Capoferro: Week Two

I'm cheating a bit here. I went farther in my marginalia read through than I covered last week, and I'm using that for this post. For the past seven days I haven't done my drills, stretches, general exercises, or really even unknotted my shoulders.  But life goes on. The world gets a little darker, we lose loved ones, and we keep moving forward. Tomorrow I'll wake up early and get back to it. But for tonight, Capoferro notes.

Here Follows the Great Representation of the Practice of Fencing; Beginning with the Explanation of the Difference Between Art and Practice

•  Like the beginning of the last section, this talks less about the practicalities of fencing and more of the thought process behind this text. As for my notes, there are some underlines and a little heart by one of his explanations, but the biggest practical takeaway I have is this section: "I have instead narrowed down the art to a small number of rules distinct from its practice [...] I will leave it to others to dedicate their study to the uncertain and unlimited details of specific and ever-changing situations." Even the perfect application of the rules and plays that Capoferro sets out in this text wouldn't be the entirety of fencing, even by his definition, and isn't enough to adapt to every situation. These are tools and a good structure within which to operate. Even his plays break rules and preferences he's set out. This is a start, and I'll treat it as such.

A Few Recommendations about Fencing

• "Watch your opponent's sword-hand" (paraphrase) I too often look at feet, I think.

Parrying, Striking, and Voiding

• "Never perform a defensive action without also performing an offensive one." (paraphrase/summary) I definitely don't do this.

The Benefits of Sword Alone

• "Sword alone is the queen of all other weapon-combinations" This is a familiar concept.
• "keep your arm extended, since by doing so you will push all the opponent's attacks safely out of your presence" This seems reasonable, but it's not something I'd been explicitly watching, particularly when my opponents close in on me.

How To Act Against A Brutish Man

• Use tempo.
• More specifically, aim for hand/arm or otherwise make good use of distance.

How To Become A Perfect Fencer

• Practice with a diverse and talented group of fencers. I have this covered! Though I can't get complacent and keep fighting the people I'm most used to fighting, particularly at events.

The Safest Guard

• "The point should always be directed to the middle of the opponent's torso." Interesting. I think I usually point to faces. Hm.

The Futility of Feints

• Noted.

From Whom You Should Learn

• "there is a big difference between knowing and teaching"
• Only listen to people who have a good handle of measure and tempo.

Gaining the Sword

•  "both useful and beautiful" <3
•  Know how to free your sword: I felt like more general help should have followed that statement.
•  "never perform a cavazione followed by a full cut, or a cavazione followed by a parry and riposte" Again, not something that I was actively looking for, but now I'll try to.
•  "Pull back with your body and lower your sword"
•  Much as I enjoy aspects of his structure and writing, the back and forth between general theory and very specific plays in these early sections is disorienting.

Striking in Contratempo

• Capoferro disapproves of most ways of striking in contratempo, except for two, and one seems to include the inadvisable passing step?
• Generally walk through these.

Steps

• "Walking naturally" and the footwork he describes here seems contradictory, but I have a note to "walk through this" (I assume I didn't notice the pun at the time), and if thinking about it in such a way makes footwork easier, all the better.

Striking the Hand

• "Every time your opponent's sword is out of your presence [...] point your sword to his hand in a straight line."
• I like hand strikes.

Recovering After Striking

• "if you have more room, recover with two backward passes, the last of which will allow you to recover in guard"
• Some practice recovering quickly, gracefully, and in guard would doubtless be helpful.

That's it for this week. One more week of this sort of thing, and then it looks like I get to pictures. How that will change these posts (or my practicing during the week) is as yet unclear.

Note from practice last week:
 - Punch differently

Goals for this week:
 - Morning drills (same batch as before)
 - Evening exercise
 - Remembering to stretch
 - Weekend drills should include going through these past two weeks of notes
 - Witty aphorisms and innate stubbornness