I think we should have a bit of explanation here about what this is and what we want to achieve.
Some clues about how the structure leads students forward, with the explanation about how to use it is a) you have a clue, or b) you have no idea but have a group willing to lean.
Rick Note:
The bits below should be put into the Teaching section
should include philosophy of teaching, including clear presentation of blade, starting slowly and with much telegraphing, and "letting the student win".
should note some of the things from http://www.salvatorfabris.com/CommonMistakes.shtml especially the practice to not be jerky and to do things in a controlled way.
This is the first part of a 3 part program to teach Italian Rapier Fencing. Whilst the program can be used by anyone, it was primarily designed for teaching correct historical techniques to SCA fencers.
The core skills are being taught in this part of the program. The chief objective is to develop competency in basic footwork and bladework, along with a rudimentary tactical framework.
The primary skill to be taught at this stage is that of controlling and dominating the opponent's blade. The ultimate aim is to have the student understand and utilise the concepts of stringere and guadagnare. These concepts are taught first with blade contact, as that will help the student learn a sense of sentiment di fer.
The foundation of this understanding is what we call a pressure. We chose to use this word over others as it conveys the concept of firm but light contact. It's a passive sounding word, unlike other candidates such as engagement or contact, and concise unlike "close the line". The approach we are utilising is one that encourages the student to utilise subtle actions that provides minimal feedback to the opponent. We do not want hard aggressive actions against an opponent's blade, as this is prone to excessive blade movement.
Actions are taught in a sequence designed to show the inter-related nature of all the actions. Typically, an action is first learnt against an extended blade, then with a closing step, then as a defensive response, and finally with the lunge. The idea is to move from least complex to most complex. It is also vitally important to use correct sword / point presentation during the drills. The point must be presented no more then a palm's width from the student's sword hand, otherwise the student will be encouraged to make larger exaggerated movements.
The student also needs to learn a degree of control with both their dominant and non-dominant hands. Once some basic control is learnt, the actions are then practiced using both hands. For example, a parry riposte drill will be done first in the dominant hand, and then in the non-dominant hand. Use of the non-dominant hand is required for offhand auxiliary items.
Coordinated use of the offhand with the sword hand is first taught using the dagger in the offhand. The empty hand and then the cloak follow this. By using the dagger first, the student will have a physical reminder of their offhand, and experience has shown that this accelerates the learning process. Primary use of the offhand at this stage is to dominate or check the opponent's blade, not as an offensive device.
Lastly this stage sets the foundation for all the footwork to be used within the system. One of the fundamental lessons to be taught is the use of lateral movement in defence and offence as a basis for establishing angulations and blade dominance. It is vitally important that the student learns that defence is created in depth through the use of blade work and voiding actions.
This chapter is the very beginning: how to hold a sword, how to move your feet, how to look at your opponent and see a target.
At the end of this section you should know
You will learn some Italian terminology so you can start to read manuals on your own and have some idea of what you are reading.
You will also start the first of what will feel like way too many footwork drills! Footwork is vital: to be able to move quickly but in the right direction and exactly as far as you need to move while balanced and guarded, is as important as knowing when to move. The only way to learn that is to practice it over and over until you can move your feet precisely as you need to without thinking about it.
can't do stance without grip if we teach 1st/2nd/3rd/4th in stance.
suggest 1) the sword - incl grip, parts of sword incl false and true edge with demo of why use true, need to relax 2) hand positions 3) stance including prima seconde terza 4) footwork including concept of close/in/out of distance 5) line of engagement incl quadrants and demo of closing line
pics needed: sword, hand positions, stance, guards, footwork, line of engagement
drills/demos: false vs true edge, distance, footwork line drills
handout: parts of sword, hand positions, quadrants, footwork calls.
wanted outcomes: know sword parts, demo hand positions, demo guards, can move feet....
[insert diagram of sword showing pommel, grip, guard,cross, forte, debole, false edge, true edge]
When people first pick up a sword, they tend to hold it like an axe. [insert picture of axe grip] This is a good grip for cutting blows, but not for a thrusting style like Italian rapier.
