The Seven Dragons is a style of fighting designed for
LARP weaponry devised by Simon Wright. The style relies strongly on the fact that people are very wary of taking blows to the head; by
feinting to the head it forces the
opponent's
sword high to parry it (or otherwise, allows a hit to the head.)
The steps of the maneuover are:
- Choose your attack. Will you attack the head, either shoulder, the body from the left or right, or a leg?
- Position yourself so that your sword-foot is more forward than the other.
- Step further forwards with your sword-foot whilst attacking your opponents head.
- As the opponent parries, move the sword around to strike the now unprotected location.
- As you take a step backwards, aim for the head to force the opponent to parry.
- Return to the ready position (sword-foot forwards) and decide your next attack.
To perform the Seven Dragons is to go through this sequence seven times, attacking:
- The head
- The right shoulder
- The left shoulder
- The body from the right
- The body from the left
- The right leg
- The left leg
ie: twenty-one hits in total. These are usually performed against air; one of the most important parts of LARP combat is
pulling your blows.
The head
The head is hit by a downwards cut from above, and parried by a horizontal sword above and in front of the head.
The shoulders
The shoulders are hit by a downwards cut, parallel to the head hit but inches to either side. It is parried by moving the sword to the head-parry position, but inches to the side.
The body
The body is hit by a sweeping cut travelling around the body and hitting in the side, and is parried by a vertical sword held low on the correct side.
The legs
The legs are hit by kneeling on the off-leg as sweeping around like the body hits. Care must be taken as you are vunerable to attacks from above. Leg shots are rarely parried; it is usually easier to hop back. If a parry is attempted, the sword should pass the
opposite direction to the opponent's sword, otherwise it will just follow the sword and cannot parry.
A further note; care should be taken that the sword-elbow does not jut out; otherwise it is easy to hit.