Intro to Italian Longsword - Part 2
Feb 16, 2010 2:07:20 GMT
Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2010 2:07:20 GMT
Introduction to Italian Longsword – Pt. 2
A Continuing Article by J.E. Sarge (Odingaard)
A Continuing Article by J.E. Sarge (Odingaard)
You can find Part 1 of the lesson by clicking here: /index.cgi?board=swordtraining&action=display&thread=14434
Beginning Notes
Welcome back to the Introduction to Italian Longsword. As I quickly found out, these lessons are taking me a little longer to complete that I initially figured; due to having to do photos/videos around my schedule. Future lessons will come at 3-4 week intervals instead of the two weeks I initially figured. Sorry about this, but it's one of those little things that I could not anticipate. With this out of the way, I'll not waste any more time, and move forward.
We will be continuing our lesson this week by learning the basic stance and movements involved with Fiore’s longsword method.
In this lesson, you will begin to see the word, zugadore (pron: zoog-uh-door-eh). This is a Italian term which means player. In Fiore’s work, the zugadore is an active participant in drawings who learns and demonstrates plays with the Master. The Master or maestro, is the one who executes the plays. In these lessons, you are the zugadore – simply meaning that you are learning the system. When you are executing a play, you will become the maestro, and your partner will become the zugadore. We will touch more on this later, but I did want to prepare you for it in advance.
This lesson will be a lengthy one; we have a lot of ground to cover so let us begin…
Selecting the Longsword that’s Right for You
In Italian Longsword, we use hand-an-a-half swords. A single-handed sword does not afford a two-handed grip and a full two handed sword is too long and cumbersome for most people to use with Fiore’s methods.
Not all hand-and-a-half swords are well suited for use with longsword. We prefer to use swords with blade lengths between 34”-36”, 9”-12” grips, straight crossguards, and smooth, small pommels that you can slip your hand over if needed. I recommend both the Valiant Armory I-Beam and Hanwei-Tinker Longsword for training. Other more expensive offerings such as the Arms and Armor Zohgo Di Spada or the Albion Lichtenhauer are nice, but you cannot replace / tighten the blade. I do not recommend the Hanwei or Gen 2 federschwerts because they are too flexible. A lot of people use the Hanwei Albrecht trainer, but I don’t like it because of the large pommel.
To gauge if a longsword is right for you is important. How does it feel? Is it too heavy? Is the point of balance too far forward making it seem blade heavy? Is the point of balance so close to the guard that the blade seems to have no presence? Is the length right for you? Most of these factors will be up to you to decide upon.
The check the length: Hold a longsword at your hip with your sword arm. Tilt the blade up at a 45 degree angle. Now, extend your left arm out fully. The tip of your sword and your left hand should be even and both touch the chest of an equal-sized opponent. This is merely a guideline from antiquity, but it can be useful as a guideline in selecting a longsword.
Selecting the right sword for you will be a matter or trial and error.
Gripping the Longsword
Another key part of Italian longsword is how the weapon is gripped. A proper grip goes a long way to vastly improve your offensive and defensive skills.
The dominant hand (depending on if you are left or right handed) grips the sword closest to the guard. The hand sits against the guard firmly. For our purposes in these lessons, this hand never comes off the sword. Imagine it glued in place.
The off-hand remains fluid, grasping the grip lightly below the dominant hand. Distance may vary, because this hand is free to move back and forth along the grip, and at times, may even come off the grip. The off-hand should only be tightened on the grip when the sword is committed to an action; to assist in leverage or power. Otherwise, it should be only lightly gripping the sword.
A hands together approach.
And hands apart...
Either of the above grips are correct, depending on how you are about to use the sword.
Posture and Stance
We call this our Elephant or Fortudio (pron. four-two-dee-oh) stance. It is foundation stance for all of Fiore’s longsword postures and movements. The stance is executed much like the drawing of the Ellephante (pron. el-if-aunt-tay) below the man’s feet in the Segno.
The torso is kept upright with the spine straight, the left foot is placed slightly forward with your toe pointed at your opponent. The right foot is slightly to the rear and turned to the side at a 30-45 degree angle. The feet are placed roughly shoulder width apart with the knees slightly bent. Your weight should be on the balls of your feet – not the heel or the flats. The weight should be centered over both feet evenly – to the point to where you can feel a slight tension on your inner thighs.
Here are a couple different photos of how the Elephant stance is executed:
Fortudio from a frontal view.
Fortudio, viewed from the left side.
At first, this stance will seem a little awkward; but it will come naturally with practice. Keeping your weight on the balls of your feet always keeps you in a posture to move quickly and properly, while maintaining your balance. It also allows you to turn rapidly and torque your hips when throwing blows (which we will cover later).
