Side Sword

In the side sword class we use an Italianate style that does not use only one treatise for it’s foundation. In our study of the side sword we use treatises by

• 1570 - Giacomo di Grassi 

• 1553 - Camillo Agrippa 

• 1536 - Achille Marozzo 

• 1531 - Antonio Manciolino 

• 1804 – John Taylor  

We use the principals and theory of these treatises, but instead of using the Italian names for the guards, we use the names for the guards that are written in English in John Taylor’s treatise called The Art of Defence on Foot, with the Broad Sword and Sabre. We use the guards from Taylor’s treatise because these guards match many of the guards from the Italian treatises. We still use some of the Italian guards, but we use the names in English instead of Italian. While we have these names available in the Italian I believe that it is easier to remember them and make them personal if they are in your own language.

The use of the side sword is similar to the use of the military sabre. When practicing this system the combatant needs to continue the movement of his weapon and match it with the movement of his feet. George Silver, in his book ‘Paradoxes of Defence’ states the difference between the time of the hand and the foot. We practice this so that we can use the time of our hands and feet to counter that same time of our adversary.

Much of our research of the footwork and theory has been done by Steve Reich of The Order of Seven Hearts http://www.salvatorfabris.com/. Steven Reich and Tom Leoni have translated Salvatore Fabris, Achille Marozzo and several other Italian manuscripts.