The thing that is great about "striking to the flat of the masters", that is, striking the blade of an incoming oberhau (though this works with an unterhau or even Ochs and Alber) is that you are adding a surprising amount of power into the blow the man is delivering. It is virtually impossible for him to effectively fight this because he has to IMMEDIATELY change direction of his own blow *and* fight the power you've added to him. The suppression really does work well.
Against an unterhau, it's easy to "fall upon his blade" in such a way that you have literally stopped his blow before he can really bring it to bear. That's really nice, especially if he's coming from his right side because he's all short with his blow from below. That, naturally, leads to much more of a bind from the suppression, because he's already set up in opposition to your blow.
As far as attacking a man ready in Ochs, I think it's important to remember that a swordfight isn't a gunfight. That is, it is never advised to wait, just in Zufechten, in your guard, prepared to attack... I jokingly call this "high noon swordsmanship". That is, to stand like gunmen in a vacated street... twitching fingers... tumbleweeds blowing through the space between them.
We aren't advised to attack a man *prepared to thrust us in the face* with Krumphau. We are advised to *break* Ochs with Krumphau.
So what does breaking mean? It can mean a hit (which is what most people want it to be), it can be something that stuffs his attack, or something that gets him to twitch and forget what his plan was. In all three cases it moves him from being on the offensive (in the Vor) to being on the defensive (in the Nach).
Attacking a man who is set in a good stance with his finger on the trigger is foolish. Waiting for his attention to drift, looking for him to blink, waiting for him to try to change his stance, looking for him to start to back up... THIS is when you attack a man. You look for that invitation (fencing language).
What invitations in Och look like:
- He takes the stance already with a forward weight and hands exposed - You can attack the hands because his hand motion is already spent and he must attack with his feet which is slower than your strike.
- He attempts to switch guards, most often to Vom Tag - You can attack the hands because his sword is moving backwards. This is the principal of nachreisen.
- He drifts into range without realizing it - You can attack the hands in the Vor because he is not prepared to step.
- He starts to thrust from Ochs, committing himself to that thrust - You can attack the blade with Krumphau with the "2-tempo" action we have referenced.
- And the best of all, if He is moving *into* Ochs from another guard in the Zufechten but isn't yet prepared in it - blast the hands.
And these are just a few examples I can think of off the top of my head.
Attacking the prepared man? Foolish. Because it doesn't work doesn't mean that Krumphau doesn't work. It means that is NOT how swordfighting works. There is a reason duels we have records of lasted hours. Two men not wanting to get hit are wary, prepared, and actually care about getting hit.
Jess
