We return to page 4, where we find the first instance of Italian Rapier Soft Core Porn. You know, I really do appreciate being able to see the exact orientation of each muscle and joint in an action or guard (at least, when the engraver doesn’t go for Rodin-esque distortions), but concentrating on pages full of naked men is always sort of awkward when reading in public. At least Marozzo garbs up for his manual (speaking of which, Marozzo et al. are being taught at June Uni)
But enough crap…
How to Deliver the Thrust
The heart of the matter is the ability to deliver quick, long, strong lunging thrusts and immediately recover out of measure
As discussed, his strategy boils down to “Take a tempo, lunge, strike, recover”. If your lunge is slow, awkward, or otherwise crap, then you cannot execute that strategy effectively. Recognizing this fact is why I set about the hundred lunges (which have slacked off this week. Back on the bandwagon tonight. Afterall, it’s summer, the TV is full of reruns).
The first question, though: Does he then mean, whenever he says thrust (this is, afterall, “how to deliver the thrust”), to lunge? I assume so, because otherwise you are within lunge measure of your opponent as you wait to be in your own extension measure.
..the correct way to deliver the attack… extend the arm, extend your body forward (in one tempo), so that the attack arrives on target before the opponent realizes it is coming.
Hand before foot. Hand before foot. It’s a mantra for all new fencers, and most intermediate fencers, and apparently was a mantra in period, too. I like the reason he gives, of the attack landing before the opponent’s cognition catches up to it. I also feel that the extension first, body/foot second, gives a mechanical advantage by placing the forte against the opponent’s foible. It also permits the “gravity assisted lunge” discussed previously here.
Recover by moving the head back first
This statement was, I think, the first “aha” moment I had while reading Giganti. As a strip fencer, I was taught to spring back off the front foot, or to break the rear knee first. But just shifting my head backwards, so that the weight of it is behind my back hip, pulls me into the recovery with no other effort. I end up falling back onto my rear leg, back into the rear-weighted stance, and can throw the lunge and recovery Giganti describes over and over again, quickly, with little wear-and-tear.
Once you know how to deliver [a lunging thrust], the rest will be easy to learn, but not vice-versa
I often wish I could emulate Nick Evangelista and not let a fencer pick up a sword and spar until he’d been drilling for six months. We ultimately do our new fencers a disservice by justifying anything with “But they need to have fun or they won’t come back”. Of course, we’d do ourselves a disservice by driving them all away. *sigh* One day I’ll have a salle.
He finishes the section by mentioning he’ll repeat this lesson at times. He repeats it once. He repeats very little else. He seems to think this is important.
Why I Begin with Single Sword
I will only discuss… the single sword and the sword and dagger. I will keep other weapons for future books…
I actually have no thoughts on this, it’s kind of straightforward. But the introductory remarks by Tom Leoni mention that Giganti did publish a second book, but that he was accused of plagiarizing the entire thing from Fabris. Has anybody seen a copy of the second?
I take that back; I do have thoughts on this statement. I teach that, basically, you fight with sword and dagger as though the dagger was an extension of your off-hand. Your guards and movement are fundamentally the same. I tend to treat buckler the same way, as well.
Since carrying a dagger, targa, or rotella is not common in every part of the world…
I find it funny that he doesn’t at all discuss case. In his world, apparently, nobody carried two swords. Nuts to that.
If you can use the sword, you still would be able to defend yourself [if you lost the dagger]and strike your opponent with it. If you develop the skills with single sword, you will be able to parry and deliver attacks as proficiently as if you had the sword and a dagger.
I’ve had a few newbies want to fight sword and dagger immediately. It’s a horrible recipe for bad form. I also sincerely believe that a fighter with single sword should be able to defeat any fighter of equal skill carrying sword and dagger. One does not really grant an advantage, just a shift in strategy.
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