Rapier Fencing

What is Rapier Style Fencing? What is the difference between this and Olympic Style?

Rapier Style Fencing....when you see such movies as "The Princess Bride", or "The Pirates of the Carribean", this is Rapier Style Fencing. Unlike Olympic Style, there is no electical connections, no whipping flimsy blades into almost a "U" shape to hit somebody and claim a kill, there is no small rectangular strip to stay on, there is no "Rules of Righ-of-way" saying who can hit first or score a point how. Rapier Style fencing is the traditional dueling format, or sword play in war format. You want to kill the other person without getting hit yourself. Hitting someone a hundredth of a second before the other person can win you a point in Olympic Style, but in the real world, you would both be dead.

Rapier style fencing can be alot of fun. It is a good workout, improves mental discipline, and allows you to compete either one on one with friends, or in small to large groups against other groups. It can build cameraderie, friendship and be a very enjoyable hobby. I know alot of Rapier Fighters, and they are collectively a really nice group of people. They come from all walks of life, Doctor's, Lawyers, Plumbers, Students, Retirees. All join for the common love of the sport. Rapier fighters can be as young as 10, or as old as 100. Age does not necessarily show skill, as some very young and some very old fighters are very, very good.

There are two different kinds of fencing or "Light Fighting" in the SCA. The first one is with an Olympic Style "Epee" blade, and the other is with the heavier "Schlager" fencing blade. The "Epee" seems to be much more common in the East Coast of the USA than the West, and from what I have heard, the trend is toward the heavier "Schlager" blade, even in the East. I personally favor the heavier blade, as it is more realistic, requires more skill, and is just as safe.

To learn how to fence in the Classical or Rapier Style of fencing, the best suggestion I can give is to find a SCA group in your area, and go to one of their meetings and ask to be taught. Most groups will have loaner gear that you can use to start out with, and see if you like it. If you find that this is a fun and interesting sport, then you can see about purchasing your own gear. You can get started in this sport with the minimum of your own gear, and advance to more gear to be able to participate in large tournaments, battles or other events. The basics for a person to buy (after the discovery loaner period) would be a good fencing mask with protective coif, a rapier, gloves good tennis shoes and some good thick sweat clothes. This will allow you to practice and become familiar with your gear. To compete in a tournament or sactioned event, you will need Rapier Approved neck protection (Gorget), shirt (for underarm protection), vest (for chest protection), gloves, pants, boots (for leg protection), bracers (to ensure the shirt sleeves stay down) and protective gear for the gender parts. A cup for the men, and breast protectors for the ladies. A cup is mandatory for men, but some women fight without the breast protectors, and this is an individuals choice. Also for the ladies, you can choose to fight with a long skirt instead of pants.

Layout and terminology of the Rapier Weapon.
It is important to learn the different names, labels and use of the components of the rapier weapon. This is crucial to the understanding of how the weapon is used when the different moves and instructions are discussed.

Weaponry: The Rapier
The rapier conjures up myriad romantic allusions--the Three Musketeers, Don Juan, duels in the ghostly mist of early dawn. It is strange, then, to realize that the development of this courtly weapon was furthered primarily by the development of the gun.

The development and widespread use of the matchlock, chennepan, wheel lock and other forms of personal firearm put the final nail in the coffin that the full suit of armor had rapidly become. The knightly harness was now a liability, and with its demise followed the decline of weapons designed to combat it--the mace, the war hammer and swords whose efficacy depended as much on percussion as on edge. A lighter, faster blade became both feasible and necessary. The time was ripe for the rapier.
The word "rapier" is thought to have come from a Spanish term, espada ropera or "sword of the robes"--hence, a dress sword or one associated with civilian rather than military clothing. It also may be traced to a French document of 1474 that makes reference to the epée rapière. Whatever its origin, the term was in common usage by the late 15th century.

The sword in question resembled its medieval predecessor more than the popular 20th-century conception of a rapier. Its blade was still fairly broad--usually an inch and a quarter wide--and its hilt still had stout, straight quillons. The necessity of accurately directing the point had led swordsmen to slip their forefinger over the quillon for greater control. Soon, probably after numerous untimely losses of the aforementioned digit, rings were added to the quillon. Since armored gauntlets were no longer in use, further protection for the hand was needed. The hilt gained a knuckle bow, and curved bars grew out of the quillons and rings of the anneau to enclose the hand in a metal cage. The swept hilt was now fully developed.

By the late 1500s, the rapier had undergone a subtle alteration. The open space in the rings of the large anneau were often filled in with decorative grillwork or shells--a design known as the Pappenheimer, named after German General Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim. This weapon often had a rather wide blade, since it evolved partially as a military sword.

By the early 1600s, the first cup-hilt rapiers had begun to appear. Their name exactly describes their design. The swept hilt was replaced by a metal bowl, often 3 to 4 inches deep, inside which was the ricasso, flanked by pas d'âne (a ring-shaped guard). The knuckle bow was preserved, and the quillons became straight and often quite wide. This final form persisted until the early 1700s, especially in the hands of the Spaniards, who doggedly retained the rapier and their almost mystical school of the "magic circle," the Destreza.

The history of warfare shows a constant battle of one-upmanship between the concepts of offense and defense. Since armor was no longer a consideration, and the rapier's design allowed for a much wider range of movement, the new competition became one of vying philosophies of defense, or, as the term evolved, "fence."

