To mark the end of Cloaktober 2022, I was asked to show Fabris’s and Alfieri’s cloak guards side by side. They don’t have a perfect 1:1, so enjoy this weird chart!
In general, they’re pretty similar, utilizing the cloak-extended posture to really get the max benefit of the volume of the cloak. It just provides so much target denial/zone defense compared to other common parry items for the rapier. With that said, Alfieri primarily uses his guardia mista guard in his practical cloak chapters.
Few Notes:
- I didn’t include the high/low alternates for Aliferi’s guardia mista. You can watch this video I did for those.
- Also, although Fabris doesn’t show explicitly prima or quarta with sword & cloak, if you’re familiar enough with his system and how he creates guards than you can probably figure out what he’d find acceptable.
- Alfieri has a wider stance than Fabris. I just have tight hips so really expressing that is difficult.
- Based on the plates, it appears Alfieri keeps his arm a little straighter and a smidge lower than Fabris, who keeps it more at face height and with a sleight, soft bend at the elbow.
- I included both seconda interpretations as they differ between the Leoni and Terminiello et al translations. In this instance, I prefer the Leoni translation but I think Terminello et al gets it right in other spots where the two translations differ.
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