Witcher lore!

Geralt's fighting style is often referred to in the novel as 'wide stance' with 'pirouettes', leading each attack with his arm. Though predominantly right-handed with his sword (left handed Signs), he is ambidextrous as Witchers are trained to be in case of an-

injury, being pinned, etc.

This fighting style is referred to as iconic to the Wolf School: focusing on rapid movement, overwhelming a target, misdirection and clean parries. Wide stance and pirouetting lends itself incredibly well to all those aspects, especially when we are-

told that Geralt often 'circles' his blade, implying loose wrist despite a strong grip.

Pirouetting enables a Witcher to change the level of each attack, fluidly moving from head to legs to waist to legs again, etc. The constant movement lowers the risk of being hit as it-

throws an opponent off. A good example of this is the Butcher of Blaviken scene in the Netflix adaptation and is how Geralt is able to overwhelm and decimate a group of men that easily. A Witcher is at most risk of being injured when they stay fighting in one spot for too long,-

it gives a monster too many opportunities or an archer too many chances to successfully hit with an arrow, hence we see Geralt lunge forward and back, using as much ground as possible - it also helps to build momentum behind each strike with his sword. I really like how in the-

novels, Geralt's 'dancing' fight style is always made use of and how his loose wrist style of wielding enables him to change the angles and directions of his blows quickly (you actually see that happen when he's fighting Renfri in the show which is super cool!).

Wolf Witchers-

are trained to fight like this from a young age using The Pendulum. Which is as its name implies, a large wooden pendulum tapered with metal and spikes, swinging in the middle of a series of wooden stakes/stepping stones. The Witcher is blindfolded and instructed to parry,-

land blows, and pirouette from step to step. Many initiates lose their lives whilst training in this manner or take significant and lasting injuries.

Wolf Witchers fight in a dance and I've thought for ages now that that's pretty damn cool.

And that's today's Witcher lore!