Dall'Agocchie study group review: first two sessions

As promised, here is a brief review of what we covered in the last two study group sessions. I keep thinking that we haven't done a whole lot, but upon reflecting, we've actually plowed through an enormous amount of material in just under three hours. It's great to have a mix of new and more experienced fencers, as it allows me to constantly fine tune my teaching style, and the presentation of the material. If you have any questions, post a comment, send me an e-mail, or talk to me at AEMMA!

1) Footwork: there are virtually NO differences between what Dall'Agocchie advocate, and what Fiore talks about in his brief discussion of footwork in the section on the sword in two hands. We can however make the following points:

a) The footwork described in Dall'Agocchie's treatise is unambiguously circular, quite similar to Spanish (Destreza) footwork, the main differences being the position of the sword and the stance. It is for this reason that we start out walking along the circle with our partner: two fencers with the unaccompanied sword will be walking in a circle, end of story.

b) Curiously, there is no overt mention of the volte in Dall'Agocchie, i.e. the volta stabile, the mezza volta, and the tutta volta. Upon closer examination of the attacks and defenses, it is clear that they are implicit, but not named or discussed.

2) The guards: all of the guards described by Dall'Agocchie are point forward; all other guards have fallen into disuse by the time he wrote his treatise in 1572. (At least in the Bolognese school) This greatly simplifies the entire system, for there are only eight guards we need to learn: four low, four high.

a) The coda lunga (long tail) family of guards (low): the sword is held outside the right knee, with the hand in second. These two guards - stretta (right foot forward) and alta (left foot forward) - invite an attack to the left side of the body.

b) The porta di ferro (iron gate) family of guards (low): the sword is held inside the right knee, with the hand in fourth. These two guards - stretta (right foot forward) and cinghiale ("wild boar", left foot forward) - invite an attack to the right side of the body.

c) Guardia di Faccia (the face guard) and Guardia d'Entrare (the entry guard) are both high guards. Both guards are formed with the sword at roughly shoulder height; in GdF, the hand is in fourth, and in GdE, the hand is in second.

d) Guardia di Testa (the head guard) and Guardia d'Alicorno (the unicorn guard) are also high guards. In both cases, the hand is in the first position, with only one difference between the two guards: in Alicorno, the point is directed at the opponent, whereas in Testa, the point is to your left side.

3) Cutting and thrusting: the hard part here is learning all of the names, a task which is made all the more difficult due to the fact that every master uses a slightly different nomenclature. To simplify matters, I will only use Dall'Agocchie's terms:

a) Sgualimbro (oblique cut): a downwards blow that cuts from the opponent's shoulder to the opposite knee. For example, if I throw a mandritto sgualimbro, it would cut from my opponent's left shoulder to his right knee.

b) Tondo (circular cut): a horizontal blow that is identical to the mezzano.

c) Falso (oblique cut with the false edge): a rising blow with the false edge that cuts from the opponent's knee to the opposite shoulder. A falso dritto, for example, would go from my opponent's left knee to his right shoulder, while a falso manco would go from his right knee to his left shoulder. These cuts are used primarily for parrying and provoking the opponent.

d) Ridoppio (redoubled cut): a rising blow with the true edge that cuts from the opponent's knee to the opposite shoulder. The mandritto ridoppio does not appear to be a useful cut, as Dall'Agocchie only mentions it once in his entire treatise. The riverso, however, is everywhere, as we shall see.

e) Fendente (cleaving cut): identical to Fiore's definition of a fendente.

f) Tramazzone (a cut that falls heavily): a cut thrown from the wrist; the same as a short compass cut.

g) Stoccata (straight thrust): a thrust with the hand in third.

h) Punta riversa (thrust from the reverse side): a thrust with the hand in fourth.

i) Imbroccata (downward thrust): a thrust with the hand in first.

4) The solo form. After learning the guards and the various blows of the sword, Dall'Agocchie shows his student, a M. Lepido, how to step in the guards, changing from guard to guard. It is in this short form - a total of nine distinct steps - that the student learns a number of valuable combinations, and how the guards work together. We have so far studied the first six steps.

a) With the sword held at your left side, and the right foot slightly in front of your left, throw a riverso tondo (with the false edge) while stepping on the traverse with your right foot, followed by a riverso sgualimbro, bringing your left foot behind the right. You should end in coda lunga e stretta.

b) Now throw a falso dritto while passing on the traverse with your left foot, followed by a mandritto sgualimbro, bringing your right foot behind the left. You should end in cinghiale porta di ferro.

c) Bring the sword to guardia di testa and throw a dritto tramazzone while passing forward with the right foot, ending in porta di ferro stretta.

d) Throw a falso manco together with a riverso sgualimbro while passing forward with the right foot, ending in coda lunga e alta.

e) Throw a riverso ridoppio, coming to guardia d'alicorno, and thrust an imbroccata while passing forward with the right foot, ending in porta di ferro stretta.

f) Throw a falso manco together with a riverso sgualimbro while passing backward with the right foot, ending in coda lunga e alta.

5) Yielding and counterattacking in a circle: the guardia di testa-mandritto sgualimbro drill. One of Dall'Agocchie's major tenets is to always make two defenses in every action: one with the sword, and one with the body. To put this into practice, I have taken one of his defenses and turned it into a continuous drill that will become more complex as we gain experience. A will always begin in guardia di testa, and B in coda lunga e stretta.

a) A throws a mandritto sgualimbro to the head with an increase of the right foot, and B parries in guardia di testa, while bringing his left foot behind the right side, effectively taking the target off the line. Repeat on both sides.

b) Once B is comfortable making the defense - which is a yielding parry, NOT a block - he/she will counterattack with a mandritto sgualimbro to the head. Repeat on both sides.

c) A will now parry B's attack in guardia di testa, using the same footwork. Repeat on both sides.

d) After making the parry, A will counterattack with another mandritto sgualimbro to the head. Repeat on both sides.

e) Now the drill continues to a maximum of twelve cuts, then reset.

At the end of this Wednesday's class, I also introduced to a few more advanced students a second kind of defense - a parry in guardia di faccia followed by a punta riversa to the face - that uses the exact same footwork, and can be inserted at specific moments. We'll look at this more closely during the next session, as well as a number of other possibilities, including a change of direction.

I'll leave it here for now, as it has already gotten much longer than I had initially planned. Again, if there are any questions, comments, suggestions, feel free to leave a comment. Until tomorrow.