This was the first week’s lesson in Bolognese sword & buckler for Term 4 at Stoccata Drummoyne. (7 Oct 2015)
Warm Ups
- X-cuts pattern stationary
- Mandritto & Riverso passing left & right from Porta di Ferro Stretta
- Inside Falso Parry & Mandritto from Porta di Ferro Stretta
Gioco Stretta Plays – True Edge to True Edge
Direct Attack With Thrust To The Head
Pull back your sword, and passing left extending a thrust to the right temple, accompanied by your buckler. This action also counters every deadly blow.
[Libro 3, 15th action of true edge to true edge]
Parry Riposte Against Thrust To The Head
Parry the thrust with your false edge, and riposte with a mandritto to the face.
[Libro 3, Counter of the 15th action of true edge to true edge]
Direct Cut To Head With Riverso
Pass left and throw riverso to right temple
[Libro 3, 1st action of true edge to true edge]
Counterattack Against Riverso To Temple
When your enemy passes to throw riverso to your right temple, throw mezzo mandritto to the head, ending in Guardia di Faccia.
[Libro 3, Counter of the 1st action of true edge to true edge]
For the direct thrust, is that going around or through their sword? Are we pulling back to gain leverage? What is the hand position? I am assuming quarta/palm up.
What is the buckler actually doing? Is it acting as a wedge to further drive their sword away from you in the pass?
OK, so we’re starting with the blades crossed, true edge to true edge, swords on each others inside line. We are pulling our hand back to clear the tip of our sword from cross made by the opponent’s sword, and we then thrust on the outside of their blade, but close to it. (The infamous sewing machine technique!) The hand is generally in 3rd in 4th during the thrust.
The buckler doesn’t need to do much beyond closing the line. We keep the boss of our buckler pointed towards the opponent’s sword hand to prevent them from counterattacking when we pull our sword hand back. It’s controlling space, and doesn’t need to do anything actively in this sequence.