Lead with the sword, end with the buckler.
Playing with the buckler more and more, I'm convinced that it's not built to be a blocking shield.
Yeah you can block with it... but you need to be very skilful to protect yourself against a blade or spear.
You're far better off using your sword to parry with. Most of us will have trained this much more in the first place, and although your blade doesn't look like it, it has a much bigger and more useful defensive surface area than the buckler.
Where the buckler comes in, is to protect yourself in the bind, trap an opponent's sword, and instead of grappling, you use it as a huge slapping plate to push your opponent's sword hands offline.
This video is a great example, I parry Gogo's attack with my own sword, then use the buckler to smash his outstretched hands. This throws him off balance and allows me to come in with a follow up attack.
This is something you may be able to do with your hand, however the extra surface area provided by the buckler, not to mention the fact that it is a lump of metal, means you are less likely to miss.
In addition to the bigger surface area, if your opponent was to manage to get their weapon back online before you can push them out of the way, then there's a large chance that you'll end up getting a cut to your hand.
So the buckler is used for protection, just not blocking like in the video games.
If you're a buckler player, let me know how you get on with it and whether you agree or disagree :)
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