Practice Notes- Manciolino's Double Swords

So for something entirely different we've been spending the last two practices on double swords from Antonio Manciolino. This is really the first time any of us have taken the time to really review what is actually in the manual, so it was quite interesting overall.

One thing that is very clear, is that describing what your doing when there are a total of 4 swords involved is quite difficult. It's taken us two practices to get through the entire section, and that's while working fairly quickly. As a typical rule, the 'outside' is defined based on the leading leg, and your goal is to gain this outside, and remove the closest weapon from play, while impeding the efficient use of the other weapon. This is done with no preference between false and true edge cuts.

In terms of comparison, it was fairly close to sword and dagger, but with both hands switching between offense and defense. Almost all actions were single tempo, frequently with one sword blocking and the other attacking, and then they would switch in the same play. Interestingly, attacks to the left sword tend to be answered by thrusts from the right sword, while attacks to the right sword are answered with cuts. It's worth noting that the right hand more frequently used for thrusting, and the left for cutting. This is especially true for defensive actions. Bind transfers are quite important in this system, typically one sword would be binding the opponent's swords, while the other acted defensively.

 To defend against both of your opponent's swords, you would use your swords crossed together. This also brings to mind sword and dagger, the main difference being that you are significantly more covered, and the view of an incoming 35" pair of scissors also tends to give your opponents pause. This orientation of the swords still allow you to cut and thrust, depending on what the situation calls for.

Footwork is based on the triangle step, though this might be just indictive of the Bolognese in general. Interestingly, there are several places where the right foot (which is in front) crosses the left foot, while still in front. This is also quite aggressive, with many plays having multiple passing steps, essentially pushing your opponent across the room.

On the manual itself, we figured out that the first play is a series of mirrored actions and double cuts with both sides. The last play  in the section is also a flourish  that mirror the mirrored actions of the first play. While my study group eventually figured out how to apply the first play to a martially effective, we wasted quite a bit of time on it, when it just appears to be an opening approach.

Still, this is a good representation of a fighting style that requires left/right coordination. While this was originally written for cut/thrust style of swords, the swords we used ranged from gymnasium sabers to arming swords (with a distinct lack of cut/thrust swords) in a effort to get matched pairs. These plays worked well with all of them.