A horizontal cut at the middle of the body or the arms, delivered with a step.
A cut that travels horizontally, usually from or from the shoulder, aimed at the arms, the ribs or the belly. It reaches the middle that the descending and rising cuts pass by. Because it travels flat it is easy to overrun from above, so it is usually thrown as a follow-up or against a lowered guard rather than as the opening attack.
Sources and interpretation
- Joachim Meyer (1570) well-attested Meyer treats the Mittelhau as one of the principal cuts and chains it with the Zwerch and the Zornhau in his devices; Liechtenauer's glosses do not name it as a master cut. Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens (1570), Wiktenauer page
- Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens (1570), Wiktenauer page Printed book public domain; Wiktenauer article text CC BY-SA 4.0; translations as marked on the page Meyer's division of the cuts.