Fencing Teaching traditions

Fencing Teaching Traditionsby Dr. William M. Gaugler, Maestro di Scherma

Our current method ofdetermining ranks of fencingteachers is based on themedieval guild system and

provides three levels of teachingaccomplishment and licences:apprentice or instructor, journeymanor provost, and master. The apprenticelearns the foundation elements of acraft, the journeyman exercises theskills he has acquired as an apprenticeand prepares for the masters'examination, and the accomplishedmaster, Vi/ho enjoys the respect of hispeers because he has reached thehighest level of technical skill inhis discipline, will have passed arigorous examination given him bya commission of senior mastersrepresenting the association ofmasters.

In the visual arts, during the lateMiddle Ages, the master-candidatepresented the commission with anexample of his finest work, which wasfittingly called a masterpiece. And inthe fencing community the master-candidate gave the commission apractical demonstration of his skill inthe use of various edged weapons,often fencing some of the commissionmembers at a public site, as in thetrials for master-candidacy that theBrotherhood of Saint Marcus(Marxbrüder) held in the market-placeof Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. Thisfencing guild issued a document tomasters of the sword known as aletter of freedom and privilege.

Whether by the apprenticeshipsystem, which was the most common,though not the most efficient meansof teaching, or the school or academy,fencing instruction necessitatedtransferring to the pupil theaccumulated body of knowledgeacquired by fencing masters over aperiod of some 500 years, that is, fromthe Renaissance to the present. Atbottom, duelling practice determinedwhat was sound and what wasnot; unsuccessful actions disappearedalong with their unfortunateinventors.

The logical organisation andclassification of fencing actions foreffective teaching, and the question ofprotecting teaching standards, appearalready in 16* century fencingliterature. For instance, Marozzo'sOpera Nova, 1536, tells the masterhow he should begin instruction,advising him to demonstrate all theprincipal thrusts and cuts from whichall other movements are derived. Andhe is concerned with beginnersfencing when the master is notpresent, as well as students teachingwhat they have been taught, withoutthe master's permission. To help thereader comprehend the classificationof offensive and defensive actions andpositions, Viggiani's Loschermo, 1575,organised principal cuts and thrusts,as well as guards, on illustrations oftrees, cuts being shown on the leftbranch and point thrusts on the right.

In the 17tfi century, the problem ofunqualified teachers also troubledCapo Ferro, Gran simulacro...., 1610,who warned his reader against somewho quickly, after having learned alittle, and having even tess practice,commence to teach others, and teachwithout foundation and rule.

Later in the same century Marcelli'sRególe délia scherma, 1686,expressed the need to require fencingteachers to undergo examination bytheir peers. He praised acommendable custom of the past, inwhich someone who claimed to beable to teach was examined in publicby a Senate of Excellent Masters, andif after examination was approved,received a public licence, and wasdeclared worthy of the rank he hadacquired through his own effort.

Already in England in 1540 Henry VIIIhad issued a bill under the titleMasters of ye Noble Science ofDefence, giving masters a monopolyof teaching fencing and empoweringthem to commit to gaol any offenderwho taught without being a memberof the guild. When the king died in1547, this monopoly lapsed and the

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A tree of cuts and thrusts by Viggiani, 1575

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Fencing Teaching traditions

English lesson. 1850

masters did not recover theirprivileges until James I granted thema warrant in 1605, although this wasabolished in 1624. During the latterpart of the 171** century the body fellinto disrepute because of the so-called masters who did not play theirprizes (a traditional examinationwhich required the fighting anddefeating of their betters). Theseswordsmen merely gave themselvesthe title of Master or Professor andwere in fact, nothing more than paidprize-fighters with swords.

tn France In 1567, the King'sProcurator General confirmed thestatutes of the maistres joueurs etescrimeurs d'espée, authorising themto form an association. In 1656 thefencing masters of the FrenchAcademy of Arms received letterspatent from Louis XIV for a coat ofarms and hereditary nobility for six ofits members who had practised theirart for 20 years. Angelo's L'Ecole desArmes, 1763, tells us something of thefencing master's examination in Parisduring the 18ih century. Rewrites:

"When an usher has finished hisapprenticeship under an ablemaster, and is presented to thepublic to be received as a master,he is obliged to fence with severalmasters. After having performedwith the foil alone, he is forced tofence with sword anddagger....no man can be receivedamong the masters unless he hathserved a regular six yearsapprenticeship under one master(a custom only made use of inParis)."

A written text with definitions ofactions and the method of theirexecution, plus technical and tacticalobservations, is an importantpedagogical instrument in thedevelopment of a formal education infencing instruction. In Italy Rosaroll-Scorza & Grisetti's La scienza dellascherma, 1803, and in FranceGomard's La théorie de l'escrime,1845, were among the firstpublications of this kind in the 19thcentury.

In the 1871 edition of their work,Rosa rol I-Scorza & Grisetti state thatorder in teaching the principles of ascience or an art is essential and thisorder must also be maintained in thepractical lesson. They defineengagement as blade contact withdomination. When the adversary

engages the weak of your blade, theysay, you must remain composed, armextended, body immobile and, with aninstantaneous and almost invisiblemovement, lower your point, circleunder the bell guard of the opponentand deliver a straight thrust; thisartion is called a disengagement.

Gomard defines the engagementsimply as contact by crossing bladesand says the disengagement is theaction of passing the point of yoursword from one line to another todirect it to the body. He describeseight different disengagements andthe cut-over, which he says isnothing more than a variety of thedisengagement. Rosaroll and Grisettimake no mention of the cut-over.

The two textbooks developed for usein the military fencing schools ofFrance and Italy, the French Ministry ofWar's Manuel d'escrime \n 1877, laterupdated to the Règlement of 1908,and Parise's Trattato teórico praticodella scherma. 1884, became thebibles of contemporary fencinginstrurtion. Virtually every book onfencing that was written after thesevolumes was based on theirmaterial. This standardisation oftheory and practice in written formmeant that in certification of fencingteachers every level of examinationcould be prepared for employing thesame materials, and that thecommission members would be inaccord on whether or not theirquestions and requirements indemonstration had been met by thecandidate. •

French master's examination, 1891

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