Poste di Donna: The Woman’s Guard
Actually, the guards will be reserved for the third lesson so they can be covered in detail without making this second installment several pages long. However, I will cover this one guard so that you may incorporate your longsword into the posture, stance, and footwork lessons below.
Poste (pron. post-uh) means guard in Italian. Fiore has 12 different poste described in his manuscripts - with another two poste speculated upon. The first is Poste di Donna, or the Woman’s Guard. It is called the woman’s guard because it is a relaxed and unimposing poste that offers excellent offensive and defensive posturing.
Here are some photos of the Poste Di Donna guard:
Poste di Donna viewed from the front.
Posta di Donna viewed from the right.
As described earlier, you will maintain your fortudio stance and posture in this guard (and all future guards for that matter). Hold the sword up at your dominant shoulder, keeping the blade about 6” from your body. The CoP should be right at shoulder level. The pommel of the sword should be slightly forward and the tip of the sword should be at a 45 degree angle, extending past your right ear. The true edge of the sword should be facing your opponent.
Poste di Donna is basic beginning guard for most of what I will be covering in these lessons.
Basic Footwork
* Note: All movement and stances in Fiore is with your weight on the balls of your feet! Don’t move or step heel-toe at any time! If you are used to martial arts, this is probably already a habit for you, but if it is not; practice, practice, practice! Keep your weight on the balls of your feet!
Slip Forward - Acressere (pron. eh-cress-uh-ray)
This is used to move forward a short distance.
To execute an acressere, you simultaneously lift your left foot slightly and slide it forward while pushing off with your right foot. Make sure to keep your weight on the balls of your feet. Your movement forward should only be 12”-18” or so. This is a rapid forward adjustment used to close distance between yourself and your opponent.
Slip Backward - Dicressere (pron. dee-kress-uh-ray)
This is used to move backward a short distance.
To do a dicressere, you do the exact opposite that you would do for an acressere. Lift your right foot slightly and slide it rearward, while pushing backward with your left foot. Like the acressere, the movement should only be over a short distance. This is a short retreat to take you just out of your opponent’s range.
Here are examples of acresseres and dicresseres executed on video:
Passing Step Forward - Passare (pron. pass-are-eh)
This type of step is used to advance long distances.
A passare is merely a full step forward. From your stance, take a step forward with your right foot and readjust your stance back to your fortudio. The only difference is that now your opposite leg is forward with the toe facing the opponent, while your left leg trails resting with the foot at a 30-45 degree angle of center.
Two passare steps will result in your being back in your original stance with your left leg forward, however, you will be 4-6’ closer to your opponent.
It is important to mention that every time you take a passare step, you do not have to readjust your stance. If you are 35’ away from your opponent, you take several passare steps before finally adjusting into your fortudio stance.
Passing Step Backward - Tounare (pron. tune-are-eh)
Tounare means to return in Italian. This type of step is used to retreat rearward. It is the exact opposite of the passare.
Here are some tounare and passare steps executed on video:
Stepping Laterally - Travasare (pron. tra-vuh-sarr-eh)
These types of steps are used to move to the left or right of your opponent. Imagine walking toward your opponent; just before you walk into them, you extend the foot closest to your opponent at a 45 degree angle to the left or right side of your opponent during your next step. You will then swing your rear foot around in a semi-circle behind you, which with put you into a fortudio stance facing your opponent at a 45 degee angle to their right or left.
At this point, you can either continue past your opponent or engage your opponent at a point of advantage at close range.
Here is a video of travasare steps to the left and right:
The Three Types of Turns
The Stable Turn - Volta Stabile (pron. volt-ah stab-eel-eh)
A volta stabile will turn your body 180 degrees. To execute a volta stabile, simply pivot your hips and spin your body in the direction you wish to turn. Once you have turned, adjust your feet as needed. With practice, you will do this fluidly. It is a fast and easy to execute turn.
The Half Turn - Mezza Volta (pron. mezz-ah volt-ah)
This is a fairly simple turn. Simply take a passare step forward and readjust your fortudio stance. You will find that your hips and centerline are now facing 90 degrees in direction to their original position.
The Full Turn - Tutta Volta (pron. toot-ah volt-ah)
This is actually quite simple. Take a passare step forward, and at the same time, spin your body to execute at volta stabile to the right or left. You will be facing 180 degrees in the opposite direction. It takes a little practice, but it's very easy once you nail it.
Here are each of the turns demonstrated on video:
This will conclude the lesson for now. I completely understand if some of these concepts are difficult to understand though written word, pictures, or video. If you care to PM me with any questions, I can more than explain futher or answer any questions you may have.
The third lesson will cover the 12 Poste (or Guards) of Fiore, which should prove to be very interesting for everyone!
Until then, take care!
You can find Part 3 by clicking here: /index.cgi?action=display&board=swordtraining&thread=14917&page=1