Dagger Fencing: The Italian School by Carlo Parisi Paperback
Today, fighting with dagger versus dagger, or with knife versus knife, is not a common scenario that people might expect to face. However, it was more common in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance, when it was normal for people to wear a dagger on their belt. Arguments or fights with daggers could break out; and while duels were more often fought with swords, combatants could also agree to do so with daggers.
This is not a book on modern knife fighting; rather, it is a book dealing with the historical knife fighting of Renaissance Italy. The modern blade aficionado will also find material of interest. The book offers several views of short bladed weapons that were developed and tested when cold steel was the king of weaponcraft and when duels were more common than today.
Carlo Parisi was born in Northern Italy in 1974. He has always been interested in weapons and martial arts, and the two met in Historical Fencing, which he began practising in roughly 1998. A few years later, he started doing his own research, and became a member of HEMAC in 2003. Since then, he's been teaching classes at various events in Europe, and set up his own club in 2011. His main interests are sabres and daggers, but he studies a variety of weapons and methods. This is his first book on fencing.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Definitions
Chapter 1: The Weapons
Rondel Daggers et similia
Short Sword type daggers
Parrying Daggers, or daggers to match the Rapier
Poniards
Chapter 2: Filippo Vadi
1 Selected Techniques
2 Starting Stance
Chapter 3: Achille Marozzo
1 Single Dagger
2 Dagger & Cloak
3 Comments
Chapter 4: Francesco Altoni
1 Chapter X
2 Comment
3 Examples of Defences
Chapter 5: Salvatore Fabris
Chapter 6: Attacks
1 Medieval type dagger attacks
2 Renaissance type dagger attacks
Chapter 7: Exercises
1 Pell training
2 Wall tennis
3 Equipment
4 How to build practice and sparring daggers
Conclusions
Bibliography
Format: Paperback Pages: 107 Publisher: Fallen Rook Publishing Date: January 11, 2016 Dimensions: 8" x 6"
Shipping Charges Domestic: Choose UPS or Priority Mail at checkout. International: Up to $28. Sent by First Class International.
The book provides an overview of several different schools of medieval/renaissance dagger use. Good resource so those trying to figure out what school of dagger use they want to explore. My only criticism is that I feel it is a little over prices for its size.
Was this review helpful to you?
ron hiett from Fairfax, VA United States
July 14, 2023
dagger fencing. got 2 cys. sent 1 back.
Was this review helpful to you?
Albert David Ditchfield from Vila Velha, Espirito Santo Brazil
December 6, 2019
Was a bit dissapointed.
This book is not as well made as the one by Guy Windsor, Mastering the Art of Arms, Volume One: The Medieval Dagger. That book had more figures, photographs and was bery well produced with step by step explanations. was expecting a more complete guide to the principles and practice of Italian dagger combat. He did not even mention Il Fior di Battaglia, by Fiori de Liberi
