"An origin and basis of all weapons that are used with one hand*"

Joachim Meyer on the dusack 1570

This statement puts it clearly and succinctly how important the dusack is in the grand scheme of our training, it's easy to dismiss this tool as it looks like and is a piece of wood covered in leather, but it's application and usefulness in training cannot be underestimated. So I wanted to give a brief overview of the tools and teaching methods we use.

The tool

The dussack is a traditional tool used for training single handed weapons, similar in principle to shinai, bokken and rattan cane. They are illustrated in many manuals, among them Meyer, Mair and even Thibault.

  The dusack we us in the school made by Purple Heart Armoury in the USA (who have been supplying western martial artists for pretty much as long as I have been training), they of a very high quality and perfect for the task. 

• Weight wise they allow for long training sessions without being too light to feel the benefit and realism.
• They posses good "throw" forward balance that encourages you to work with-rather than fight the weapon.
• The shape of the dusack means that it rewards well aligned (edge to edge) cuts while it's sharp taper allows a degree of play with the flat if needed.

• They are forgiving in the blow, by which I mean they will still give a welt and a whack but movement of the wooden core inside the leather skin offers a degree of cushioning (not too much, enough).

I can't praise the tool that Purple Heart have created enough, I regard it as perfect for our needs.

The systems.

**

We use the dusack to train several systems:

• Talhoffer's messer; This is a simple system based on the 1467 manual which alongside unarmed vs dagger forms the basis of our first assessment.
•  Meyer's Dusack; very well codified it teaches structure and cutting patterns whilst gradually introducing counter technique, it uses similar guard terminology to
• Johannes Lecküchner's messer; a much more complex and complete messer/falchion system which compliments all the previous sources (it pre-dates Meyer we use Meyer first as it is more codified).
• I.33 sword and buckler; although not used in the practice of the discipline itself blade mechanics are blade mechanics and-although there are variations caused by the imposition of the buckler, it's important to learn to cut with alignment and to learn the paths that all cuts use as such we pre train the cuts using dusacks and Meyer's cutting patterns. 

Dussack training continues this week and until the interclass competition in mid march. I'm glad that everyone is finding it useful and working at it so hard. 
I'd also like to thank Mike Cartier for producing this Meyer training poster which he has offered as a training aid to fellow followers of the art. Thanks Mike.


In closing I want to say, good luck Jim, you'll be missed at class this week (as will Toby) heal up quick and hurry back mate.

*From the translation by Jeffrey L Forgeng
**Image from the Meyer Freifechter Guild