![]() ![]() The position of the feet and movement from one guard to another is very similar to that of modern fencing (as shown by the pictures). In Marozzo's bouts there is also sword handling „in atto di spada in armi“ (armoured fencing style) that means handling the middle of the blade with the left hand, using the sword like a stick. Di Grassi says also that for fencing training one must use light swords, because „the aim of this art is not to raise heavy weight, but to move quickly“. About the point it needs „pushing it without withdrawing the hand“. Eventually the shoulder will be forgotten and one will only use the elbow and the wrist to hit, using, at last, above all only the wrist“. With the three articulations one must be well trained and will be able to hit hard with the elbow and the wrist. The cut with the shoulder is the most strong, but also the slowest (…). The correct way to give a cut is to use a movement of the wrist and sometimes of the elbow, but not of the shoulder: Di Grassi explains this concept saying: „The arm has three main articulations: the shoulder, the elbow and the wrist (…). To keep the movement invisible by the enemy: the action with the blade will have to follow precise lines of movement (going and coming back), starting from a guard position and arriving in another guard. The spada da filo requires movement, both in giving the blow and assuming the parry position, that must be as tidy as possible. The sword must be held with the full hand, tight under the hilt and for more control with the index finger over the crossbar: for this matter the hilt will often have one or two rings that join it to the blade at the edges, to protect the finger. § 2 - The handling and the portamento di ferro (way to move the sword) ![]() The pommel is a weight put at the end of the handle and is used to balance the weapon: it can have several forms, but normally it's spheric and, like the hilt, can be used to strike in close combat. The handle is normally wood, sometimes covered in leather or iron wire and is about 10 cm long. This gives to the sword the form of a cross and makes of it a mystic symbol, as a remembrance of the armed defense of the christian's ideals. The hilt is a steel bar, approximately 15-20 cm long, with a hole in the center and more than protect the hand. The blade has two edges (fili): the dritto (litterally „right“, but in english it's used the term „true“) and the falso (false): Giovanni Dall'Agocchie explains this difference „Every time you'll handle the sword, or in the right or in the left hand, the edge that will be in correspondence of the articulations of the fingers will be the filo dritto and the other will be the filo falso“. The forte is used to parry, the medio to engage and the debole to hit. The blade has three parts or „gradi“: the forte (strong), from the tallone to the first third, the medio (middle) the central third, and the debole (weak) the last third until the point and the only part of the blade really sharpened. There are not any standard dimensions as the weapons were handcrafted and fit to each fencer. At the ricasso the blade is wide at about 3 cm. The blade, straight and double-edged, based on the proportions taken from the pictures, is long (about half the height of the fencer, from the tip to the tallone (the tallone it's the line between the tang (codolo) and the blade). This style of sword is a very manageable weapon that allows one to easily execute all the sequences of actions proposed in the „abbattimenti“ (bouts). The weapon described in the Opera Nova is composed of the blade, hilt, handle and pommel (lama, elsa, manico, pomolo) and its weight is about 1 Kg, with a balance point on the blade at about four fingers from the hilt. Marozzo's „spada da filo“ (litterally „edge sword“) is a transition weapon that lies between the one-handed sword (XIV-XV C.) with a large blade which was used primarily for cutting and the rapier (XVI-XVII C.) with a long and narrow blade that was used primarily for thrusting.
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