How to Read this manual

This manual is an attempt to merge all the known manuals of Fiore into one place. It's also an attempt to bring together all of the knowledge about Fiore's system into one place. As such, it is difficult to be definitive in some places. In others it is much easier.

If you think about language, the first thing you learn is letters, then simple words, then simple sentences, then you learn how sentences are constructed. This books is put together in the same way. The letters are the footwork, the cuts and the wards. The simple words are the plays, and in the wrestling and dagger sections we develop simple sentences. Finally we give you practice sentences and sentences to take apart on your own, so you can learn how the language of Fiore's system works.

There are quite a few people who will disagree that the plays are simple words and sentences. Some will say that they are the complete system. We're not disagreeing, in English the sentence "See Dick" contains very important concepts of sentence structure. So do the simpler plays. "See Dick run" contains other important concepts as well. Without understanding those concepts, it's much much harder to read this sentence. It's even harder to read the paragraph, or the page, or the book.

If this book takes you to say the end of grade school/freshman year of high school level, then we'll be thrilled. I believe that at that level, self exploration is more important then rote learning. However, in order to get there you have to learn things by rote. You have to learn spelling rule by rote, until you being to get an innate feel for how words get spelled. Same with fighting.

You should also judge the system in it's appropriate context. Yes, the wrestling is in many ways very basic. However, its designed to be used in or out of armor. Armor not only protects the wearer from blows, but also from body movements that can maim or kill. This means that some wrestling moves will not work because they would require you to bend steel. The dagger that is used is the roundel, which is either not edged, or barely edged depending on the type, and so, using some techniques vs a bowie knife aren't good. We aren't claiming that this is a system for modern times. We are claiming that is an excellent system for 1400's Europe.

You should start at the beginning of each section, and work your way through. Every section starts with a brief introduction, and explanation of basic concepts and theories that are used. Then we move to footwork, wards, plays and finally exercises. It's in the exercises that you will begin to actually learn the system, and build muscle memory. However you do need to be familiar with everything that comes before.

A Brief History

This website is the result of our interest in what is being called "Historical European Martial Arts", in particular the study of a manuscript written in early 1400 (one manual specifies 1409). This manuscript was written by Sir Fiore Furlano de Civida d'Austria delli Liberi da Premariacco (aka Fiore de Liberi). There are 4 known versions of this manuscript, of which the one at the Getty Museum is considered to be either the original, or close to it. The one at the Getty Museum is often called the "Getty Manuscript". The other manuscripts are the Morgan (at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, NY), the Pisani-Dossi (originall in the Pisani-Dossi collection of books and manuscripts, and sometimes called the Novati), the last two are also in museums ( the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and Biblioteca Estense ). The Bilioteca Estense version is only mentioned in it's catalogues, and has been missing since 1600 or so.

What this really means is that we don't have a living instructor in the art, and have to interpret 15th century Italian to read the manuals we do have access too. Some of what we know is because it says directly in the manuals, other information is from direct experimentation and free play. We attempt to Free Play as close to combat conditions as possible, so as to fully understand the arts.

We also have to understand the times in which Fiore lived. Dress, footwear, armor and society all influence what weapons can be carried, and how effective they are. Without understanding that the common dagger of the time was the roundel, some of Fiore's dagger work looks unworkable with a modern knife. If you don't know that the armor of the time restricted movement of the arms above the head, the lack of "Posta de Falcone" seems odd. When you know that you couldn't always defend yourself equal to the force applied to you, it becomes evident why disabling an opponent is more important then killing him.

As the Historical European Martial Arts community continues to study Fiore's system, we come to new insights to how the system works. It's the study, and attention to detail that make this 600 year old martial art alive and well today. Indeed, it's what makes it as relevant today, as it was when Fiore first picked up a sword in the late 1300's.

How we describe techniques

We try to be very clear about what's going on, and use the same nomenclature throughout the manual. This leads to a very stilted, and almost robotic way of doing things. Student should be aware that combat is much more fluid, and dynamic then the way we present it makes it seem. You shouldn't get lost in the details, but rather understand the fundamentals of what we're trying to show.
Ultimately, real understanding comes only when you perform these techniques against a real opponent, at full speed. Some of the techniques really only work at full speed, others are simply more effective. Remember that mass, speed and energy are all related. The faster you move your sword, the harder it is to readjust where the blade goes.
We use a table like this:

Notes

1. The player is cutting to half-iron door ward, if the scholar does not interrupt him. However, the scholar does leaving the player in Long Ward.

To describe plays and sequences. Sometimes what we're trying to say needs more explanation then we have room for, and you'll see foot note numbers to indicate this. The Tempo number indicates sequence, and not time. So if one action is labeled 1, and the next is labeled 1.5, it does not necessarily mean that you do it exactly half way through the other action. It means you do it before the preceding action is completed. In the case above, the Scholar's action interrupts the players action, at some point before it's completion.
In almost all cases, you will be moving from a ward, through a ward to a ward. We short hand this to the start and ending ward. The middle ward(s) are usually obvious. Where they aren't we'll add a footnote.

Measure & Tempo

Tempo and Measure are both relative terms, they are not necessarily measurable. Time and distance are measurable. Tempo and Measure serve to allow us to be specific enough to convey concepts and ideas, without being lost in the minutiae of the tenth of a second. This is important, because time and distance change to rapidly in a fight to cover every possibility.

Measure is the relative distance between two opponents. There are only 3 measures, Out of Measure, In/Wide Measure and Close/Narrow. The actual distance these measures can be change because of things like weapon and arm length. You are out of measure, when you need more then one step to reach your opponent. You are In/Wide Measure when you are one step away from your opponent, but cannot reach your opponent with your hands (ie come to grappling range). Finally, Close/Narrow measure is when you can reach your opponent with your hands.

So, why doesn't the actual distance matter? It does matter of course. However, in a fight you don't have time to recognize that you're 3 feet away from someone with a knife and you have a sword. You can recognize that you're in measure, while you're opponent is out of measure. This shortens the mental "arithmetic" that you do, increasing your reaction time.

So, when facing off with an opponent take their measure. Note not only weapon length, but arm length, and height. All of these will affect when you're Out of Measure, In Measure or close measure.

A single tempo is the amount of time it takes to complete one movement. This movement can be anything, a cut, a thrust or a step, and we don't care if it takes 1/10th or 1/2 of a second. Some people are faster then others, and so they may have a slightly faster tempo then another. However they can only do one action at a time, and that's the important thing. You can't make two different cuts at the same time, nor can you easily redirect from one cut to another. Even empty handed it's one punch at time, or both doing the same thing at the same time. So, it doesn't matter if it takes 1/10th of a second to do something, it only matters that you can do one thing each tempo.

In general once you're stopped motion and begun moving in another direction, you've started a new tempo. The exception to this would be a chamber and release. If you're moving your weapon into it's "loaded" position ( hand cocked back, sword withdrawn for a thrust etc), then it can be a single tempo for the "cock, and fire" sequence. This doesn't mean that you aren't telegraphing a movement however, even if it doesn't take an extra tempo.

This leads us to 3 possible points at which we can act, during our opponents tempo. We can act before, during or after. While you may have just gone "duh", it's important to note that all three of these reactions can have different results. If you act before, you can miss your cover, or give you opponent a chance to interrupt your tempo.

Tempo and Measure interact, they are not solitary concepts. A long measure takes a longer tempo to cross. If someone is faster then you, extend the measure to slow them down. If you're faster then your opponent, close the measure to speed up. Learn to control both the Tempo and the Measure, and you control the fight.