Italian Martial Arts: The Flower of Battle

'''Italian Martial Arts''' focus on the use of weapons (swords, daggers, walking stick and staff). Each weapon is the product of a specific historical era. The swords used in Italian Martial Arts range from the gladius of the roman legionaries to swords which were developed during the renaissance, the baroque era and later. Short blades range from medieval daggers to the liccasapuni Sicilian dueling  knife. Only Greek martial arts are more ancient than Italian Martial arts. The Shaolin monastery in China was founded in 497 AD (after the fall of the Western Roman Empire) and there are no written records of kung-fu until the 16th century AD. The Takenouchi-ryu school of Japanese jiu-jitsu was founded in 1532 AD (by which time firearms had already been employed on several battlefields in Europe).

Characteristics of Italian Combat Styles
A trademark of the Italian styles of fence is the emphasis on the point over cutting, which has been stressed since the time of the roman legions: the legionaries used to laugh at enemies who cut or slashed with their swords. The base of most Italian Systems is fencing and many methods of stick fighting use the same techniques and movements used when fencing with swords. Therefore if a practitioner trains with the stick or baton, he would also become proficient with the sword. Examples of this are ''Canne Italiana'' which uses the moves and techniques of the duelling sabre (''sciabola da terreno'') and ''Bastone Italiano'', where the moves comes from fencing with the two-handed sword (''Spadone a Due Mani''). Most methods have one thing in common: practitioners don protective sport fencing masks and padded clothing and practice with blunt training blades, since live sparring is of critical importance in the training routine. A very important characteristics of  Italian Martial Arts is that they originated from battlefield or gladiatorial combat experience. They were not created by monks but by soldiers and there is no religious or spiritual influence in their practice.

The beauty of Italian martial Arts is that it is possible to mention the specific battles in which these combat skills were used. Other martial arts are usually vague about such topics. The main historical periods that influenced the development of Italian weapons were:

Ancient Rome
Gladiatorial Combat was a popular spectator bloodsport in roman times. Gladiators were trained in special schools and were armed according to the roman standard or like some of Rome's enemies. This allowed for experimentation with different weapons and styles of combat.

Roman writers described methods and techniques for training and using the gladius, for example, Vegetius in his work "De Re Militari". Thanks to this wealth of information the art of gladiatorial combat has been resurrected and the discipline of “Gladiatura Moderna” is being practiced by numerous practitioners in Italy and abroad.

The group "Ars Dimicandi" teaches Gladiatorial combat in the style of ancient Rome. This group has led a meticulous research on gladiatorial combats. Other schools which teach the same art are Scuola Gladiatori Sacrofano and  Ludus Magnus.


The Renaissance
The Renaissance (14th to 17th  century AD) saw frequent warfare on Italian soil and mercenary armies were formed by mercenary commanders known as  Condottieri, refining and improving weapons and techniques. One soldier of fortune,  Master Fiore dei Liberi, wrote a manual "Flos Duellatorum" or "the Flower of Battle" in 1410, illustrating a repertoire of techniques for many different weapons and for unarmed combat,  and thus originated the Italian school of swordsmanship. After Fiore, the Italian school of swordsmanship was continued by Filippo Vadi (1482–1487) and Pietro Monte (1492). The techniques and skills taught by the Italian school were successfully tested against the Landsknecht and the Swiss Pikemen at the battle of Calliano in 1487, against the Landschnecht at the Battle of Ravenna in 1512 and against the Swiss pikemen at the Battle of Arbedo,  where Lombard Knights massacred the famed swiss pikemen in hand to hand combat. The Landsknecht and the Swiss were regarded as the finest infantry of the time. What follows is the account of the Battle of Arbedo, narrated in the The Art of War by  Machiavelli:

Philip Vicecounte of Milaine, being assaulted of 18 thousande Suizzers, sent against theim the Counte Carminvola, whiche then was his capitaine. He with sixe thousande horse, and a fewe footemen, went to mete with them, and incounteryng theim, he was repulsed with his moste greate losse: wherby Carminvola as a prudente man, knewe straight waie the puisaunce of the enemies weapons, and how moche against the horses thei prevailed, and the debilitie of the horses, againste those on foote so appoincted: and gatheryng his men together again, he went to finde the Suizzers, and so sone as he was nere them, he made his men of armes, to a light from their horse, and in the same mane, faightyng with them he slue theim all, excepte three
thousande: the whiche seyng them selves to consume, without havyng reamedy, castyng their weapons to the grounde, yelded.

