Destreza. La Verdadera Destreza is a Spanish system of fencing. The word "destreza" literally means "skill. " However, the full name is perhaps best translated as "the true art. " While Destreza is primarily a system of swordsmanship, it is intended to be a universal method of fighting applicable to all weapons.
This includes sword and dagger; sword and cloak; sword and buckler; sword and round shield; the two-handed sword; the flail; and polearms such as the pike and halberd. Its precepts are based on reason, geometry, and incorporate various other aspects of a well-rounded Renaissance humanist education, with a special focus on the writings of classical authors such as Aristotle, Euclid, and Plato. Authors on Destreza also paid great attention to what modern martial artists would call biomechanics. The tradition is documented in scores of fencing manuals, but centers on the works of two primary authors, don Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza and his follower, don Luis Pacheco de Narváez. 16th century.
Italian school of swordsmanship. The term Italian school of swordsmanship is used to describe the Italian style of fencing and edged-weapon combat from the time of the first extant Italian swordsmanship treatise (1409) to the days of Classical Fencing (up to 1900). Although the weapons and the reason for their use changed dramatically throughout these five centuries, a few fundamental traits have remained constant in the Italian school. Some of these are the preference for certain guards, the preoccupation with time (or "tempo") in fencing as well as many of the defensive actions. Of especial influence was the Dardi school of fencing with the spada da lato in the 16th to early 17th centuries, which gave rise to the classical early modern of fencing with the rapier, including Elizabethan Fencing in England and the French school of fencing in the 18th century (which in turn developed into modern sport fencing).
Late Medieval/Renaissance[edit] Renaissance/Baroque/Pre-classical[edit] Classical[edit] Modern[edit] Lineages[edit] French school of fencing. The known history of fencing in France begins in the 16th century, with the adoption of Italian styles of fencing. There are medieval predecessors, such as the Burgundian Le jeu de la hache ("The Play of the Axe") of ca. 1400, but the history of the classical French school begins with the foundation of the Académie des Maistres en faits d’armes de l’Académie du Roy (also known as the Ecole Française d’Escrime) by Charles IX of France in December 1567.
One master produced by this school was Henry de Saint Didier a 16th-century fencing master and author of a 1573 treatise, titled Traicté contenant les secrets du premier livre (Treatise containing the secrets of the first book on the single sword), dedicated to Charles IX. This treatise details a system for side-sword similar to the Bolognese syle of Giovanni Dall'Agocchie The emergence of classical sports fencing in the 19th century was a direct continuation of the French tradition.
Bibliography[edit] References[edit] See also[edit] German school of fencing. Most of the authors are, or claim to be, in the tradition of the 14th century master Johannes Liechtenauer. The earliest surviving treatise on Liechtenauer's system is contained in a manuscript dated to 1389, known as Ms. 3227a. More manuscript treatises survive from the 15th century, and during the 16th century, the system was also presented in print, notably by Joachim Meyer in 1570.
The German tradition is eclipsed by the Italian school of rapier fencing by the early 17th century. Fencing with the German longsword has been one focus of historical European martial arts reconstruction since the late 19th century (Alfred Hutton). The term "German school of fencing" is quite misleading and can bring confusion, because there were and there are different German fencing schools.
For example: both German academic fencing and the old German theatrical swordplay are both referred to today as "German school of fencing".[3] History[edit] Late medieval tradition[edit] "German Renaissance"[edit] Ringen. Ringen is the German language term for grappling (wrestling). In the context of the German school of historical European martial arts during the Late Middle Ages and the German Renaissance, ringen refers to unarmed combat in general, including grappling techniques used as part of swordsmanship.
The German tradition has records of a number of master-Ringer of the 15th to 16th centuries specializing in unarmed combat, such as Ott Jud. Unarmed combat was divided in two categories, sportive grappling or geselliges ringen and serious unarmed combat or kampfringen (where kampf is the Early Modern German term for "duel"). The German tradition of ringen was eclipsed during the 17th century as the modern Baroque understanding of nobility precluded the participation of the higher classes in wrestling matches. Wrestling continued to be practiced among the lower classes, giving rise to the various traditional styles of folk wrestling. History[edit] Grappling techniques in swordsmanship[edit] Pankration. Pankration (/pæn.ˈkreɪti.ɒn/ or /pæŋˈkreɪʃən/) was a combat sport introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC and founded as a blend of boxing and wrestling but with scarcely any rules.
The only things not acceptable were biting and gouging of the opponent's eyes. The term comes from the Greek παγκράτιον [paŋkrátion], literally meaning "all might" from πᾶν (pan-) "all" and κράτος (kratos) "strength, might, power".[1] History[edit] In Greek mythology, it was said that the heroes Heracles and Theseus invented pankration as a result of using both wrestling and boxing in their confrontations with opponents. Theseus was said to have utilized his extraordinary pankration skills to defeat the dreaded Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Heracles was said to have subdued the Nemean lion using pankration, and was often depicted in ancient artwork doing that. The feats of the ancient pankratiasts became legendary in the annals of Greek athletics. Structure of ancient competition[edit] Techniques[edit] Greek wrestling. Greek wrestling, also known as Ancient Greek wrestling and Pále (πάλη), was the most popular organized sport in Ancient Greece.
A point was scored when one player touched the ground with his back, hip, shoulder, or tapped out due to a submission-hold or was forced out of the wrestling-area. Three points had to be scored to win the match. One particularly important position in this form of wrestling was one where one of the contestants was lying on his belly with the other on his back trying to strangle him. The athlete on the bottom would try to grasp an arm of the one on top and turn him over onto his back while the athlete on top would try to complete the choke without being rolled. Role in ancient Olympics[edit] Wrestling was the first competition to be added to the Olympic Games that was not a footrace. Famous wrestlers from antiquity[edit] Milo of Croton was one of the most famous wrestlers from this ancient time period. Rules[edit] Funerary relief (510–500 BC) depicting wrestlers. Boxing.
The origin of boxing may be its acceptance by the ancient Greeks as an Olympic game in BCE 688. Boxing evolved from 16th- and 18th-century prizefights, largely in Great Britain, to the forerunner of modern boxing in the mid-19th century, again initially in Great Britain and later in the United States. History[edit] Early history[edit] See also Ancient Greek boxing First depicted in ancient Egyptian relief from the 2nd millennium BC depicts both fist-fighters and spectators.[2] Both depictions show bare-fisted contests.[2] Other depictions in the 2nd millennium BC can be seen in reliefs from the Mesopotamian nations of Assyria and Babylonia, and in Hittite art from Asia Minor. Early boxing Boxing was originally nothing more than bare fist fighting between two willing and sometimes unwilling competitors. The Romans had a keen interest in the sport and fighting soon became a common spectator sport.
Modern boxing[edit] Broughton's rules (1743)[edit] Early fighting had no written rules.