For a thrusting style, you hold a sword like this [insert pics of one & two finger over cross]
Regardless of whether you prefer one or two fingers over the cross, there are a few critical things they both have in common. Firstly, the sword is held between the thumb and the first joint of the forefinger. This allows the point to be manipulated via finger pressure, which is very quick and energy efficient. It means the sword is balanced on the finger joint rather than held by the muscles of the hand. The thumb should be straight not bent, and pointing down the length of the blade. None of the fingers should be wrapped around the sword or it's furniture. Wrapped fingers engage your hand muscles, which in turn will fatigue quickly losing all your hard learnt point control.
Teaching Note:
It's very common for people to wrap the index finger around the cross in the two-finger grip. This is one of the classic reasons for a tense hand, and lack of fine point control.
One thing to note is that swords are heavy. So it is common for people to hold them very tight for fear of dropping them. The tighter your grip, the worse your control over the sword. It is important to relax your hand and learn to have the sword resting in your hand, rather than using strength to hold on tight. Learn to balance it using the joint of your finger as the balance point, with the grip resting against the meat of your thumb (the part of your palm just below the thumb) cunteracting the weight of the blade.
Failing to relax the hand is a very very common beginner mistake. Learn to look for a tense hand - an opponent with a tense hand is one who has little control and will be wild in their movements.
Teaching note:
A student with a tense hand will find the exercises difficult and their hand and forearm will soon tire. It is far better to start a student with a light weapon that they can readily manipulate. This way they learn to control the weapon properly, without tiring as quickly, and without learning bad habits due to fighting the weight of the weapon. The key principle here is that they must learn to manipulate the weapon with clean, smooth, precise movements.
In the Italian system, the hand can hold the sword in four positions.
[insert pics of positions]
Teaching note:
The positions can be described as, for example, "knuckles up" or "fingernails down" for seconde. Pick a way to describe each one, and use that as well as the names to help the students remember which is which.
For the moment, we will concentrate on the two most important - seconde and quarte.
These are important because they push the opponent's weapon away from you with the true edge of your blade which is the strongest way to do it.
Then hold the sword in seconde and have them try again. Which position made it easier to resist?
Note that you must have the cross of the sword either exactly vertical or exactly horizontal. [pic of correct seconde] [pic of incorrect seconde]
The true edge of the blade must meet the opponent's steel squarely for full effect.
It is important:
It doesn't matter:
The same principles apply when the sword is held in the left hand, except that Seconde and Quarte are reversed. An easy way to remember this is:
Prima - True edge is towards the sky
Seconde - True edge is towards the outside
Terza - True edge is towards the ground
Quarte - True edge is towards the inside.
This section will outline the typical stances or guards used in Italian rapier fencing. The objective is to give you an idea of how to form a balanced protective stance from which you can both readily defend yourself, and launch an attack against your opponent.
In all the stances the legs are held in the same position, so these instructions are common to all the guards.
The leading foot is the foot on the same side side as your sword hand, also called the sword foot. The sword foot points directly forward.
It is critical that the knee and foot both point in the same direction and the knee is over the foot, not sagging inwards.
The rear or "offside" foot should have the heel about a shoulder width distance from the sword foot heel, and be as directly behind it as is comfortable, certainly no more than a couple of fingers width off. Ideally the rear foot is at 90 degrees to the front foot but in practice most people have it somewhere between 60 and 90 degrees. It should be no less than 45 degrees.
With the feet in position, bend the knees to bring them just over the instep of each foot, being sure that they are over the instep and not at a bit of an angle. Now shift the torso backwards (but keep it vertical) so that the front leg is mostly straight, but the knee is unlocked. You may need to also straighten the rear leg a fraction so that some of the strain is relieved. A better way to relieve the strain is to turn the back foot to point a little behind the body, at approximately 100° from the front. The rear knee should now be more comfortably pointed in the same direction as the rear foot. It should feel like the weight is more on the back leg than it is on the front foot. Keep your weight on the balls of your feet. Fold in a little at the waist to maintain a straight spine. We call this the "withdrawn vita". (The vita is the renaissance Italian word for the area of stomach which they considered the centre of the vital force that makes us human.)
