Alfieri 1640: What is the Deal with ‘Guardia Mista’?

Here’s installment 2.5 of my interpretations of Francesco Alfieri‘s rapier manual. Be sure to check out the other Alfieri 1640 posts, especially the second post on the four other guards found in Alfieri’s treatise.

Today we’ll be looking at the fifth guard of single rapier found in Alfieri’s La Scherma. Yes, fifth. Along with the traditional four guards we find throughout the 17th Century Italian school, Alfieri created what he claims was a revolutionary new guard — guardia mista (“mixed guard”).

Say hello to Alfieri’s Fab Five.

Ok… but which one is Guardia Mista? Is it Jonathan Van Ness? I know nothing about Queer Eye… 😦

I wanted to give guardia mista a separate post for two reasons:

1. Alfieri touts it as inventive and most of his plates & plays revolve around the guard.
2. There are several interpretations of the guard and it’s worth exploring the each idea.

Of note: I’m using two translations of  La Scherma. The first is translated by Piermarco Terminiello et al; the other by Tom Leoni. Both are great translators, but there is significant differences in their translations in a few spots. I did a research paper into it earlier this year. I also think reading multiple translations is a great way to get a better idea of the “spirit” of what a master is trying to communicate.

Don’t read just one book if you can help it.

Let’s jump into it.

Alfieri 1640: The First Four ‘Natural’ Guards for Single Rapier

This is the second installment of my interpretations of Francesco Alfieri‘s rapier manual. Don’t forget to check out the first post on the stance and the parts of the sword.

I’m hoping to do some video interpretations of Alfieri’s manual once quarantine is lifted; until then, we’ll take a look at the guards and concepts central to his system.

Today we’ll be looking at the first four guards found in Alfieri’s treatise — prima, seconda, terza and quarta. I dive into guardia mista, Alfieri’s fifth guard, in a separate post you can read here.

Of note: I’m using two translations of  La Scherma. The first is translated by Piermarco Terminiello et al; the other by Tom Leoni. Both are great translators, but there is significant differences in their translations in a few spots. I did a research paper into it earlier this year. I also think reading multiple translations is a great way to get a better idea of the “spirit” of what a master is trying to communicate.

Don’t read just one book if you can help it.

Alfieri 1640: The Sword & the Stance

I’ve been wanting to do a series on Italian rapier according to Francesco Ferdinando Alfieri for a while. My plan was to do a video series this summer, but COVID-19 had other plans.

I still plan on doing that series of video interpretations but until we can all hangout again, I figure I could do some basic blog posts with photos.

So we’ll start off simple with the parts of the sword and how to stand, according to Alfieri.

I’m using two translations of Alfieri’s manual, La Scherma. The first is translated by Piermarco Terminiello; the other by Tom Leoni. Both are great translators, but there is significant differences in their translations in a few spots. I did a research paper into it earlier this year. I also think reading multiple translations is a great way to get a better idea of the “spirit” of what a master is trying to say. Don’t read just one book if you can help it.