[Regia-NA] The Nasal: What's it for?

[Chris Boulton]

As a re-enactor with a fair bit of battlefield experience I find it quite
easy to imagine the alterations to our mode of combat to turn it into the
real thing. A classic when parrying a sword cut to the shield side of your
head with your sword rather than your shield, is the backhand cut across
your opponent's face which naturally follows. This would be quite a powerful
cut with a horizontal path, and still leaves your shield in optimum position
for defence. The nasal bar would help to protect against such a cut, which I
believe would not be uncommon.

Take your sword in hand, assume position facing imaginary opponent, move
sword across to the left blocking imaginary blow from high left, notice
you're now inside imaginary opponent's guard, launch mighty backhand cut
across imaginary opponent's face, go into garage, find polyfilla to repair
chunk you've just taken out of the wall plaster, do it outside next time.

Chris.