|
Tilting at wind mills. Now it is a saying that implies attempting something
impossible. However it once was something very real and very possible.
Cervantez is the culpret. In his book “Don Quixote” Cervantez
caricatured and ridiculed acts of chivalry that were all very real in
a real life context. Don Quixote being fiction and the actual events being
ridiculed being historical fact. Cervantez was writing about hundred and
two hundred year old stories in some cases so he himself had limited understanding
of them. The Don starts out his tourney by outfitting himself in a comic
armour made up of a full chain shirt (a complete armour in the sixteenth
century) and a three quarters armour over it (a second complete armour
in the sixteenth century). This was in parody of the stories from the
hundred years war about men wearing plate over chain that died from nothing
more than wearing their armour. Historical fact turned into humorous fiction.
In the same way Cervantez wrote parodies of chivalric excesses that were
contemporary to him. In eastern Europe the constant wars against the Turkish
empire made the fighting man harder than those in western Europe. The
fighting was harder so the training was harder. Those engaged in the use
of the lance from horse back trained by making passes against the corners
on stone buildings. The highest accomplishment being tilting at windmills.
Like a giant quintain it made speed essential to get through the sweeps
as they passed and timing to miss them, it still gave the soul shaking
impact from hitting a solid target. Quite challenging. Quite dangerous.
Very possible and excellent training . There is an extremely humorous
story I have run into several times that must have been front page news
in Cervantez time. A fortified town on the edge of the empire was held
by bohemian knights. The Turks had surrounded the town and the situation
was clearly hopeless. The walls were barely standing up to the huge bombards
but it was simply a matter of time. So the company of knights trusted
with this border fort decided to proceed from the castle enmass through
a sally port and line up for what was clearly a suicide charge. The bombards
took several hours to reload so after a huge volley they grimly rode out
in a single line to face the Turks. The amused Turks arranged their host
to receive this futile charge into overwhelming odds. The Bohemians had
decided beforehand to turn as a line to take a practice charge against
the castle wall to warm up as they all knew that this would make them
perform better in the actual charge. Death was inevitable so a show of
bravado was certainly no waste. However things did not go as planned.
With a terrific sound the solid line of armoured men with hard wood lances
hit the wall at forty miles an hour. The already weakened wall gave way
down the line and collapsed down upon the horrified knights. A huge cloud
of dust and a sound louder than the bombards hid the frantic efforts by
the survivors to reform or dig them selves or their companions out of
the rubble. As the dust settled however the somewhat smaller line that
rallied for the suicide charge beheld a shocking sight. The Turks in headlong
retreat. The Turks had been stunned that the walls had stood up to their
bombards and tumbled before that charge. The thought of that same force
rolling over them like a tidal wave was too much for the front lines who
had trampled those behind them in their retreat. Rather than making a
suicide charge the bohemian knights strolled down to loot the abandoned
camp. In a modern context the practitioner of ancient martial arts can
and should train in the same sort of techniques as the ancients. While
we cannot, as a rule, find windmills we can find walls. Or my personal
favorite, telephone poles. As a practical training exercise we start slowly.
Both for man and horse, Never ever take a horse that is unfamiliar with
static target work and just run them at a target that is not going to
move. Severe injury to horse or rider could result. In a like fashion
never allow a beginner to run against a static target without first training
at a walk and working up slowly. It also helps to start with shorter lances
and work up. For a practical beginning start out with an eight foot pressure
treated tree stake. The greenish poles they stake up trees with. A copper
cap can be held on the tip with screws or nails to reinforce it. A welding
glove on the right hand to prevent splinters. Walk your horse up to the
telephone pole a few times holding the lance upright to get the horse
use to the pole. Next walk the horse past the pole tapping the pole with
your lance as you pass. This alerts the horse that something happens at
the pole that involves the lance and a sharp sensation. Only after this
has become comfortable to the horse can the training begin for the human.
In the next step the horse is walking slowly past the telephone pole and
the lance is held across the horse in the traditional manner and the tip
lodged firmly against the pole. As the pass proceeds the rider is forced
to the right in an arc that is described by the length of the lance. The
horse must in a like fashion describe the same arc. To accomplish this
the legs must firmly grasp the horses barrel and by strength pull the
horse around the arc. Once this move is smoothly accomplished in repetition
at a walk then proceed to do the same at a trot, then a slow lope and
a gallop proceeding to a dead run. At each stage past a walk the lance
must be handled correctly according to the instructions elsewhere in this
essay. Being held free then arrested into feuter then dropped into the
target and forced. After proceeding to a smooth repetition with an eight
foot lance a ten foot pressure treated stake is used. The force is considerably
greater so once again start slow and work up in speed. The use of a smooth
pole through these stages allows the grip to slip when the impact is too
much to hold. Once the general technique is mastered with the smooth pole
it is necessary to construct a grip casement for the lance pole so that
the hand cannot easily slip. For safety sake this casement must not be
too big for the hand to slip over if absolutely necessary. A simple foam
rubber tubing can be found at hardware stores that is designed to insulate
hot water pipes. A size exists that will slide firmly onto the pressure
treated tree stake. Cut two three inch sections. Glue one in front of
the grip and one behind it. Cover in leather or fabric. This makes a grip
that will not slip easily but can allow the hand to pass over easily as
well. Again as in each previous step the exercise must be initiated slowly
and speed built up as the new factor is assimilate into the learning process.
Once this training technique is mastered the horse and rider become a
unit and can deliver and withstand a devastating hit. If the jouster has
an exceptional riding ability they can proceed on to an extremely advanced
training technique. Take an experienced horse and mounting it bare back
begin at the beginning. Slowly walking into a telephone pole with an eight
foot pole. Just bareback this time. Once you have gone through all the
steps and can do a decent pass and hard hit bareback then you will be
virtually undefeatable. I have seen pairs of men trained this way hit
so hard that their horses both spun three hundred and sixty degrees after
impact. Static target training is more difficult and more dangerous than
quintain training. However it is spectacularly more effective. To some
people tilting at wind mills is an impossible superhuman thing. To others
it it simply good training. You can guess which would win at jousting.
|
