In the XIV-XV centuries, in the era of the rule of the long sword, as the main discipline of the art of fencing, German masters held the lead in its teaching and development. But with the advent of the rapier in the first half of the 16th century, the scales tipped towards the Italians.
All authors who wrote about fencing in the 16th century differ in one interesting feature - although they constantly use the word "protection", they do not define any protection (there was no classification of defenses until the 18th century). The masters of that era based their practice on the principle that any attack, if it cannot be deflected with a shield, cloak or dagger, must be met with a counterattack or evaded by moving the body.
Italian fencing school
Marozzo is the first popular Italian author to write about the art of fencing. Judging by the numerous reprints of his writings, five of which came out between 1536 and 1615, he enjoyed a good reputation, even at the time when the system of fencing he described was quite outdated.
Marozzo's work is detailed description fencing system, popular even before the primacy of thrust over blow was elevated to a principle.
Marozzo divided all types of punches into stabbing and chopping and made the following differentiation in them:
- Chopping blows:
- mandritti (singular "mandritto"), so called because they are applied to the right (dritto) side of the swordsman in order to hit left side enemy;
- manroversi, or simply roversi (singular number "roverso"), are applied on the other side (ie left).
Front blade chopping blows:
- fendente - chopped vertically from top to bottom;
- sgualembro - cut diagonally from the shoulder to the opposite side;
- tondo or traversothat cut along a horizontal line;
- ridoppio - a diagonal kick from the side to the opposite shoulder.
Rear Blade Chopping:
- tondi;
- ridoppi will become falso dritto (left side - right shoulder) and falso manco (right side - left shoulder);
- montante - vertical blow from the bottom up.
- Stabbing blows are of four types:
- punta dritta or simply punta, performed with a hand in the position of an incoming rack;
- punta roversa - hand in the position of the Face Stand;
- imbroccata, or an overhand thrust, usually performed in the Becca Cesa or Possa position;
- stoccata, or near-hand thrust, is usually performed with the hand in the High Iron Door position.
Marozzo also described in detail 15 possible stances (Marrozo's stances have little to do with what we now call this word), and if we combine them with blows, we can conclude that the fencing system of the first half of the 16th century was reduced to moving between the stances. to take a position relative to the enemy, which would make it possible to strike in any way.
Seventeen years after the first publication of the Marozo fencing system, an excellent work on fencing was published in Rome - "A Treatise on Weapons Science with Philosophical Dialogue" by Camillo Agripa, Milanese, who made a real revolution in the art of fencing.
As an engineer, Agrippa was interested in the ligaments of movements performed by parts of the body when injecting and striking. To describe them, he used his extensive knowledge in geometry and mathematics, and ultimately came to the conclusion that in most cases, a thrust is more beneficial than a strike, since the line connecting the blade of the sword and the target, when striking, is straight and therefore has a shorter length than an arc of a circle described by a point on impact.
Agrippa, being a talented engineer, had a scientific interest in fencing and, noticing significant errors in popular styles of fencing, invented a much simpler system.
First, Agrippa abandoned the numerous and largely useless stances, connected to each other in the most artificial way. He postulated that any stance where left leg exposed forward, and the sword is in the right hand, too reveals the swordsman. Secondly, he began to insist on the clear advantage of the thrust over the blow, since the thrust requires less power and time, and it is more difficult to parry.
As a consequence of these remarks, Agrippa reduced the number of useful stances to four and gave them numerical names: prima, seconda, terza and quarta.
Destreza
While the Italians, and then, intercepting their initiative, the French realized that simplification of the fencing system leads to perfection, the Spanish masters turned fencing into a very complex and confusing "science" requiring knowledge of geometry and natural philosophy for practical application. The Spanish system of fencing on foils (in a broader sense and on any other edged weapons) has received the name - destreza(Spanish La Destreza), which literally means "skill".
