A horizontal cut at head height with the hands held high and the blade turned flat, so it both strikes and covers against a descending cut.
The Zwerchhau ("thwart" or "cross" cut) is a against anything that comes from above. The hands rise to head height with the thumb underneath, and the blade travels horizontally, hitting with the short edge on the right side and the long edge on the left. The crossguard and strong sit above your head as the cut lands, so an incoming is caught while your edge reaches their head.
Liechtenauer's verse says the Zwerch takes away whatever comes from the roof, which the glosses read as: it breaks . It is also the classic way to strike around the other side after a bind, since it flows easily from one side to the other.
Sources and interpretation
- Johannes Liechtenauer (Wiktenauer article, with the Zettel and its glosses) Article text CC BY-SA 4.0; hosted translations generally CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; the historical text is public domain Zettel, verses on the Zwerchhau.