If you find the withdrawn vita stance difficult realise that you can do the Italian techniques with a more centred stance, but the manuals do use it, and the the instructions for the lunge require it.
Teaching note: women tend to let their backside stick out more than men do, but watch that everyone tucks the hip under and doesn't have an exaggerated curve in the lower back and the backside jutting out. Explain it as "rotating the hipbones up" or "pulling your hips towards your ribs as though you were starting an abdominal crunch exercise" or even "a pelvic thrust". Not only does it upset the balance of the stance, it is bad for the lower spine.
Teaching note: Keeping the knee over the foot is something a lot of people don't do even when walking normally. Watch your students during all exercises and bouting and call "turn your knee out" to remind them when they forget. Knee damage is the single most common injury in fencers. If the foot and knee are not in vertical alignment, tremendous damage to the stabilising ligaments at the side of the knee, and at the ankle can occur. This damage is very slow to heal.
Your torso should be upright, shoulders straight, head up and level. You are a haughty Italian noble, not a crouching knife fighter or a fearful novice.
Your hips and torso are aligned, and around 45 degrees from the line between your heels. You should not be facing your breast straight on to your opponent or have your sword shoulder very forward. Your shoulders are relaxed, not tense and pulling up.
Your back should be straight, your vita pulled in ("abs engaged" in modern gym speak) so that your lower back is not overly curved.
Turn your head to look along your sword at your opponent.
The sword arm
Your sword arm should be about 3/4 extended. Your elbow should be more than a fist's width in front of your chest, 2 fists is best, and straight from your shoulder, not turning outwards or inwards. Your shoulder should be relaxed, not lifting to try and support the sword.
The guard recommended by Capo Ferro and Giganti is terza or third, with the sword hand in third position (cross vertical, knuckles to your swordside) at nipple height, above the middle of your thigh with the sword tip pointing at your opponent's eyes.
Teaching note: Most people find the sword is heavy in the beginning and so gradually they'll bend the elbow to bring the hand closer to the chest to relieve the strain. Watch for it and tell them to extend the arm. Don't let them extend so far as to lock the elbow.
The off hand
The free hand should be held at about sword side nipple height and roughly level with the sword arm elbow and close to it. The knife edge of the hand should face the opponent
This position covers the inside line close to the sword (why this is important will be shown in the chapter on pressures and glides) and also means that if you defend with the off hand you only have to decide to move it up or down, not up, down, inside or outside.
Teaching note: Many people will let the off hand flop down or ignore the off hand altogether. It's important they get used to holding it ready as it takes too long to get it back into position. This is also about where it will be when they use a dagger so get them used to it now.
The guards are numbered in Italian, and take their names from the hand positions seen in part 1.1.
The main ones we will be using are terza, high seconde, low seconde, high quarte, and low quarte.
- offered vs refused. Note shoulder change when feet change. Note why you would use refused (others use it, we don't teach it at this stage).
Teaching note: Face the students and go into each guard. Ask them which parts of your body are covered and which seem open to attack. Drop the tip so the weapon is horizontal in terza, ask them what is open now.
If we drill the guards then we run into the transition problem. Perhaps just drill terza and quarte, leave the others till transitions.
Make clear note of tip position when on guard and when moving from left to right and back.
Explain hilt and tip position in low vs high.
Have someone look at you as you are in each guard and compare you to the pictures taking note of the list of important things at the bottom of the page.
It is important
It doesn't matter:
The line of engagement, or the line for short, is one of the key principles of the Italian rapier system. Quite simply this line is the imaginary line that would be formed if you joined the middle of your body to the middle of your opponent's body. Tactically, you want to dominate or control the line so that you control the fight.
