The scholars have been hard at work refining the training guides. And since it’s been a month since we last shared, I wanted to update you on our progress. But first, here’s the link to the resources page with all the files.
Meyer Rapier
We’re getting really close to finishing the first draft. The write-ups for Chapters 4 thru 7 are done, leaving only chapter 8. That one is a bit tricky because some of the ‘plays’ essentially say, “I already taught you this in longsword and dussack”. So we need to synthesize a drill for remaining and pulling from that material.
We still need to retest our interpretations for chapter 7, which is split into two parts, deceptions and parries. But that shouldn’t take long.
New posters are in the resources folder. Chapter 6 and 7/deceptions are on one; Chapter 7/parries on the other.
Meyer Longsword
The first longsword drill book covers chapters 10, 9, and 11 (yes, in that order). Chapter 10 was done long ago, though we continue to add supplementary drills that we create for our own students. Chapter 9 was grouped into 11/Tag. Zornhut and most of Ochs are also done, so we’ll be starting on the Einhorn tests soon.
For our posters, Ochs and Einhorn are going on the same one, so it’s not ready yet. But if you missed it, the Tag and Zornhut posters are up.
L’Ange Rapier
We completed our study of L’Ange rapier last year. End to end, every play was done (except one that looked like it would break a bone). But we didn’t take notes, so a lot of what we learned has been lost to time.
We’re fixing that this year by creating a L’Ange drill book. It will take time, as there are over 30 chapters with roughly 3 to 6 plays per chapter. We have chapters 1 thru 8 drafted, but that’s misleading. Chapters 1 and 3 are just terminology, and 2 only has a salute. Next, 4 thru 6 are the same play, which is really the beginning of the first play in chapter 7.
So what does that mean in real terms? We have the basic thrusts and parries done, with disengagements coming in the next draft.
Manciolino Sword and Buckler
Finally there is the side project. We’re only working on Manciolino on days when our normal classes are cancelled due to work/personal conflicts. So progress is going to be a lot slower.
That said, we do have Guardia Alta and Guardia di Testa done (except diagrams). And there’s a lot more material there than you may have guessed. Because Manciolino leaves a lot of room for interpretation, each ‘play’ can have a lot of variants. For example, how many ways can you feint a mandritto and cut a riverso? Well is that mandritto aimed high or low? Does the riverso go over the top or under the swords? Or does it stay on the same side and cut behind the sword?
We can’t capture every plausible interpretation, but we’re going to try to catch the bulk of them. Especially the ones that change how the counter works.