Okay back at it for the specifics, What im thinkin of is someone aiming for someones throat while attacking (one handed) sword being like sideways or almost sideways (if thats possible) and someone else jumping im front of them right before this happens and blocking it with a sword. The other person is also supposed to be very strong, so this is kinda overpowering the defender. Sorry if this is worded weird!
Oooh nice! Mkay.So, a cut to the throat at a very near horizontal angle. Single-handed weapons. High speed, lots of force.Then a block.Structure not unlike this, perhaps?
From the aggressor’s perspective (the dude with the gold on his leg): A cut like that could be made from either the right or left (basically swing your arm back and forwards in front of you horizontally at chest height, a tennis forehand vs a tennis backhand).As the attacker cuts, they should also step forwards. This puts bodyweight behind the cut.From the defender’s perspective:Blocking a cut like that...Notice how in the pic above the swords are crossed at right angles?Someone throws a hard horizontal cut at the face.Block at right angles, hand well braced (ideally with your body behind it).Look closely at the crossing point in the pic, and see where on the blades the swords are crossing. The defender has caught the attacker’s blade closer to their hilt. The strongest part of the sword is nearest the hilt. It’s also where you have the most control and strength. So if you’re interacting with someone’s sword, you want to do it from a place of your strength, and their weakness.Once the swords are no longer in motion, you could also put your off hand on the blade to bring more strength to the mix.But here’s the thing: Hollywood lied.Those awesome moments where two characters glare at each other across locked blades? <--- Really Bad FightingBecause, if you’re standing still in one position that close to your opponent for that long? You’ve already been stabbed.A block is never just a block, it’s a parry. A defensive move that you immediately turn into Something Else. (Something Else can be hella sweet too: a counter-cut to the face, a pommel strike to the head, a grab and stab.)So... if I were sent a really hard cut, I would parry to deflect and keep myself safe, and then STRAIGHT AWAY do a thrust to the face.
BUT here’s the other thing: You can still have those dramatic swords locked moments. You just have to back them up with narrative.Cause the adrenalin hits and your ability to fight well goes out the window, and the temptation to fight strength with strength is a real thing that has to be trained out of you.So a character doing a Dumb Swording Thing in a moment of panic/fear/anger/ego? Totally legit. (I do a dumb all the time.)Your unarmed person? Probably got knocked over when your character jumped in front of them. They should be running the other way like wow. (They SHOULD be. They don’t have to. People stick around to watch when they should be booking it all the time.)I hope this is a little helpful. :)
