At RASP 2023, I took a fantastic lesson with Maestro David Coblentz on Francesco Antonio Marcelli's rapier & dagger. Marcelli was a Southern Italian (Neapolitan) fencing master in the latter-half of the 17th Century.
To cap off Cloaktober, we do a quick comparison of Alfieri's and Fabris's sword & cloak guards.
Welcome to Cloaktober! Let's examine the basic guards & postures in rapier & cloak, as described by Alfieri.
Sure, hitting your opponent with a great lunge is cool but know what's cooler? Taking their sword away via disarms. Here's a selection of plays for rapier & smallsword.
We all know you should find the opponent's blade and we may even think we understand why, but you truly get a sense for the why once you've looked down the business end of a sharp antique.
While there are “bread and butter” players found repeatedly in the Franco-Italian-inspired fencing systems, sometimes you run into plays that are weird, different, or very unique. These are a collection of some those plays, including weird engagements, mismatch weapons forms, and two-handing the rapier.
One of the keys to improving a fencer is making the drills feel closer to a real bout. This “random cues” drill is a nice step in that direction. It’s like a very unstructured option drill.
Not all tactics are created equal. This online workshop covers historical tactics for approaching opponents who are taller, shorter, strong and weaker than you -- plus a bonus faster fencer.
You've parried your opponent but every time you try to riposte, your shot doesn't land or they counter-parry it. Why is that? It could be you're choosing the wrong riposte action for the job. This post & video goes over four basic blade actions depending on the tactical situation required.
Here's a super simple, level-2 option drill to improve your tactical decision making skills.
