Ryan's Swords stuff

There are many popular one-two sword combinations utilized throughout the world and its many ages, but one duo stands out as one of the more widely recognized and popular ones. This combinations was used in many old world countries including Italy, France and Spain. Often times a fighter wielding a one handed weapon such as a Rapier found it difficult to both defend and attack effectively, thus, the Main Gauche was born. Literally translating to “Left hand” the Main Gauche was a short, dagger length offhand weapon with the primary use being to parry incoming attacks whilst attacking your opponent with the primary hand weapon, usually a Rapier or Epee.

The Main Gauche was designed to defend specifically against thrusts, having a wider guard and other devices that aided in the defense of the hand of the wielder. This made it an extremely practical tool in duels specifically, seeing as the opponent was most likely using one of the more popular swords of the time such as a Rapier, which is designed particularly for thrust techniques. It was often paired with a quick mainhand weapon, keeping the fighter agile in both his attack and defense and keeping him from becoming unbalanced in his movements.

There were a few popular variants of this type of weapon including the “Sword breaker” style that used slotted or comb style handguards that were designed to catch an opponents sword and hold it in stasis, opening them to offensive strikes. Whether or not the Sword breakers could in fact break a sword is disputed between scholars. There also existed a “Trident” style, possessing a three-pronged blade style that was proven to be more often successful in catching an opponents weapon.

Though popular in the middle ages, the use of a offhand weapon has dwindled in modern day sports fighting, mostly due to the use of lighter and faster weapons such as the foil. Its use is forbidden in most official sports fighting establishments. It is, however, utilized to this day in some more true-to-history fighting venues such as the SCA where the style has been dubbed “Florentine Style”, and it also maintains popularity in media culture as a “Dual Wield” style in many popular games and films.

Whether you yourself can appreciate the beauty and use of a Main Gauche, no one can deny that it makes up a good bit of sword history in Europe. Honor all styles!


Make sure to check out my other stuff, where I write about everything from Roman swords to modern-day armor clothing.



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