Zogho largo

The two-page spread of plays against the thrust continues with the six plays relating to breaking the thrust. I’ll cover them all in order, starting with the 11th play of the master of the zogho largo crossed at the middle of the swords, shown on f26v. The text reads:  Questa sie unaltra deffesa che se … Read more

Having kicked our opponent in the groin, we turn the page to see this spread: [Note, this image is not a photograph of the manuscript opened up; I have just put the scan of each page next to each other.]  The story is the same though; having dealt with a whole lot of cuts, including … Read more

As we saw in the 10th play of the Sword in One Hand, the solution to overwhelming force is to let it go by, while preventing it from following you. The “Peasant’s Blow”, or colpo di villano, does this by meeting the incoming sword and yielding to it, while stepping out of the way. This … Read more

Back in the saddle again… It might be more accurate to say, ensconced in the new study and actually getting some work done instead of unpacking boxes… Sadly, no horses involved. Let’s continue where we left off, with the next two plays of the master of the zogho largo crossed at the middle of the … Read more

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