In another episode known as the Challenge of Barletta, in 1503,  13 Italian knights faced and defeated 13 French knights in hand to hand  combat.


The forces led by Giovanni dalle bande nere were more than a match for the invading Landsknecht under the command of Georg Frundsberg in a number of small battles in 1527.

Another example is when Gian Giacomo Trivulzio and his men, fighting for the French King, tore through the Swiss Pikemen on the field of Marignano, a feat that earned Trivulzio the rank of Marshall of France, an honor conferred to few foreigners. The utter defeat at Marignano was one of the events that transformed Swiss policy from one of military aggression to one of neutrality.

The swordsmanship tradition was then continued  by the Dardi school, with teachers such as Antonio Manciolino and Achille Marozzo.

The Thirty Years War
When the era of the Condottieri came to a close on Italian soil, military commanders like Ottavio Piccolomini and Raimondo Montecuccoli placed their soldiers at the disposal of the Austrian Emperor, in a war of religion that devastated Germany and caused the loss of 30% of its people, perhaps the greatest tragedy ever endured by Germany. Italian forces fought valiantly (albeit on the losing side) at the Battle of Lützen (1632)and helped win a great victory at the Battle of Nordlingen in 1634 against the Swedes. Ambrogio Spinola and his men meanwhile helped Spain to conquer the Netherlands in battles like the Siege of Breda (1624). This war was perhaps the last one were swords, daggers and pikes played an important role in battle as firearms technology was now becoming more reliable. Italian swordsmen, armed with short swords and daggers were extremely effective at infiltrating the pike squares of their adversaries and at bringing down the defenseless pikemen armed with the long pikes during the brutal "push of the pikes".

On the battlefield the so-called "Spada da Lato" or side-sword became the dominant sword type. At the same time in the cities of Italy the sidesword evolved into  a new type of sword, used in a civilian setting for duelling. this civilian sword is known as "La Striscia" or Rapier in English. Frenchmen adopted the Italian duelling sword and mastered it, and it is believed that between 1600 AD and 1700 AD well over 70,000 Frenchmen died in duels, many of them mortally wounded by a Rapier. From the late 16th century, Italian rapier fencing attained considerable popularity all over Europe, notably with the treatise by Salvator Fabris whose ''De lo schermo overo scienza d’arme'' of 1606 exerted great influence not only in Italy but also in Germany. Fabris was followed by Italian masters such as Nicoletto Giganti (1606), Ridolfo Capo Ferro (1610), Francesco Alfieri (1640),   Francesco Antonio Marcelli (1686)  and Bondi' di Mazo (1696).

In Italy, one of the main organization teaching Italian Martial Arts from the period 1410 to 1900 is  Nova Scrimia, which promotes the teaching of the Italian School of Swordmanship as described by Master Fiore dei Liberi in his 1410 treatise Flos Duellatorum in Armis et sine Armis, also known as "Fior di Battaglia" (The flower of Battle). The curriculum includes the basics in the use of renaissance swords, the rapier, the duelling sabre, venetian and bolognese dagger styles, staff and stick fighting, Venetian Cornoler stick fighting  and hand to hand combat. The Federazione Italiana Scherma Antica E Storica or FISAS teaches the skills of the Italian School of Swordmanship. The largest organization is  Sala D'Arme Achille Marozzo which counts more than 30 Sale D'Armi (armed instruction centers) and more than 400 students spread over northern and central Italy and organizes the biggest championships at national level for Renaissance an Medieval swordsmanship (about 150 participants in the 2011 edition).

 In the United States the Chicago Swordplay Guild is the leading organization teaching and researching Italian martial arts according to the dei Liberi and Fabris Schools. The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts teaches rapier fencing and has done much to reconstruct rapier combat techniques from the historical manuals of the Italian masters of this art. In England, Schola Gladiatoria is an active organization which has done much research and is one of the prominent schools in Europe for Italian martial arts.

World War I

During World War I the Italian army created a unit of assault troops called Arditi whose task was to storm German and Austrian Trenches. The main weapon of these soldiers was the dagger and 18,000 arditi were trained and sent to the front. Arditi units won numerous engagements against Austrian and German troops in the final year of World War I, armed with daggers which proved very effective in the confined space of a trench, where rifles were too long to be used in close combat. General Rommel wrote about the exploits of the Arditi in the very last page of his book "Infanterie greif an" (Infantry attacks). The successful attack on Col Moschin was a perfect example of Arditi tactics.