The front foot and knee should be pointing directly at the opponent, along the line of engagement. Ideally the back of the rear foot should also be on the line (extending the line through the leading foot). In a correctly formed terza guard, the sword arm and sword is also be aligned with the line of engagement.
The 4 quadrants are related to the line of engagement, but are determined by the position of the sword hand. For the purpose of the explanation we will assume that the sword hand is in 3rd.
The 4 quadrants are formed by extending 2 perpendicular planes from the sword hand, parallel to the line of engagement. The vertical plane, perpendicular to the ground, defines whether objects are inside or outside the sword hand. Anything on the palm side of the sword hand is on the inside. Anything on the back of the hand side of the sword hand is on the outside. The horizontal plane, parallel to the ground, defines whether objects are high or low. Anything above the sword hand is high, and anything below the sword hand is low. These areas are always defined in relation to the sword hand, not the center of the body.
Close distance
Perfect distance (lunge)
Wide distance (step and thrust)
Out of distance (relax, he can't get you)
Relative distances. Caleb vs Silfren
Learn your own distance for attacks, estimate your opponent's distance for defence.
geometry - distance changes with angles.
- eg the famous reason not to attack feet
tie into footwork later - how angled steps changes distance compared to sideways ones.
The feet are the delivery system for the sword, and hence good footwork is the foundation upon which all fencing is built. This requires clean precise steps to make it work effectively. Each step should be no more roughly the width of one's shoulders. Each step should also only involve one foot movement for each step, with no extraneous corrective movements. The objective is to move so that the torso does not bob up and down, and as efficiently as possible.
Clean footwork requires practice, a lot of practice. There is no magic to developing good footwork, just hours and hours of repetition. Footwork drills should form a part of each training session. We can't emphasise strongly enough how much you will benefit from learning good footwork. Suffice to say that the majority of the time, we have discovered that poor footwork is the promary contributer to poor fencing actions, and difficulty in learning new fencing actions.
From the basic stance, step directly left with your left foot, then follow with the right foot to retake the basic stance. The length of the step is determined by the first step taken with the left foot, and typically is the same as the width of your shoulders.
From the basic stance, step directly right with your right foot, then follow with the left foot to retake the basic stance. The length of the step is determined by the first step taken with the right foot, and typically is the same as the width of your shoulders.
From the basic stance, step directly back with the rear foot, then follow with the front foot to retake the basic stance. The length of the step is determined by the first step taken with the rear foot, and typically is the same as the width of your shoulders.
Teaching note: Moving weight onto the front leg before moving the back leg will make the body sway and the movement slow and awkward. Some students (especially female ones) may find it easier to move backwards smoothly by thinking about pushing with the front leg rather than moving the back leg. Start by tensing the front thigh to give stability then push with the front leg while thinking "move backwards". The back leg will move of its own accord. Another reason students may do this weight shift is because they feel unstable when moving back, and telling them to push off the front leg doesn't solve the problem. For these students, it may help them to teach them to tense the thighs of the front leg and then step or reach back with the back foot, trying to keep the back foot flat during this step. The front foot will then come back cleanly. The tensed thigh will give them a feeling of solidity in the stance, and also helps prevent the weight shifting to the front leg.
From the basic stance, step obliquely forward and to the inside of your opponent with the front foot, then follow with the rear foot to retake the basic stance. The length of the step is determined by the first step taken with the front foot, and typically is the same as the width of your shoulders in length, and about half the width of your shoulders sideways. (For your typical right hander vs right hander action this would be forward and right.)
From the basic stance, step obliquely forward and to the outside of your opponent with the front foot, then follow with the rear foot to retake the basic stance. The length of the step is determined by the first step taken with the front foot, and typically is the same as the width of your shoulders in length, and about half the width of your shoulders sideways. (For your typical right hander vs right hander action this would be forward and left.)
For ease of understanding it helps to classify the steps into 2 broad catergories of step, that being voiding footwork and closing footwork.
