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The style of fighting with sword and shield varied little through out Europe and consisted mostly of cutting at the foe from behind the shield. With the sword drawn back it could be held out of sight of an opponent behind the shield so they could not see where a cut was coming from. This type of deception is why the quickest and most aggressive usually won an encounter- you had little warning where to move your shield to block a blow. It s...

During the wild melee of battle, ranks mixed and battle often time broke down into a series of multiple duels or multi-soldier brawls. This confusion was perfect for a man on horseback with a sharp sword. The beast would cut a wide path and he could wade into almost any part of the battle he wanted and when he did you needed him to be from your camp or all was lost. Covered in mail dealing blows down on a lightly armed man the knight on horseback...

Gladiator Mosaic 320-30 AD Villa Borghese Despite what Hollywood would have you believe, gladiators were not given random weapons, sent into the arena, and told to fight. When someone became a gladiator, they were assigned a specific type and style of fighting and practiced it constantly. A specific type of gladiator only fought another specific type of gladiator as determined by well-established rules. These pairings were intended to pro...