Professor Merendoni has created a style of military combat known as Sistema SAL - Sistema D'assalto del Leone inspired by the Arditi of the first world war and incorporating techniques from historical fencing and regional styles. Alpini mountain troops units dispatched to Afghanistan in recent years were trained by the Merendoni school.

World War 2

The Second Battle of El Alamein pitted the Italian paratroopers of the 185 Airborne Division Folgore with no tanks and only a few antitank guns (whose shells failed to penetrate the armor of British tanks) against one British armored division equipped with 400 heavy tanks. During the first assault 70 British tanks were destroyed by the folgore soldiers, using almost exclusively improvised  “sticky charges” as their anti-tank weapons had proven worthless against British armor. After several days 208 tanks were destroyed in this way. While techniques to destroy armored vehicles are not typically part of martial arts instruction programs, given the exploits of "Folgore", they could be considered a key part of Italian Martial Arts.

The Tenth Flotilla MAS (X MAS) continued the tradition of the Arditi with some daring operations, this video shows the execution of some members of X MAS captured by the allies after the Armistice of September 8, 1943. The X MAS did not stop fighting, so their members, if captured, were executed.

Regional Styles and Schools

 In Sicily and organization called  "Liu-bo" has codified the techniques of traditional Sicilian Staff Fighting known as "Paranza Lunga" and now organizes competitions at the regional level. This school is rapidly expanding.


 Istrumpa, the wrestling style of Sardinia is also growing in popularity. The association promoting this sport is participating in European championships for Celtic wrestling stiles (such as Gouren), which has showcased the skills of Istrumpa wrestlers

The Manusardi family from Milan modified the French art of Canne de combat and created Canne Italiana. According to Mr Italo Manusardi the French style sacrificed power to achieve speed. Canne italiana is slower than the French style but more powerful in its blows. Most moves and techniques are similar to those used in the handling of the dueling sabre (Sciabola da Terreno) hence Canne Italiana represents useful training for those interested in the dueling sabre. The Manusardi gym also teaches "Bastone Italiano" a form of staff fighting similar to Baton francais.

 The art of  Bastone Pugliese has now been codified and is being taught in a school in Manfredonia, in the Puglie region. The first Italian championship of this discipline has been held in 2011.

 In recent years the discipline of  Bastone Genovese has begun to be taught in specialized gyms in the region of Liguria, where it had originated centuries ago.

 Bastone Napoletano is the newest stick fighting discipline to come to the limelight in Italy. Like many other regional styles it has been in existence for centuries but was formerly taught by individual masters on a one on one basis. The discipline is also known as "Varra" and uses a long stick of 1.60 meters.

Paranza Corta (Sicilian Knife Fighting)is the traditional knife fighting stile of Sicily. It is still taught by individual masters but is not organized in a format suitable for divulgation to the masses. Those who wish to learn the art have to seek out the individual masters and be accepted as students. The weapon used is a folding stiletto knife which come in a few variants, the most famous being the Liccasapuni (literally "soap licker" because the blade used to be smeared with soap before a duel, so that it would cause permanent scars on the recipient of a cut).

The Liccasapuni:

 Several other regional styles of knife and stick fighting remain in existence. These are kept alive by individual Masters at Arms who teach their techniques privately. Amongst the knife styles we should mention Scherma Di Coltello Pugliese (Apulian Knife).

 Disciplines focusing on staff fighting include, Bastone Calabrese (Calabrian Stick Fighting), Bastone Milanese, Bastone Piemontese, Taccaro and Bordone

'''Modern Styles'''

'''Kick Jitsu''' is the name of a modern combat sport part of the Italian Kickboxing Muay Thai Savate Shoot Boxe Federation (FIKBMS), the Italian federation of kickboxing recognized by CONI. Born in the 1980 through the merger of the techniques and methods of kickboxing and those of jujitsu, the kick jitsu or kickjitsu is regulated in Italy by FIKBMS through a national technical committee that is chaired by Master Patrizio Rizzoli, who also plays the role director and national coach
In Italy, the discipline is widespread, especially in Tuscany, Liguria and  Calabria.

Finally, NOVA SCRIMIA is perhaps one of the largest organizations in the country