Baited Blade Classical Fencing

The main difference between classical fencing and historical fencing is that classical weapons were taken from the fencing rooms of the 19th century and historical weapons are taken from the pages of history and historical texts. Also, as a rule, historical weapons are non-lethal versions of actual swords of their respective time periods. In Baited Blade, we do a few of them.

Small Sword

Often incorrectly termed “court sword,” the small sword descended from the rapier. It differs from its larger cousin in many ways. The blade is much shorter; its range (as we practice it) is 30 to 33 inches. Some historical pieces actually had blades as short as 26 to 28 inches. The blade of the small sword is usually a triangle cross section (we use shortened epee and wide epee blades in our club). The hilt is usually clamshell; many guard options are acceptable. A small sword may or may not have vestigial quillons and/or knuckle bow. The target is torso and head. It is a formal dueling weapon so there is a bit of a conventional feel to it but a priority attack will not negate a delayed hit. It is considered the weapon that led most directly to foil. One major difference is the inclusion of off-hand disarms and very limited grappling.

Dueling Sabre

I refer to this weapon as the “Dueling” sabre to separate it from the much larger military sabre. They both have a curved blade and they are both wider than the Italian classical sabre. I take mine straight from Hutton. The weapon was also extensively used on the continent. Though I distinguish between “dueling” and “military” models, most officers carried versions that closely resembled this model. The target is the same as the Italian as well as many of the cuts and parries. The major differences lie in the lack of priority and the use of the off-hand to grab or grapple. My main reference is Hutton. I added the grappling from other traditions.

Rapier

The word, rapier, can apply to any straight, narrow, double edged, civilian sword. We apply it to the “Classic” rapier. This weapon has a blade that is no less than 40 inches from what I call the secondary hilt to the point. The rapier has cross bars called quillons. More often than not, there are curved bars that bend up the blade past the quillons. The blade’s length is measured beyond these. There is quite a list of hilt possibilities ranging from swept hilt to simple hilt to cup-hilt to a combination of shell and swept known as the “Papenheimer.” We primarily work from Capo Ferro and Giganti. The rapier is primarily a thrusting weapon but cuts can apply. There is grappling but we try not to concentrate on it. Because of its length, many believe the rapier requires a secondary weapon like the dagger even though almost every author on the subject recommended that one learn the rapier alone first.

Rapier and Dagger

After learning rapier, we add the dagger. The daggers we use are very flexible; the actual daggers would have been much more substantial but that would render them unsafe. There are separate teachings when adding the dagger which make for a very interesting fencing experience.

Grappling is limited only because of the addition of a secondary weapon held in that hand. There are some grappling moves however.

Other Weapons

There are certainly other historical weapons out there; we currently do not fence them at Baited Blade. I do intend to offer some. I am looking at Long Sword, a hand and a half sword from the age of the knight. I also wish to explore case of rapiers. This would be a slightly heavier but a little shorter weapon than our rapier (many call it a cut and thrust sword) and it is fought in tandem. There are actually two swords, one left and one right, in this system. It is quite complex but it’s a great system to add. I would take most of mine from Morozzo and Alfieri (though, truth be told, I go with the Hutton system based on those two authors). The final weapon on this list of future historicals is the dussack. This weapon is a curved piece of flat wood with a small, narrow oval cut in one end acting as a handle. We would use leather versions for safety reasons. It is primarily a German weapon.

This is the current situation at the Baited Blade. We are a progressive classical club. That is to say that we are classical but we accept the historical approach. I am invested in the Western Martial Arts Coalition and in that light, look to host historical fencing gatherings in the future. This is a wonderful time to join our group. Come fence with us!