Seven Points On Melee Combat

Melee combat is one of the most misunderstood things in the fantasy and even zombie genres, even as it makes up a great deal of the drama of that genre.

While I am not an expert, as a police officer I have trained for and engaged in a great deal of personal violence, and I have collected and trained with a wide range of battle-ready (sharp steel) copies of medieval weapons.

So let’s look at a few points about melee combat with hand-held weapons.

 

#1) It is physically demanding

Don’t take my word for this; get a baseball or cricket bat, or even a broom handle. Go outside and start whacking a tree or post, and you will quickly get an idea of how demanding. The kinetic shock of the hits will numb your hands and strain your wrists and elbows, and you’ll quickly see the high demands of oxygen needed.

 

#2) Don’t trust movies

Movie fights are orchestrated by choreographers, most of whom are trained as dancers, which is why battle scenes involve so much body movement and over-stated movements. Instead, go to YouTube and search great sword, long sword, katana, etc. You’ll find videos of a lot of goobers just dancing around whacking each other (which is funny), but if you keep looking you’ll find footage of serious groups demonstrating and sparring with suitable weapons.

While you’re there check out ‘porcupine eating pumpkin’-it’s a hoot!

 

#3) Remember that it is both deadly serious and unscripted

In melee only one side survives, so participants are not inclined towards theatrics (those who do seldom last long), and they try to get it over with quick before someone stabs them from behind or they run out of air. Footing in a fight quickly becomes uncertain from bodies, body parts, dropped weapons, puddles of blood, and the like, so they’re not going to want to dance around in case they trip over something.

What you do is only half the fight-you have to watch the foe and see what he is doing so you can counter, deflect, avoid, and otherwise avoid getting hit long enough to kill him.

 

#4) Shields are important

Get a couple friends; equip all parties with lengths of Styrofoam, cardboard tubes or Nerf weapons and go at it. Then give one person (make sure it is you) a trash can lid and try it again. Shields are incredibly effective against swinging attacks; somewhat less so against thrusting, but they still do well.

So how do you defeat a shield? Stab them from behind. Not an option? Then go through the shield. Historical wood shields were made of tongue-and-groove slats, the whole comparable in strength to one-inch industrial plywood. Now, the shield is not fixed in place, but by hammering on it you can (eventually) chop it to pieces. The duel scene in 13th Warrior shows a rather speeded-up example of this method.

 

#5) They invented armor for a reason

Yes, Howard wrote Conan as fighting bare-chested, but Howard lived with his mother for his entire life. Armor is a no-brainer. One tidbit about armor is that chain mail moves and shifts. You need a wide belt strapped tight across your waist to hold it in place, or the next time you swing you likely will be forced to stagger to stay upright. Another fact you can use to add color is to wear your mail shirt or hauberk with a small loose roll of mail above the belt so it will take much of the weight off your shoulders and distribute it to your hips.

 

#6) Check your footgear

Football, golf, basketball, soccer…the list goes on and on: they all pay close attention to traction and footing in regards to footgear.

Just as importantly, as I learned in the 1980s when I first started police work: wear solid footgear. I always wear steel-toed tactical boots-not for kicking (the toe caps don’t have the angle), but to protect my feet when someone stomps upon them. Pain is pain, and stomping on someone’s foot is a good way to throw them off their game; do it hard enough and it can break a toe(s). So protect your feet, and as you write, let your hero (or the villain) remember that toes and shins are vulnerable, too.

 

#7) It is fast, confusing, and over quickly

Much like my sex life.

Melee will generally last only a one or two exchanges, or just a few, before one or both combatants are down. If you’ve tried #1 you’ll know why: you have to get it over with before you run out of air. And odds are there’s other people involved, so you have to finish this foe before another piles on.

While you are focusing on the foe (remember #3) you will have fragmentary images of the larger battle raging around you (at best). It is easy to get blind-sided under conditions such as these, but you don’t dare take your eyes off your opposite number lest he transfix your spleen. As a writer try to convey this, and better still, use it to develop the ongoing fight without having to line out every step and swing the hero’s flunkies are making.

 

Hopefully these points will prove useful or at least entertaining.