Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'arme si da offesa, come da difesa

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Giacomo di Grassi. Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'Arme, si da offesa come da difesa
Giacomo di Grassi

Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'arme si da offesa, come da difesa (German: "The reasons for the safe use of weapons for attack and defense") is an Italian-language treatise on fencing published in 1570 by Giacomo di Grassi . He had a decisive influence on the development of the Italian art of fencing. In 1594 the text was republished in an English translation under the title "Di Grassi, His True Arte of Defense".

content

The tract describes the principles and methods of using the most common weapons of the time, including sword , dagger , kappa, brokero, rosella, halberd , ronha and lance . Giacomo di Grassi outlines simple principles and ways to improve control of the weapon. This should give a fighter an advantage in armed forces and help him to win a duel if he knew at least some of the methods to use. In addition to explanatory texts, the work also contains various illustrations, including geometric drawings to illustrate postures.

Among other things, the treatise contains a certain position of the legs, a forward-facing position in which the feet are close together, similar to modern footwork in kendo.

Giacomo di Grassi laid the foundation stone for the development of the Venetian fencing school and described the following topics:

  • Art of using the sword
  • Separation of the sword
  • Punches with the tip (stabbing punches)
  • Comfortable position of the hands and legs
  • All fighting positions
  • Ways How To Best Beat
  • Ways of defense
  • Principles to be followed
  • Methods of attack and defense in different positions
  • Protection from the blow of the tip
  • Work with a sword and a dagger
  • Ways to parry a dagger strike
  • Defense with the sword and the dagger
  • Ways of combat, attack and protection with two swords
  • Ways of fighting with the halberd
  • Work with the skewer
  • Fatal blows with various weapons
  • Basic recommendations for defense
  • Exercises to build strength

Life and meaning of Giacomo di Grassis

Giacomo di Grassi was born in Modena and worked as a fencing master in Treviso . Nothing is known about his further life. In 1570 in Venice he published his fundamental work “Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'arme, si da offesa come da diffesa”. It appeared at a time when fencing was increasingly changing from heavy swords to lighter cutting and stabbing weapons such as rapiers .

The English translation of his treatise as "Di Grassi, His True Arte of Defense" was published in 1594 by I. Iaggard in London. The translator remained anonymous and was only given “IG, Gentleman”. Italian culture, including the Italian art of fencing, was fashionable across Europe at the time. Grassi's work was the first fencing book to be published in England and therefore developed into one of the most famous works of fencing in England during the Elizabethan era .

literature

  • Giacomo di Grassi: Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'arme si da offesa, come da difesa: con un trattato dell'inganno, & con un modo di essercitarsi da se stesso, per acquistare forza, giudicio, & prestezza . appresso Giordano Ziletti & compagni, National Central Library Rome 1570, p. 151 .
  • Альфред Хаттон: Холодное оружие Европы. Приемы великих мастеров фехтования . Litres, 2017, ISBN 978-5-457-40813-5 .
  • Giacomo di Grassi: Giacomo Di Grassi His True Arte of Defense…: With a Treatise of Disceit Or Falsinge… For J [ohn] J [aggard], 1594 (Italian: Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'arme si da offesa, come da difesa : con un trattato dell'inganno, & con un modo di essercitarsi da se stesso, per acquistare forza, giudicio, & prestezza .).
  • Ragione di adoprar sicuramente l'arme si da offesa, come da difesa in the google book search

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Kxxo9iRtcrcC
  2. ^ A b Giacomo di Grassi: His True Arte of Defense. (PDF; 4.5 MB) In: jentak.sandbox.cz. January 3, 2006, accessed June 24, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Ken Mondschein: The Italian Schools of Fencing: Art, Science, and Pedagogy. In: Daniel Jaquet, Karin Verelst, Timothy Dawson (Eds.): Late Medieval and Early Modern Fight Books. Transmission and Tradition of Martial Arts in Europe (14th – 17th Centuries) (= History of Warfare. Volume 112). Brill, Leiden / Boston 2016, ISBN 978-90-04-31241-8 , pp. 280–323, here p. 310.
  4. ↑ Girolamo Tiraboschi: Biblioteca Modenese o notizie della vita e delle opere degli scrittori natii degli stati del serenissimo Signor Duca di Modena. Vol. 3, 1783, p. 10.
  5. ↑ Ken Mondschein: The Italian Schools of Fencing: Art, Science, and Pedagogy. In: Daniel Jaquet, Karin Verelst, Timothy Dawson (Eds.): Late Medieval and Early Modern Fight Books. Transmission and Tradition of Martial Arts in Europe (14th – 17th Centuries). Brill, Leiden / Boston 2016, ISBN 978-90-04-31241-8 , pp. 280–323, here p. 310.
  6. ^ Paul Wagner: Common Themes in the Fighting Tradition of the British Isles. In: Daniel Jaquet, Karin Verelst, Timothy Dawson (Eds.): Late Medieval and Early Modern Fight Books. Transmission and Tradition of Martial Arts in Europe (14th – 17th Centuries). Brill, Leiden / Boston 2016, ISBN 978-90-04-31241-8 , pp. 410–448, here p. 418.