Initially, the rapier was used like its medieval predecessor, that is, as a cutting weapon. The first cogent book on a coherent rapier technique was the Opera Nova, written in 1536 by Achillio Marozzo de Bologne, which stated that cuts were to be delivered horizontally, vertically upward or downward, or obliquely. The thrust was aimed primarily at the face and was often coupled with a motion that beat one's opponent's attack away. Defense was achieved by body movement (if a cut was coming, make sure not to be under it) or with a secondary or "off-hand" device--in Marozzo's case, usually a buckler shield.

In 1604, Camillo Agrippa wrote a treatise that simplified Marozzo's 12 guardia to four, whose positions suggested that the point now held at least parity with the edge. The concept of parrying with the rapier had not yet been systematized, so it should be noted that the term guardia at this time referred solely to a position from whence an attack might be launched. The job of fending off a foe's blade fell to the main gauche (left hand) dagger, a weighted cloak, or a gauntlet, the palm of which was often reinforced with chain mail.

Around the same time as Agrippa, Giacomo di Grassi was teaching a style that favored the thrust. The thrust at that time was delivered directly from the shoulder from a stance that placed the left foot forward. That put the off-hand weapon (usually a dagger) forward of the rapier, where it could beat aside or deflect an opponent's blade, thus clearing the way for a simultaneous attack with the rapier.

Angelo Viggiani then advanced the art by developing the lunge or, as he termed it, the punta sopramano. That technique led him to teach a stance that led with the right foot. This side stance, reducing the visible target area, eventually led to the abandonment of the off-hand weapon.

Vincentio Saviolo was the first master to insist on the total superiority of the point, which led to the narrowing of the blade. Since the rapier no longer possessed the weight to cut by percussion, the draw cut was used. In that technique, the blade was placed against the target and rapidly pulled back under pressure, creating a slicing action that often involved a fair length of the overall edge. During that period, it was not uncommon for blades to exceed 40 inches in length. Held with the palm facing backward, the pommel was often butted against the wrist to help counterbalance the weight of the blade.

By now one may have noticed that all the names mentioned thus far have been Italian. That is not to imply there were no masters of significance elsewhere. The art of fence flourished in Germany, France and Spain as well as Italy, and masters such as Besnard, Narvaez and Sainct Didier were well known and revered. The Italians, however, did most of the work that significantly advanced the art of fence and, hence, the design of the rapier. In England, where a 13th-century law forbade the establishment of schools of fence, and the social status of a fencing instructor was on a par with vagabonds and (God forbid) actors, the atmosphere was less conducive to the advancement of the art.

The last master of importance was Salvator Fabris. The lunge, in real combat, requires a fair bit of nerve, since such an extension not only exposes the thruster but also limits his options for recovery and response. Fabris, therefore, taught to engage in misura stretta--close measure--wherein one can hit one's opponent through a simple arm extension. To do so, the swords end up crossed. Since the major target area is on the side of the opponent's blade, it now became necessary to remove one's blade and reposition it to the other side by dipping under the opponent's blade. The cavatione di tempo--or disengage, as it is known today--necessitates a similar counteraction to negate it, returning the blades to their original position. The contra cavatione, which modern fencers would recognize as the circle parry, is the first instance of a technique designed solely to parry an opponent's blade with the rapier itself.

That and subsequent techniques would result in the quillons of the rapier's curving up and away from the hilt on one side, the better to catch and immobilize or entrap an opposing blade. The curved quillon entrapped more readily than a straight one, but also made it harder to release or "lose" the captured blade. In effect, if you had him, he also had you. When a dagger was employed, it could take over the offense, but later fencing styles (those that employed the cup hilt) had abandoned the main gauche.

There were three main methods of making hits with the rapier: the imbrocatta, which thrust over the opponent's sword; the stocatta, which thrust under; and the punta riversa, delivered from one's left to the opponent's right, with the palm forward and upward. There were also techniques where the sword and dagger both hit simultaneously, and where two swords were used together. These twin rapiers, known collectively as a "case," were often designed to fit together side by side to resemble one sword, and were released into individual weapons by depressing a stud. Rapier and dagger were often made as companion pieces with beautifully wrought hilts of matching design. Regardless of its ornamentation, however, the rapier remained a highly functional and deadly weapon.

One of the significant social aspects of the rapier was its status as a "civilian" weapon. Prior to the Renaissance, the sword was a symbol of the titled classes. But now, with the rise of an affluent merchant class, the sword was used by the upwardly mobile. If it did not confer class, it suggested it, for apart from self-defense, a gentleman was expected to be capable of defending his honor.

The rapier was not universally accepted, especially as a weapon of war. Armor, although greatly reduced, was still worn, and military men preferred the reassuring weight of the heavy, single-edged blade, as exhibited in the so-called mortuary sword, to a thin rib-sticker like the rapier.

Eventually, the evolution of complex swordplay demanded the lightest, fastest possible weapon. The cup hilt's component parts--the quillons, cup, knucklebow and pas d'âne--all shrank down to the most perfunctory size possible. The blade itself became much shorter, with a deeply indented fuller. The result was the "small sword," a weapon that eclipsed the rapier completely in the 1700s.

And so one of the most elegant swords in history passed out of use--except on the late show, where one can still see it spectacularly misused by some of the greatest names of the silver screen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This article was written by Braun McAsh and originally published
in the August 1996 issue of Military History magazine.