André Hajjar Sesé has released his English interpretation of de Brea’s 1805 destreza manual, Principios Universales Y Reglas De La Verdadera Destreza Del Espadin… on his blog, Destreza Nova. La Verdadera Destreza refers to the Spanish school, a school of rapier uniquely rooted in geometry, philosophy, and an amazing use of footwork. For the uninitiated, it may appear somewhat like a geometric alchemy.

Some may argue that Destreza is tangential to the study of the smallsword, and there is some merit to that argument. However, one can consider Destreza somewhat as an ancestral cousin of the smallsword. Regardless of where you fall in this argument, there is no doubt that a smallsworder of the French or English school could easily have crossed swords with a Spanish practitioner. To that end, I offer you Angelo’s plate 43 from his 1783 publication:

Hajjar Sesé interpretation has focused on the practical use of the Spanish school while omitting the mathematical and philosophical components. His efforts are substantial, resulting in a nearly 100-page publication.

We have added a citation to our Study page that links to Destreza Nova’s publication page, in part due to the expectation that filenames will change in the future as Hajjar Sesé addresses errata. The citation and link is also presented below.

de Brea, D. M. A. (2021). Principios Universales Y Reglas De La Verdadera Destreza Del Espadin, Segun La Doctrina De Francesa Italiana Y Española, Dispuestos Para Instrucción De Los Caballeros Seminaristas Del Real Seminario De Nobles De Esta Corte, por su Maestro D. Manuel Antonio de Brea, Maestro Mayory Examinador de Todos los del Reyno. [The Epic Study & Interpretation of the1805 Manuel de Brea’s Destreza-FencingTreatise]. (A. Hajjar Sesé, translator).  Québec:, Canada: destrezanova.ca. [English]
(Digitally sourced from destrezanova.ca here).

The original Spanish version of de Brea’s 1805 manuscript has also been added to the SmallswordProject.com’s online resources. It can be accessed via the study page or at the the link below:

de Brea, D. M. A. (1805). Principios Universales Y Reglas De La Verdadera Destreza Del Espadin, Segun La Doctrina De Francesa Italiana Y Española, Dispuestos Para Instrucción De Los Caballeros Seminaristas Del Real Seminario De Nobles De Esta Corte, por su Maestro D. Manuel Antonio de Brea, Maestro Mayory Examinador de Todos los del Reyno. Madrid: La Imprenta Real. [Spanish]
(Digitally sourced from Biblioteca Digital Hispánica, Biblioteca Nacional de España here).