I will be at Elite Fencing Club México for a weekend of Capo Ferro’s Rapier! I look forward to delving in to his system and then applying it to fence other systems as well as the l’huomo bestiale

Deconstructing Capo Ferro
Day 1
Although Capo Ferro has not left us a “manual” to work from, his brilliant treatise hold the keys necessary to recreate his system of fencing while also giving a wonderful glimpse of contemporary fencing as well as the opinions of other masters. This weekend will give you guidelines to understanding how Capo Ferro presents information as we work on distilling his system from the source.

Class will begin with the posture and guard which are the foundation of all fencing. We will look at how Capo Ferro explains his guardia and where to find the information in his book. Using this information we will then assume the posture precisely as he describes and illustrates. Once in the proper posture, we will add the weapon and position it exactly as Capo Ferro describes in order to form his one and only guardia. From this guardia, we will examine how Capo Ferro prepares and executes an attack. Start with his footwork, we will analyze the passo straordinario in order to perform the precise mechanics of his unique ‘lunge’. Next, we will examine how to enter the fight and create tempo for your attack culminating in an examination of how to position ourselves to facilitate defense in the attack.

Day 2
Capo Ferro often tells us what to do when we know that our adversary is a fencer. In Day 2 we will focus on making the the most efficient choice to dispatch your adversary. We will move into making the appropriate decision based on what kind of fencer your adversary is. To do this we will look at attacking to draw a reaction from your adversary in order to actually hit them. We will look at the difference between the feint and the false attack and when to use each.

After we focus on using the Italian Rapier to fence another skilled swordsman, the focus will shift. More often than not, we are forced to use the rapier against ruffians and l’huomo bestiale (the bestial man). This workshop will focus on how to apply your fencing to deal with unpredictable sword slingers, vulgar fencers, and thugs.

Knowing how to manipulate measure to your advantage is instrumental to fencing the bestial man. Therefore we will look at drills to calibrate your sense of distance. After this we will move into applying your fencing against the “standard” tricks you will encounter as well as the vulgar fencers’ practices. Come prepared with problems you have encountered and we’ll address them.