Zwerchhau

— crosswise stroke

A horizontal cut delivered above the head with the crossguard high. The classic counter to Vom Tag.

From the right Wrath guard, left foot forward, you step offline as the opponent's Oberhau descends. The sword turns and rises along the short edge with the crossguard held high to shield the head; the blade meets theirs from below and cuts across. To answer on the other side, reverse foot and guard and cut with the long edge. The Zwerchhau is the named counter to Vom Tag in the Liechtenauer tradition, and Meyer treats it as the bridge from any cross-line displacement into a continuous flurry of cuts — most directly, the Prellhau, which lets the blade bounce off their steel and return for a second strike.