Practice Notes- MS Riccardiano

Trattato di Scherma, is an anonymous fencing manual from the 1600s, though the introduction states that it is a copy of an earlier book. Currently it is located in the Biblioteca Riccardiana in Florence. The manual appears to be strongly influenced by the Bolognese tradition, and there has been some notes that bears resemblance to Vadi, although I can't really tell from this one snippet.

From the low guard, with the left foot in front, make two entering ascending cuts with two steps of the left foot, always stepping forwards, beating aside his sword, and make a high reverse cut with your left foot forwards, and bringing it against your right you can pass forwards with your right foot and make a thrust. You can make two ascending reverse cuts with the right foot forwards, beating away his sword, and then a high reverse, bringing the right foot back against your left, you can pass forwards with the right foot and make a thrust, which will be a feint to the inside, and wheeling to the right, turn beneath with your sword in half-cover to the outside to parry a thrust, and thrust forwards.

As with the Bolognese masters, the first play is the longest and most complicated. It seemed to make the most sense that there is actually a reset in the middle, after the first thrust. This would make it to where the first set of actions is for beating the outside and thrusting to the inside, and the second set is the opposite- beating to the inside with an outside thrust.

If the adversary tries to beat your blade, deceive underneath and make a thrust on the inside.

 Any time the adversary tries to find your blade, deceive it, whether inside or outside, and so disrupt his plans.

Overall, while the plays are for the spodone, they seem to be based a single sword principles and perspective. The majority of plays end in an thrust, and most cuts seem to be working towards setting up a thrust. In addition, the plays work from inside to outside or vice versa quite consistently. There are only a few places where dropping from high to low are called for.

 Feint the thrust in the same way, and thrust freely on the outside with the left foot forwards, letting my left hand slip as far down as, and only holding the sword by, the pommel.

Speaking of thrust, this is the only other place that I've seen a left handed, di Grassi style thrust  somewhere other than di Grassi. 

Three thrusts with the right foot forwards, beginning on the inside.

Four thrusts with the right foot forwards, beginning on the inside.

Beat on the outside.

For most of the end of the chapter, it reads like there should be illustrations. I'm not clear if the illustrations didn't make it into the copy I have, didn't make it into the copy in the library, or whoever wrote it got tired of trying to be descriptive and there were no illustrations.


This was an interesting, thrust based practice. Having spent several practices going over early KdF (Talhoffer, Ringeck), this made for a change of pace. My main take-away was that spacing is vital in this. While the longsword is good in the thrust, it is also a big, two handed weapon. Once you get past the point, it is difficult to regain that distance, and getting past the point is quite easy.

Second, it is interesting that this manual spends a good bit of time playing with the blade. Most of the entering into distance is made with the intention of provoking a response, and only rarely do you seek something like a light bind.