Post-it notes:
Inside, outside, left, right, back
voiding footwork, closing footwork
objective is to get them a sense of where their feet are
foot position and balance
distance! Have to talk about italian version of time of foot and time of hand here. More in tempo, but must have why you move feet here. Close measure, lunge distance, out of distance. And start of idea of one fencing time.
Rick note - this section should be treated as a separate topic. I'd suggest that it should 1.4, and footwork should be 1.5.
Object is to control the opponent's blade so it can't hit you right now.
- have to talk about distance and fencing time again here.
Refer to the line of engagement, do we need to talk about hilt up/down here? Do when getting into low seconde, even though that's in part 5.
Pressure
- sword
- cloak
- parrying gauntlet
Glide
- sword
- cloak
- gauntlet
contact sentiment di fer
Centre of mass
hand check?
Must have
- contact forte to debole
- light push rather than big "aagh" reaction
- blade angled so they can't slip off it easily - refer back to close the line
- glide along their blade with your forte and guard, keeping pressure on
- always step off line when doing the pressure
hilt, pommel, cross, quillon, forte, medole, foible
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Inside, Outside, High, Low
A pressure is one of the chief methods for controlling the opponent's blade. It is performed by making a firm but subtle contact of opponent's blade with your own blade, to close the line for a direct attack from your opponent. The point of your opponent's sword should be pointing to just outside your body (either side). Contact should ideally be with your forte against your opponent's foible. The key principle here is to have the contact point on your sword closer to the base of the forte than the same contact point on your opponent's blade.
The footwork deployed depends on the applicable tactical situation. In general you should step away from the blade. In a defensive situation this is typically done with a left or right step. In an offensive situation this is typically an inside or outside step. This step voids the body off the line of engagement, whilst the sword closes the line, providing for a surer defence.
| Instructor | Student |
| Present to the high inside and step forward. | Step right turning the hand into 4th with the point up. The forte section of the student's blade should contact the foible section of the instructor's blade. At the completion of the step, the instructor's blade should be pointing to just outside the student's left arm |
| Present to the low inside and step forward. | Step right turning the hand into 4th with the point down. The forte section of the student's blade should contact the foible section of the instructor's blade. At the completion of the step, the instructor's blade should be pointing to just outside the student's left arm |
| Present to the high outside and step forward. | Step left turning the hand into 2nd with the point up. The forte section of the student's blade should contact the foible section of the instructor's blade. At the completion of the step, the instructor's blade should be pointing to just outside the student's right arm |
| Present to the low outside and step forward. | Step left turning the hand into 2nd with the point down. The forte section of the student's blade should contact the foible section of the instructor's blade. At the completion of the step, the instructor's blade should be pointing to just outside the student's right arm |
The above exercise teaches how to defend yourself against an attacking thrust.
Teaching Note:
For each of the 4 separate drills, they need to be repeated several times to teach awareness of how far the opponent's point must be deflected. A good rule to remember is 5 good repetitions is a minimum number. Ensure you reset to wide distance each time the drill is repeated. Call the drill to initially teach the action, and reduce the verbal instruction once the student starts to demonstrate some competency. The final iteration is use no verbalisation, and to randomly present to one of the 4 target areas.
Some students find it very difficult to execute the drill coordinating footwork with the hand movement. While not specifically detailed above, when first teaching the drill it is beneficial to have the student only practice the voiding footwork, before you have them also perform the covering action with the sword.
| Instructor | Student |
| Present to the high inside. | Step inside turning the hand into 4th with the point up. The forte section of the student's blade should contact the foible section of the instructor's blade. At the completion of the step, the instructor's blade should be pointing to just outside the student's left arm |
| Present to the low inside. | Step inside turning the hand into 4th with the point down. The forte section of the student's blade should contact the foible section of the instructor's blade. At the completion of the step, the instructor's blade should be pointing to just outside the student's left arm |
| Present to the high outside. | Step outside turning the hand into 2nd with the point up. The forte section of the student's blade should contact the foible section of the instructor's blade. At the completion of the step, the instructor's blade should be pointing to just outside the student's right arm |
| Present to the low outside. | Step outside turning the hand into 2nd with the point down. The forte section of the student's blade should contact the foible section of the instructor's blade. At the completion of the step, the instructor's blade should be pointing to just outside the student's right arm |
The above exercise teaches how to control the opponent's sword when coming into distance.