The ancestor of destreza, the principles of which were based on the mathematical relationship of angles and arcs, tangents and chords, can be considered Carranza, who completed his first written work in 1569, and came into wide circulation by 1582. In the 17th century, Carranza's teachings were continued and developed by another Spanish master Luis Pacheco de Narvaez, in fact, it was his works, or the works of other authors, but based on the work of de Narvaez, and constitute the entire Spanish fencing literature of the 17th century. Outside the Iberian Peninsula, the principles of destreza were "preached" by Girard Thibault from Antwerp, known for his work "The Academy of the Blade".
All the principles of destreza are based on movements within an imaginary (mystical) circle drawn on the ground - circonferencia imaginta entre los cuerpos contrarios (translated from Spanish - an imaginary circle between the bodies of opponents).
An imaginary circle between the bodies of opponents
In a fighting stance (the body is straightened, but so that the heart is not directly opposite the opponent's sword; right hand stretched straight, legs spread wide ...) opponents should be at opposite ends of the diameter of this circle, the length of which is equal to the length of an arm with a horizontally extended sword. Opponents can move relative to each other, along diametrically opposite tangents. Opponents can take steps inside this circle, moving along its fictional chords, and finding themselves "in range" at strike distance. Thus, any step taken by one of the fencers can lead to the following results:
- the enemy makes the appropriate step around the circle, so that they remain at opposite ends of the diameter and nothing changes;
- the enemy strikes by taking a step;
- the opponent gets hit if he misses the "moment".
The main purpose of the move is to put the enemy at a disadvantage in defense.
From the general concept of destreza, it can be concluded that the attack was not even in the bud, and the whole tactic consisted of advancing in short steps at right angles to the diameter, constantly threatening the enemy with the edge of the blade.
Particular attention is paid to strikes in destrez, they are divided into the following types:
- arrebatar - shoulder blow;
- mediotajo - elbow blow;
- mandoble - blow from the wrist (light blow with a point).
In his books, Narvaez also writes about the correct proportions of the sword. Its length should be proportional to the height of the person (Capo Ferro argued that the sword should be twice the length of the arm).
Thibault, in order to link the proportions of the sword with the mystical circle, decrees that the length of the weapon should be equal to the radius of the circle, so that if the sword is placed strictly vertically between the legs, the cross should be at the level of the navel.
Despite the fact that learning destrese was a long and complicated process, this system of fencing existed in Spain at the beginning of the 18th century, and Spanish fencers had a reputation for being very dangerous and experienced fighters.
A form of ancient martial arts with cold weapons, which are recreated from historical sources - texts, images and oral traditions. In other words, historical fencing is an attempt to revive martial arts, the traditions of which have not survived to this day. Basically, the term "historical fencing" refers to the types of melee weapons that existed before the heyday of the three classic sports blades - the foil, epee and saber. IN last yearsAs a result of the enormous interest in the martial arts and historical heritage, many individuals and organizations are trying to recreate the old martial arts.
Historical fencing in Paladin.
Our hall is named after the famous fencing club "Paladin" that has existed for over 10 years. At the beginning of 2002, a number of fighters separated from him, who organized their own club called "Bayard", which soon became generally recognized the best club Russia, Europe and the CIS in the tournament component of historical fencing. The fighters of this club from year to year win almost all the tournaments in which they participate. Moreover, almost all Bayard participants work as trainers at FFC Paladin. Thus, FFC Paladin has the strongest coaching school in this sport in the world, which we are very proud of.
Classes are held in the hall
Coach - Ivan Vasiliev
Experience in historical fencing - since 1999. Multiple winner and medalist of various regional, Russian and international tournaments in HMB (both in duels and in group battles). Two-time winner of the "Battle of the Nations" tournament. One of the authors of the concept of professional full-contact medieval fights ("professional fights") - one of the most spectacular and severe types of historical fencing. He won many victories in the professional ring. One of the founders of the IF Bayard club. Has an official diploma in higher sports education. Coaching experience in historical fencing - since 2003
Coach - Mikhail Babynin
An excellent fighter and coach, he knows more than others about the theory of fencing, the author of the concept of "two strikes", a participant in the "Battle of the Nations" and various tournaments, writes a bestseller about historical fencing. Sports past is sports fencing.