Consulting Swordsman
Catchy post title, huh? Let us continue our examination of the plays of the sword in two hands in zogho largo. The text reads: Anchora me incroso qui per zogho largo a meza spada. E subito che son incrosado io lasso discorrer la mia spada sopra le soi mane, e se voglio passare cum lo … Read more
Despite the fact that we’ve just had the sword in one hand, the grips, the blows, and the guards, this seems like the true beginning of the longsword section, because Fiore begins with these words, which appear over a blank space: Spada son contra ogni arma mortale, ne lanza ne azza ni daga contra mi … Read more
Fiore’s guards of the longsword form a quite complete mechanical overview of the system of movement that Fiore’s art requires. If you can move fluidly through the guards, with every guard transition forming a blow, or one of the voltas (meza, tuta, stabile), then you are probably moving as Fiore would want us to. Regarding … Read more
Welcome back! The last page of guards looks like this: And it includes coda longa, bicorno, frontale, and dente di zenghiaro la mezana. Posta di coda longa Questa sie posta di coda longa ch’e destesa in terra di dredo. Ella po metter punta, e denanzi po covrir e ferire. E se ello passa inanci e … Read more
The guards of the longsword follow on from the blows, which were preceded by the ways of holding the sword. I see this as a progression: hold the sword like this; make these blows; the blows create the guards. It is axiomatic that in Italian swordsmanship “between two guards lies a blow; between two blows … Read more
[oops! I accidentally scheduled part 2 for this week, and part 1 for next. Sorry! don’t worry though, part 1 is in the queue to post then. Part 3 is growing and growing- I thought it was about done but just added another 1000 words to it… and I’m still only part way through. But … Read more
This section is very interesting as it describes the seven blows of the sword, and divides one of them (the thrust) into five, which makes eleven in total (like the eleven plays of the sword in one hand). It is also admirably specific in terms of the lines of the blows, and in some cases, … Read more
So how do you hold a longsword then? Simple really: any damn way you like. Fiore shows us six distinct grips, and there’s no suggestion that these are the only possible grips- not least as, whichever interpretation you follow, the guard bicorno is generally agreed to be yet another way of holding the sword (I’ll … Read more
[Note: I have since updated my interpretation of this passage, thanks to a lengthy conversation on my podcast. You can read about the updated interpretation here. I’m leaving this post unchanged as it marks a specific point in the interpretation process.] O lordy. Here we go. This page alone blows every other longsword treatise out … Read more
As I see it, the sword in one hand section is very clearly a short and simple version of the system, foreshadowing Viggiani’s Lo Schermo (1575. Available in translation by Jherek Swanger here: buy it. It’s essential reading for any scholar of Italian swordsmanship of any period.). This parry from the left is so fundamental … Read more