This article is a discussion of my approaches to fencing against the three archetypes in the context of longsword.
[..]three bouts apiece with three of the best English masters of defence & three bouts apiece with three unskillful valiant men, and three bouts apiece with three resolute men half drunk. Then if they can defend themselves against these masters of defence, and hurt, and go free from the rest, then are they be honored, cherished, and allowed for perfect good teachers, and what countrymen soever they be. But if any of these they take fail, then they are imperfect in their profession, their fight is false, & they are false teachers, deceivers and murderers, and to be punished accordingly, yet no worse punishment unto them I wish, than such as in their trial they shall find.
My interpretation of the three archetypes (Skilled, Unskilled, and Drunk) are below, along with my approaches to fencing against them. Silver tells us here that if a "master" cannot win consistently against these three archetypes, they are not really a master (note: he is challenging Italian rapier fencing masters to undergo this trial, and he believes they will fail - he doesn't like them very much).
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Skilled
Fencing against a skilled individual should be the most difficult of the three, but in practice they can be the least problematic. In martial arts, with skill often comes a degree of predictability - there are only so many sensible actions that can be taken from a given situation, and a skilled individual is likely to choose one of these actions.
While Silver explicitly calls them "the best English masters of defence", this should be considered relative to your own skill. Generally, I think of this archetype as being those with at least a similar amount of training and knowledge to me.
Fencing against a skilled opponent doesn't really have (or require) a specific approach. Just fence as the masters wrote.
Unskilled
Unskilled opponents are unpredictable. They have not studied the art thoroughly, they do not always make sensible decisions, and they will sometimes attempt to strike without thinking of their own defence. If you fight an unskilled opponent the same way as you would a skilled one, there will likely be a lot of double hits.
Fencing against an unskilled opponent is obviously quite easy, but it requires a different approach. If you attempt to perform a simple attack, such as a Zornhau, you may find yourself being struck as well. I find that the best way to fence against an unskilled opponent is to fight passively to begin with, while looking for actions my opponent does that could be exploited. Do they expose their elbows when in vom tag? Do they lead with the hands when they strike? Do they have a "go to" response to an action I make? Using feints you can often work out their most likely response to an action. Once you have discovered an opening, you can capitalise on it.
Drunk
Fighting a drunk is the most likely to result in double hits. A drunk does not think about self-preservation, and tries to strike their opponent rather than defend themselves. If you have ever fought someone who seems to ignore your sword while throwing powerful attacks of their own, this is an example of a drunk. Often these fencers will "flail" with their sword and won't have much in they way of a plan.
When fencing against a drunk, it's a good idea to use timing to your advantage. Defend against their attacks and strike quickly to an opening which will surely appear - often they will leave the centre line completely uncontested between strikes, which is a great time to stab them in the face. Feints will not be very useful here, since they are likely to just throw an attack of their own instead of attempting to defend. Many examples from the sources of fighting against a Buffel (a fencer who "acquires victory with power") will be applicable here.
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These are simply my approaches to fencing against the three archetypes. The second two require relying on a reactive style of fencing which isn't exactly commonplace in the Lichtenauer tradition (Ringeck says that fencers who "do nothing else than parry, they permit such art little joy"), but it is a good idea when you don't know if your opponent will react with something suicidal that will result in a double hit.
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