Royal Infantry Combatives Manual/Polearm Techniques

<h3 data-rte-spaces-before="1" data-rte-spaces-after="1"> Close Guard </h3>
<p data-rte-fromparser="true" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">Close Guard is one of the two primary stances when employing a polearm. This stance is affected by standing with the lead foot about six inches forward; the lead foot shall be the same as the hand which is positioned closer on the polearm’s shaft to the head of the weapon. The weapon shall be held at such a distance from the front of the bearer that they are balanced, usually between six and fifteen inches forward, and the weapon shall be positioned such that it diagonally bisects the neck and lead shoulder. This stance is primarily defensive in nature and most useful when needing to defend, especially where grappling may be employed or an enemy is able to effectively maneuver inside of the Long Guard; in the event of enemy bypassing the Long Guard, the soldier should fall back to Close Guard until the range needed by Long Guard can be reestablished. The most common tactic here when not advancing into a thrusting attack is to use this position to parry an incoming strike and counter with a buttstroke or haftstrike to knock an enemy down or back and leave them vulnerable to a follow up thrusting attack seeking a kill.
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