm stretched upwards

With both options, a feeling for the lance, the weight and the centre of gravity is developed. It is important that the rotation is so strong that the lance does not fall down or slip out of the hand in any other way.

In order to be able to ride the exercises properly, it is also important that there is good communication with the horse and that there is mutual understanding and trust. This is how the different manoeuvres, which of course became gradually more difficult and differed greatly from one another, came about. Overall, it has worked well, but there is still a lot of work ahead of us.

Conclusion and what does the future bring for our lance fencing?

Looking back, I can say that we got off to a good start. It started slowly, but with a steep learning curve. We were able to test a lot, try things out and slowly approach different exercises using the sources. We started with the cavalry sword to get used to operating with a weapon on horseback.

In the next step, we moved on to the lance, initially without a pennant, to make the transition from blade to lance as smooth as possible. We initially focussed on ground targets for hit practice before tackling targets on two levels. In each case, we focussed on communication with the horse and handling the lance. In one lesson, the focus was sometimes on one thing and sometimes on the other.

At the end of the year, we worked on the finer points to see what level we had reached. We rode various exercises to further develop our lance fencing skills. Overall, we have made very good progress, but there is still a lot of testing, experimenting and, above all, developing our skills and experience ahead of us. Let’s see how we get on in 2023. At least we can pick up exactly where we left off, and that’s a good thing.

It remains exciting!

 

Sources

Printed sources:

D.V.E. Nr. 365: Vorschrift für das Fechten auf Hieb und Stoß, Berlin 1912.

Vorschrift für die Waffenübungen der Kavallerie, München 1891.

Cavalry Training 1912. Reprinted with amendments 1915, London 1915.

Gerhard Wanner: Die deutsche Stahlrohrlanze, Reutlingen 2005.

Heinrich Graf von Reichenbach (Ed.): Als Husar im I. Weltkrieg. Briefe, Tagebuchauszüge und Fotografien des Freiherrn Albrecht von Knigge, Berlin 2014.