Teaching Note:
The same comments from the Defensive Pressure drills apply here as well. Make sure the arm is extended before the step occurs.
Teaching Note:
These exercises are to get the student used to seeing a threat, and closing the line while maintaining contact and controlling the distance. The exercise will also help teach the student sentiment di fer. Steps should be clean and not too wide or too long, torso should not bob up and down. Arm should be extended so student's forte is against instructor's debole, student's point a little above instructor's hand so as to maximise target in range - point too high leads to misses. Instructor's point about a hand's width above the student's hand, as this helps trigger the student to move correctly and place their blade properly. If the Instructor's point is too high, the student can't easily make the pressure using the correct part of the blade without lifting their hand too high.
It is important:
It is not essential:
Discuss how this affects the way you take the pressure
Teaching Note:
Steps should be clean and not too wide or too long, torso should not bob up and down. Arm should be extended so student's forte is against instructor's debole, student's point a little below instructor's hand so as to maximise target in range - point too low leads to misses. Instructor's point about a hand's width below the student's hand, as this helps trigger the student to move correctly and place their blade properly. If the Instructor's point is too low, the student can't easily make the pressure using the correct part of the blade.
Teaching note:
In this last exercise, change lines from low to high slowly and clearly at first as this is the hardest for them to react to. Instructor's point must be no more than a hand's width above or below the student's hand to help the student to learn the correct form.
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Notes: Never attack without defence / never defend without offence
combines pressure with footwork
offensive and defensive use of the glide
As a riposte
Defence is only half an attack
* includes hand check to stop returns etc
** if opponent tip high, move dagger across, drop sword tip as step away from opponent's sword blade.
** student dagger forward more than across
** close line first, then move sword
* fine motor action not gross motor action
* defensive cloak
* start this with dagger then move to empty hand
** note that hand is shorter than dagger, may need to step forward first.
** knife edge of hand makes initial contact. then turn palm for control.
** only slide hand if contacting flat, need to practice feel of this and looking for cross
Most important - controlling blade. Especially with empty hand. So practice as two part movement first, concentrate much more on control than on hit.
hand action is primary, footwork secondary, hit tertiary
Sword hand position not important as long as pointy end in other guy.
When using dagger, extend both hands forward with both tips forward. Don't allow student to push dagger well off to the side or have tip off to side.
Key with dagger - dagger is pressuring and gliding, sword is only doing the final kill.
controlling the tip and selecting your target
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Notes:
Reading Opponent
picking a line and target
forcing opponent to move how you want
* giving yourself an opening
* neutralizing the opponent
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follow up to a missed thrust
requires a different distance
Notes : 2nd to 4th, 1st to 3rd, 2nd to 3rd
binds.
ceding parry
remind about tip up/down
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speed vs timing
remind about distances - thrust, lean and thrust, step and thrust.
Notes:
includes learning when to come into measure to make an attack
Start of the idea of attack into preparation? Counter attack?
Talk about controlling the fight
cavizione
counter cavizione
more on hand check?
The cavazione is the basic method for regaining measure once your opponent has gained your sword. This is analogous to the modern disengage.
A simple disengage is one in which the sword point moves in a half circle to detach from the opponent's sword. The most common form is moving the from point up to point down, or vice versa. This then allows you to reestablish the line.
Exercise:
| Instructor | Student |
| Stringere to the high inside | Simple cavazione in an anticlockwise direction to low quarte, whilst stepping back. |
| Stringere to the low inside | Simple cavazione in a clockwise direction to high quarte, whilst stepping back. |
| Stringere to the high outside | Simple cavazione in a clockwise direction to low seconde, whilst stepping back. |
| Stringere to the low outside | Simple cavazione in an anticlockwise direction to high seconde, whilst stepping back. |
The above exercise teaches how to remove yourself from measure once your opponent has gained your sword. The same action can also be used to regain the sword once you opponent has performed this action.
