Today we will explore the most useful technique a man of the sword ought to know to strike both safely and securely: The lunge.
Being Prepared
An essential aspect of lunging is to find oneself in the right position to do so. First of all both feet should be firmly on the ground yet with the heel very slightly raised to enable a quick motion through a small movement of the front foot.
To begin with, the back foot should be carrying most of the weight as in an "en garde" position. The sword hand should be raised over the opponent’s sword in order to gain control over it, whether it is through the method of covering the sword with your own or by forcibly taking the line by applying pressure to the blade. The free hand should be hovering over breast to shoulder level.
The trigger
This is certainly a matter of debate, but I believe the lunge should not be driven by the movement of the foot but by the movement of the sword. Once the opponent’s sword is safely covered or pressured and assuming there is no response to the initial movement, the tip of the sword should be what drives the rest of the body to carry the lunge in as straight a motion as possible to minimise the distance the point needs to travel.
In other words, imagine your opponent is a giant magnet towards which your point is inexorably attracted to, that if you were to let the sword go, it would go and embed itself in him. Your sword is bringing your arm, then your shoulder and head forward and finally when you are so close to lose balance you take a small step forward to regain your grounding and further lengthen your reach.
The sword position
The two most secure ways to thrust are from the guards of seconda and quarta. In some circumstances you will be able to thrust an imbrocatta with the guard of prima or a stocatta with the guard of terza yet most commonly, it will be the first two that you will use for a long and secure lunge. The reason for this is a thrust in seconda will keep the opponent’s sword in the inside line by controlling it with your true edge and a thrust in quarta will keep it on the outside line.
However, be aware that ideally your sword, sword arm, back and back leg should form one long straight line. The straighter this line is, the closer you will get to your opponent.
The free hand
I have seen many people rely too much on their free hand to parry and incoming blow, be it thrust or cut. I do not think this is something one should rely on. The free hand ought to be used as a form of counter-balancing mechanism to the forward motion of the blade. By throwing your free hand backwards you make your lunge more secure and ease the recovery of the lunge by remaining balanced at all times.
Note that by "free hand" I mean one that does not hold secondaries such as a cloak or a dagger.
Recovering
The safest way to recover from a lunge is to start by bringing the head backwards. In the event of a missed thrust, this ensures that the head moves quickly out of the way. Use then the movement of the head to bring the rest of the body backwards, always keeping your sword en garde until you are assured that you are out of danger. Normally the feet movements only requires that the front foot be brought back to it original place, yet in some circumstances, a slight step backwards may be required to bring your body out of the measure.