Dueling in thirty days: day one

So begins our serious study of Dall'Agocchie's section on how to survive a duel in thirty days, using two guards only: Guardia d'Alicorno (Unicorn) and Porta di Ferro Stretta (Iron Gate). The reason for teaching only these two guards is manifold:

1) You only have to defend your right side, as the left part of the body is covered by distance.

2) You can parry any blow to your right with a riverso (sgualimbro or ridoppio, depending on the circumstance), and immediately counterattack with an imbroccata.

3) With practice, this combination can be done in almost one tempo.

4) Through our own experiences, we've discovered that by doing the drill in its entirety, it makes a pretty incredible drill.

First of all, we have the parry-counterattack with its very specific footwork. Regardless of the attack, the footwork is always the same: step to your left with the left foot, and then advance with the right foot. This is a constant, as is the motions of the blade itself: the step of the left foot is led by a riverso (i.e. the parry), and the step of the right foot corresponds to the thrusting of the imbroccata.

The riverso cut, when performed correctly, serves as a beat to the opponent's sword, an action which is greatly aided by the movement of the left foot. With the opponent's sword temporarily out of commission, the defender is free to thrust the imbroccata to any number of targets, but primarily the face, the chest, and the flank.

With these basic ideas in mind, let's look at the defenses in sequence, and then put them all together. Note that all of these actions begin with A provoking an attack by thrusting an imbroccata without moving the front foot. It is during the transition from Alicorno to Porta di Ferro Stretta that B launches an attack. Note also that B always attacks with an increase of the right foot, and A always performs the same footwork.

1. B throws a mandritto to the head: A parries with a riverso sgualimbro, and then thrusts an imbroccata to the chest.

2. B throws a riverso to the head: A parries with a riverso sgualimbro, and then thrusts an imbroccata to the flank.

3. B throws a riverso to the leg: A parries with a riverso ridoppio, and then thrusts an imbroccata to the face.

4. B thrusts an imbroccata: A parries with a riverso sgualimbro, and then thrusts an imbroccata to the chest.

5. B thrusts a stoccata to the face: A parries with a riverso sgualimbro, and then thrusts an imbroccata to the flank.

As we went through these drills today, we realized that A and B can counter each other by doing the same action. In other words, we can circle around each other endlessly until: 1) one of us makes a mistake, or 2) one of us over-parries, which leads most notably to an entry, or presa. (We'll return to this as the month goes by.) So, we devised two basic drills that train these motions, which again can be done against all attacks.

Drill one

1. A makes a provocation in Alicorno, and changes to Porta di Ferro Stretta.

2. B throws a mandritto or riverso sgualimbro to the head.

3. A parries the attack with a riverso sgualimbro while stepping to his left, and goes to thrust an imbroccata while stepping with the right foot.

4. If B attacked initially with an increase of the right foot, he can parry with a riverso sgualimbro while stepping to his left (now both fencers are going clockwise), and then thrust an imbroccata an imbroccata while stepping with the right foot. Continue ad nauseam.

Drill two

1. This drills works exactly the same way, except on the third attack,

2. B throws a riverso to the leg, which prompts the appropriate response (a riverso ridoppio followed by an imbroccata to the face) from A. B will succeed in parrying, and A will throw a riverso to the leg on his third attack, and so on.

I need to find the charger for my camera so I can film the drill to put up here. More insights to follow tomorrow evening.