Exercise:
| Instructor | Student |
| Present to the high inside | Stringere to the high outside |
| Simple cavazione in an anticlockwise direction to low quarte, whilst stepping back. | Simple cavazione in an anticlockwise direction to low seconde, whilst stepping forward. |
| Present to the high outside | Stringere to the high inside |
| Simple cavazione in a clockwise direction to low seconde, whilst stepping back. | Simple cavazione in an anticlockwise direction to low quarte, whilst stepping forward. |
| Present to the low outside | Stringere to the low inside |
| Simple cavazione in an anticlockwise direction to high seconde, whilst stepping back. | Simple cavazione in a clockwise direction to high quarte, whilst stepping forward. |
| Present to the low inside | Stringere to the low outside |
| Simple cavazione in a clockwise direction to high quarte, whilst stepping back. | Simple cavazione in an anticlockwise direction to high seconde, whilst stepping forward. |
A circular cavazione is one in which the sword point moves in a complete circle to regain control of the opponent's sword. The most common form is one in which your sword point moves from the outside to the inside of your opponent's blade, or vice versa. The purpose of the cavazione is to deceive an attempted pressure from your opponent, or to regain the line following a stringere or pressure action from your opponent.
Exercises:
Note: Both start from the guard of third for each exercise.
| Instructor | Student |
| Take pressure to close the high inside line | Circular cavazione clockwise to take pressure in high seconde |
| Take pressure to close the high outside line | Circular cavazione anticlockwise to take pressure in high quarte |
| Take pressure to close the low inside line | Circular cavazione anticlockwise to take pressure in low seconde |
| Take pressure to close the low outside line | Circular cavazione clockwise to take pressure in low quarte |
Teaching Note:
This is a foundation exercise that can be built up into several variations with the introduction on footwork. The first variant is to have the instructor step in to make the pressure, and the student then steps back to make the circular cavazione. The second variant is that the student uses either the left or right step instead of the back step. The third variant is that the instructor makes stringere, and the student responds with and inside or outside step whilst making the circular cavazione. Other variants can also incorporate elements of the distance drills etc. It's important that the student learn this action with the basic footwork before they move onto the next set of exercises that include the glide.
It is important that the student understands that the cavazione should be small and tight, with the point moving around the opposing sword blade, not the sword hilt. They should also understand that the cavazione is a helical action where their point moves around the opposing blade and then the arm extends to make the pressure, turning the true edge towards the opposing blade. The same common errors noted for pressures also occur here. Another common error is that the student will try to perform this action from the elbow or shoulder, instead of from the fingers and wrist. They may also try to pull the hand back to make the cavazione. Large cavazione actions are frequently caused by overly tense grips, which must be corrected by reminding the student to relax their hand.
Note: Both start from the guard of third for each exercise.
| Instructor | Student |
| Take pressure to close the high inside line. | Circular cavazione clockwise to take pressure in high seconde. Perform the glide stepping in to hit the chest. |
| Receives the hit. | Steps back onto guard in third. |
| Take pressure to close the high outside line. | Circular cavazione anticlockwise to take pressure in high quarte. Perform the glide stepping in to hit the chest. |
| Receives the hit. | Steps back onto guard in third. |
| Take pressure to close the low inside line. | Circular cavazione anticlockwise to take pressure in low seconde. Perform the glide stepping in to hit the belly. |
| Receives the hit. | Steps back onto guard in third. |
| Take pressure to close the low outside line. | Circular cavazione clockwise to take pressure in low quarte. Perform the glide stepping in to hit the belly. |
| Receives the hit. | Steps back onto guard in third. |
put exercises here that we used in Canberra with Owain
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The lunge derives it name from the original Italian term for this action, the stocatta lunga.
