In this and an upcoming series of blog posts and videos I shall endeavor to explain my interpretation and reasoning behind the techniques contained within the “Prima Assalto con la Spada da Due Mani” from the 1536 fencing treatise Opera Nova by Bolognese Fencing Master, Achille Marozzo.

To read more about the life and times of Marozzo and for a more-or-less complete translated version of his work, please visit his page over at http://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Achille_Marozzo.

On the purpose of the Assalti:

“Look now to the name of God as I give you the principles of the art of two-handed sword, wide play and then the narrow, and the wrestling (prese) of the sword making a most beautiful thing and going again against hafted weapons one on one and in a company. And other styles that happen to be used in said two-handed sword. If you remain attentive and note what is written; first the need that you go to find your enemy with one of those that happen to use this two handed sword. Note what I have written and remain attentive.” ~Opera Nova, Chapter 161

Those of you who have studied Asian Martial Arts are probably familiar with the concept of Katas, a set of choreographed moves used as a solo or partner exercise to train and remember specific techniques in an order that is martially sound. This is exactly the same case with the Bolognese Assalti (Assaults). They are used to learn and remember techniques as well as develop muscle memory for how to react in certain situations during a fight.

Such forms were perhaps even used as performance pieces and demonstrations as a means to showcase the school’s martial prowess without having to draw blood. As such Marozzo and the other Bolognese masters stress that all the actions should be performed with grace and poise. In the words of his fellow fencing Master Manciolino “How can white-winged Victory be when gentle grace is lacking?”

With this in mind, I set out to develop my own interpretation of these forms that is both martially sound as well as graceful and visually appealing.

Opening the Assalto — The Falso Imputanto: A Common and Alternate Interpretation

“Now, having arrived close to your enemy you will put yourself in the guardia di testa when you go and find said enemy. But watch well that if he is in the porta di ferro alta there is a need that you make a falso imputanto to the outside of his sword to his right side. In this [same tempo]* you will step forward with the left foot and the right throwing at the same time a mandritto to the head with a tramazzon. In this manner your sword will go into the porta di ferro larga.” ~Chapter 161

*Brackets added by author for clarity of interpretation.

At the beginning of the assalto we are standing in Guardia Di Testa and our opponent is standing in Porta Di Ferro Alta. In this set up the opponent has the advantage since his sword is pointing directly at our head and chest and controlling the center. As such we need to disrupt him from his guard in order to safely attack. To do so we must strike with a Falso Imputanto. Unfortunately Marozzo does not give us a good definition of what this attack entails.

The best definition I have been able to find is from Steve Reich’s Bolognese glossary, which defines it as “An attack that combines some of the characteristics of a thrust and a false-edge cut. The attack is delivered by making a cutting motion with the false-edge while simultaneously incorporating a thrusting motion. This strike is often used to draw a wide parry by the opponent or to attack around a parry.”

One common interpretation of this strike is to move the point of your sword over to the left and down slightly, then leading with the false edge, raise the point to the opponent’s face. This seems rather ineffective to me and I’ll explain why.

Consider the geometry of the situation. To execute the Falso Imputanto in this manner your arms and sword have to be at an angle with one another, while the opponent’s sword and arms are in-line controlling the center. In this scenario your arms and sword are two sides of a triangle and the opponent’s sword and arms together make up the hypotenuse. If we recall our high school geometry the sum of the two sides of a triangle is always greater than that of the hypotenuse, so unless you have much longer arms or sword than your opponent, it is unlikely that you will be able to make the strike connect (at least not without running onto his point). While an unskilled fencer might reach out and try to parry it none-the-less, a cannier fencer would recognize this fact and defeat you by simply thrusting forward.

The Falso Imputanto performed in the above manner also does nothing to displace the opponent’s sword from the center line, making it impossible to pass forward without impaling yourself. As such many people, after having thrown the Falso Imputanto, then beat aside the opponent’s blade with a tramazzon before passing forward with a mandritto. If you are just going to beat the opponent sword out of the way with a tramazzon or a mandritto, what’s the point of the Falso Imputanto? If the Falso Imputanto properly off sets the opponent from his guard and displaces his blade as it is supposed to, then beating aside his blade with a follow up strike is unnecessary. As such I believe this interpretation of the Falso Imputanto is somewhat inaccurate.

I propose an alternate interpretation of the Falso Imputanto which is able to displace your opponent’s guard while threatening his face with the point, all while maintaining opposition to prevent him from simply thrusting at you.

This alternate Falso Imputanto is performed in the following manner: Turn your right hand over bringing your sword to your inside (but outside your opponents sword) while crossing your left hand under the right to bring the false edge down onto the opponent’s right side. In the same action, pass forward with you left foot and drive your hands forward in the manner of a thrust. When striking like this you will be pushing the weak of the opponent’s sword off to the right with your strong, thus taking the centerline from him. In this manner you will also oppose his blade with yours so that you are safe from him countering with a thrust or a cut.

Now faced with the very real threat of getting a point in the face or chest and wanting to regain the center line, the opponent will likely react by pushing your blade off to your left. When he does so, allow your blade to run under his. If you’ve performed the Falso Imputanto as I described you will find your hands fall nicely into position to perform a tramazzon; bringing your sword tip down well to your left side to maintain opposition, then pass forward with the right and deliver a mandritto to his head.

In this interpretation the tramazzon is describing the manner in which the mandritto is performed, not a separate action. Marozzo says that the mandritto is performed “with a tramazzon”. He does not say to throw mandritto then a tramazzon or vice versa. Since we have already displaced the blade from the center with the Falso Imputanto I describe, it is unnecessary to use another strike/tempo to beat it aside.

Now with the Falso Imputanto covered, let’s get on with the rest of part 1.

True Edge Parry Against a Strike to the Head:

“Then if your enemy attacks your head you will throw your right leg towards his right side and you will parry with the true edge of your sword. You will do the parry in such a manner that your point turns to the enemy and in the same time you will step with the left foot towards his right side and you will throw a roverso fendente to his head. Your sword will then go into the coda longa e alta with the left foot forward.” ~Chapter 161

The parry, cut, and guard are pretty straightforward in this technique, so there is little I have to add in terms of interpretation. See the video below to see it done.

Breaking Measure – The GTFO Maneuver.

“But if your enemy in this attacks your head you will throw your left foot close by the right and you will cross your arms strongly raising the point of your sword to his face and in this manner you will have parried the attack above and having made the parry you will throw your right foot two hand widths back and throw a rising falso dritto to his hands. In this [same tempo] the left leg will go strongly behind the right such that your sword goes into the porta di ferro alta and the left leg will follow the right behind. I want you to wait for your enemy.” ~Chapter 161

The first longsword assalto is about fighting in wide measure, as such Marozzo includes this handy technique for safely breaking measure when you are getting too close to your opponent or if thing otherwise don’t go as planned. This technique is obviously very important to get right, since most of the other parts of the assalto end in the same way or with a slight variation. To emphasize its importance and for convenience sake, my club has taken to calling this technique the GTFO (Get the F**k Out)

The GTFO is performed in the following manner: Having thrown your last attack you will be standing with your left leg forward and your opponent will try to attack your head. Gather your left foot close to your right at the same time parrying the blow in Guardia di Croce. Immediately after the parry, move the right foot back half as step while bringing your tip up to clear the blade and begin the rising falso (this blade position is similar to the Einhorn guard in some German traditions). Having done so take a full passing step back with the left, while continuing to move the blade up, back, and around to deliver the false edge cut to the opponents hands ending in a strong Porta Di Ferro.

Video Interpretation:

Stay Tuned for Part 2.