Quick Reactive Shield Wall (3 ranks representation) seen from the side
Progression of the Quick Reactive Shield Wall formation, with 3 ranks (represented by the 3 re-enactors pictured here), seen from the front
Quick Reactive Formation filmed from behind to better show the actions of the second rank stepping into position, and then back into their supporting position
Demonstration of quick reactive shield wall, from two ranks (represented by two at rear of the hall), one frontal attacking rank supported by secondary rank, able to close into tight protective formation at a single command "Volley", and able to quickly get back into combat formation on the second command "Break". In practise with a larger number of combatants the first rank is in a loose fighting line, with the second supporting rank behind and to the side, so that it is in a staggered formation. This presents the opposition with a shield wall, just not one of "close order"/overlapping shields, which has become a bit of a re-enactorism in performance combat, is very awkward to properly fight in, and is only one of the many strategic manouvres that occur under the umbrella heading "shield wall"
HESITATION: One of the worst culprits for a show fight looking less than dynamic and entertaining when performed before the public are those horrible moments when you start a show fight, and you get that confused lightning strike of ...duh, um, what do we do now?? Weren't you supposed to hit my shield and then I was ...wait, I was going to hit your shield and then ... no...um..", and even a few seconds hesitation is enough for todays short attention span public to lose interest.
The obvious answer, train to keep fights flowing and have some plan B moves ready in case you do get a blank moment once you've started the combat display.
In this short Spear and Shield clip from one of our displays at the Wareham Saxon Festival 2022 there's a blend of choreographed work along with freeform sparring. Hopefully it's fairly seamless and not easy to tell what is pre-rehearsed and what is spontaneous sparring. The sparring is still made up of component moves: strikes and counter blocks, that are again part of our weekly training evenings. There's alot of development behind this 1 minute or so of show combat, almost a year at this point, and the standard here is of a Fyrdsman training in the top Level of the Foundational Grade (so Grade 3 Level 3) hence the final contact being a well placed and controlled head/neck area "strike". More on that in other posts as FCTS doesn't involved head strikes proper until starting out in Grade 2 as prep for Eastern style combat. My combatant opponent here is just starting out in the Grade 2 combat hence including a head area strike, however in the most basic format (G2L1) so this is a good example of how to perform one of these safely: note the aiming past the target area, drawing back and just holding until the opponent registers and acknowledges.