Tactically, the lunge is used to deliver a quick attack that also allows us to quickly recover back to a safe distance. The lunge consists of a sequence of body movements that together provide a smooth transition, allowing us to deliver the edge or point to hit our opponent. The lunge begins with the extension of the hand, which then "pulls" the body forward, allowing the front foot to make the attacking step, which in turn drives the body weight behind the sword blade. The driving force forward comes from the straightening rear leg, not the stepping front foot. The offhand moves from its extended position, to a position at the side of the head, as a counter-balance to the forward motion. (This offhand movement is based on Giganti's text not Capo Ferro's text.) The attacking step with the front foot is not performed like the regular advancing step. The step starts with the toes curling up, and then the lower leg kicking out from the knee to land on the heel. This kick forward should initially be no more than the length of one's foot, and the sole of the foot skims just above the ground surface. The movement forward is continued by the back leg rapidly straightening to drive the body forward. As the rear leg drives the body forward, the weight rolls forward with the knee moving straight forward, until the knee is over the instep. The offhand snaps up beside the head at the same time the back leg straightens. The offhand action is made by bending only at the elbow. If the fencer is starting from the withdrawn vita stance shown in Giganti and Capo Ferro, there is an additional movement between the extension of the arm, and the kick of the advancing step. As the straightening arm reaches full extension, the front leg bends at the knee allowing the hips to translate forward. This translation continues up to the point the front knee comes over the front instep, and then the kick action initiating the attacking step occurs. The recovery from the lunge begins with the rear leg bending at the knee and then pulling the body backwards. The feet come back to the basic stance position and the arm returns from the extended position last. At all times the hips should remain level and parallel to the ground. Failure to do so is a frequent cause of knee injury. The lunge is a complex action that must be broken into its component elements so that the student understands the correct action. The following teaching sequence has been found to rapidly instill an understanding of the correct actions in fencing students. The instructors call is shown in brackets.
Mechanics of the Lunge
How to Teach the Lunge
should note how far the foot moves. Perhaps pic of that on the vinyl
Common Problems With The Lunge
Notes:
Should only get explanations and definitions in the book
inquartata, slope, slips, intagliata, passata, triangle
This reinforces the concept from the Scholar program that everything is done with both hands
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* From this point onwards all concepts are taught with single sword and use of the offhand
* Offhand order: dagger, gauntlet, buckler, case, offensive cloak
Percussive cuts
stramazzone
Passive = Stringere
Active = Beats
* advanced method of neutralisation
* foible to foible
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* up to this point all the parries have been pressures
* include the false edge parry (back beat) [originally listed as it's own topic]
* the concept of using offhand device to stringere
This is the section we used to call 2nd intention. I just used this term as a way of grouping the concepts together. It seems as good a term as any other following the conversation with the Maestro.
Rick note:
I'm putting this first as I think it's an easier concept to teach first.
we originally had this as an Uberconcept.
Riposte of Invitation
Dynamic invitation
Note: The book has work to learn and drills to start learning to teach
* difference between response for a big movement and a small movement
* release sword in 2 hand work
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stop thrusts and stop cuts
hey if we didn't put this one in Peter would disown us! :-)
what was I thinking when I wrote this? Dammit we should have put notes on all the post-its!
again no notes - talk about being lazy and I'm sick of the old pirate phrase to fill the gaps
fight psychology
what do we want here?
external appearance and projected appearance
* from this point onwards learning is self-directed
* stop complaining or we'll stick you upside down!
Rick note:
I'm thinking we should use this section to point towards where to find more information to extend the knowledge.
how to run a drill
- blade presentation
- student winning
- picking on problems: pick one or two main ones only
gross motor skills before fine motor skills
start slow and very clear telegraphing. speed up as they cope.
if they aren't getting it, slow down, back up
the more experience they have in that drill, the more you can push to the point they start to fail, then back a little, and drill till they get past that point with the practice. The student must finish by getting it right, even if you have to slow a little or change a little so they can feel they have learned something and succeeded. they have to feel they can do it, even if they also feel they need a bit more work to get really good.
If you don't have a teacher, then you must do the same with a partner, each looking closely for the things marked as important.