Smallsword Symposium VIII

Posted on September 5, 2016 by S

imageThe Smallsword Symposium VIII held in Edinburgh is just around the corner, scheduled for October 1st and 2nd. For detailed information about the schedule of events, speakers, accommodations (etc.), see the Black Boar Swordsmanship School.

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Angelo on Elasticity and Recovery

Posted on November 21, 2015 by S

You ought to practice not only to make your thrusts with great quickness and vivacity, but also to deliver them with an elastic disengagement and disposition; and the motion of the body should appear like divers [sic] springs throughout the whole frame. It is very essential to recover from your thrusts in the same lively manner, to enable you to parry in case of a return, or riposte.

–Angelo, 1787:22

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New de La Touche Translation Forthcoming

Posted on October 17, 2015 by S

La Touche - GlennReinier van Noort has just announced a forthcoming translation of de La Touche’s seminal work, The True Art of the Single Sword (1670). Combined with plates reworked by Todd Glenn, this translation should be of great interest to enthusiasts of the French School. For more information about this forthcoming publication, check van Noort’s page.

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Monsieur de La Touche

Posted on October 7, 2015 by S
Parade de quarte au dedans de l'Espee. Les Vrays principes de l’espée seule… par le Sr de La Touche. 1670.

Parade de quarte au dedans de l’Espee. Les Vrays principes de l’espée seule… par le Sr de La Touche. 1670. Note that the figure in the lunge is illustrated with a rolled ankle, a common practice at the time for gaining distance.

Monsieur de La Touche was a 17th Century French Master. He played in integral role in the process of standardizing fencing terms and in establishing a codified method of fencing instruction.  The plate above is from his 1670  Les Vrays principes de l’espée seule… par le Sr de La Touche [French].  Touche’s 1670 treatise is now available here on the SmallswordProject.com, as are a number of other historic texts in our Study section.

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Angelo on Parries

Posted on October 6, 2015 by S

S's avatarColumbia Classical Fencing, LLC

Given our recent focus on structure, and an economy of motion, I thought this quote from Angelo appropriate:

OBSERVATIONS ON THE PARADES IN GENERAL

A GOOD parade is as necessary and useful when well executed, as it is dangerous and fatal if done without judgement, and made wide and rambling.

To parry well, will prevent your being hit; therefore you should observe, when you are defending the place in which you are attacked, that you do not give an opening on the contrary side, which would give more ease to your adversary to throw in a thrust; for which reason you should not flutter, or show the least concern, by any motion he may make, either with the body, his foot, or the point of his sword.
-Angelo, 1787:35

Get a free pdf  file of Domenico Angelo’s 1787 edition published by his son, Henry Angelo,  at the SmallswordProject.com.

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Space Available at the Smallsword Symposium

Posted on October 5, 2015 by S

There are some last-minute spaces available at the 2015 Smallsword Symposium this weekend, Saturday October 10th and Sunday October 11th, in Edinburgh. Details can be found here.

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Hope’s New Method, 1701

Posted on October 4, 2015 by S
HopePoster_adj

Hope’s New Short and Easy Method of Fencing , 1707.

Courtesy of the Linacre School of Defense.  You can view Hope’s 1707  treatise on their site, or download a free epub version here.

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Martinez Academy Formal Academia, 2015

Posted on October 4, 2015 by S

This is beautiful, precise fencing — worthy of your attention regardless of your weapon of choice.

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Mid-Atlantic Society for Historic Swordsmanship

Posted on October 4, 2015 by S

Mid-Atlantic Society for Historic Swordsmanship
Annapolis, Maryland, USA

Founded in 2000, MASHS is a group of dedicated enthusiasts and practitioners who come together to study, analyze, and practice Historical European Swordsmanship and Western Martial Arts.

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Angelo’s Plate XV, “Escrime,” in Encyclopédie

Posted on October 3, 2015 by S
Angelo's plates from L'Ecole des Armes included in "Escrime," Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, vol. 4 (plates) (Paris, 1765).

Angelo’s plates from L’Ecole des Armes included in “Escrime,” Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, vol. 4 (plates) (Paris, 1765).

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