On Fighting Melee
Sir Mord Hrutsson the Green

You can not learn how to fight any kind of melee by reading any work or article on the subject. Fighters train for melee; this training is a combination of fighting and a rational approach towards certain goals.The purpose of this essay is to establish a basic rational behind all the effort of training.

To the novice melees are confusing, and in general the larger the melee, the greater the confusion. Such confusion causes an instinctive hesitation. The problem is that during this moment of hesitation, during the time when someone asks "what do we do now?" the melee is lost. The point of training is to lose this hesitation. Any instinctive action must be countered with a rational reaction. To put this logic in another wording, melees are first won in the mind. Any rational reaction can be put into language. Language is the product of rationality, and thus the fundamentals of melee can stated as follows:

1. The goal of any fighter in a melee is to survive.

2. Keep it simple, stupid (KISS).

3. Your best weapon is your mind.

The rest of this essay will explain these fundamentals.

Survival is staying alive. After all, if you don't live through a melee, how are you going to win the fight? The problem of survival boils down to choosing between defending and attacking. Defending and attacking are really opposites, but you can not win if you don't do both. You must attack while defending and defend while attacking. Striking the balance between these opposites requires chivalry. Chivalry is the key to survival.

Chivalry is a subject endlessly discussed. There are those folks who believe that melees are, by nature, unchivalrous. They argue that melees are nothing more than two mobs hacking at each other. Conversely, some folks argue that fighting in melees and wars is the ultimate test of a kingdom's spirit. Chivalry, by this argument, must be ruthlessly effeient. The real truth of the matter probably lies somewhere in between these two extremes, but for myself, chivalry can be described using the the following four words: honor, loyalty, courtesy and prowess. Honor means keeping ones promise. Honor in wars does not simply mean showing up on the battlefield, but doing your part during the battle to the best of your ability. Loyalty can be an obvious thing. You should be loyal to your Royalty and your kingdom. Squires should be loyal to their knight or master. But on the battlefield, loyalty means following the plan of your commander while the commander in return tries his or her best not to put you into useless hazard. Loyalty means swallowing whatever pride you have and doing the irksome task at hand. Courtesy means treating the people around you fairly. We do not fight wars for personal glory. We do not argue a point endlessly. If our opponents are more skilled at that moment, we should aknowledge that skill. Prowess is not just the ability to fight, but rather the ability to fight at the right place at the right time. Prowess is the ability to recognize a situation and then act.

The second fundmental, Keep It Simple, Stupid, is the application of practicallity. There are probably many reasons for this maxim. Simplcity in planning, commanding, and fighting allows each fighter to develop his or her prowess. A unit with a simple structure with high prowess is more effective than a unit with a complex structure with mediocre prowess. A simple structure in a unit allows new members to be integrated into that unit much more quickly than a complex structure. There is less to learn, therefore there is less to be confusing. As the fighter is integrated into the unit, he or she will begin to see the logic of his or her job. A simple set of commands lessens and often negates the confusion that is melee. A simple plan allows all the fighters to do their jobs within the unit. Simplcity demands prowess.

Another practical reason for simplcity is a reality of our Society. Even the best of us are amateurs. Call them what you will, whether it is "weekend warriors" or "hobbyists" the time to train, as units and as individuals, is often very limited. Training fighters can take years, and the integration of them into units takes time. The training of units for a war or another event can take months. Fighters and units simply do not have the time to learn the logic of complex practices of war, and neither do they have the time to learn how to execute such practices.

The third fundamental, your best weapon is your mind, is probably the hardest to explain. Over the years, I have heard various arguements as to which weapons form is the best for melee. I have participated in such arguements and in the end I came a very simple conclusion. What is a sword, glaive or spear compared to the hands that wield them? Our hands are extensions of our minds; by wielding swords, glaives, or spears we make them the instruments of our will. Each fighter within a unit has the ability to win or lose a fight. Winning requires intelligent individual action. The commander should look at his or her unit(s) as a weapon. Winning melees takes an awareness of a unit's abilities and of the situation presented. To look at this fundamental another way, within the swirling confusion that is the reality of melee, you can not always have the weapons forms you want to get the job done. You always have your mind. The ability to recognize a situation and then act upon that situation instantly is something that begins in the mind.

The purpose of this essay is to get people to understand that training for melees must be a rational process. Training is not just a thing of the body, but rather training begins in the mind. The intent of this essay is to serve as a beginning. Not only must fighters learn how to wield their weapons, but they must learn why they wield these weapons. Without an individual knowledge of purpose, any victory gained is meaningless.