Italian Rapier
From SwordWiki
Italian swordsmanship in the Renaissance went through several traditions. By the late 16th century, it was common for masters to instruct the use of the rapier. It should be noted that these masters used the word "spada", meaning sword, and never used the term "rapier" at all, though most modern enthusiasts would call the sword illustrated in the fencing treatises of this time period "rapiers" due to their complex hilts and long slender blades.
The techniques of Italian rapier are very distinctive. The stance involves having roughly 3/4 of the weight on the rear leg, keeping the majority of the upper body removed from danger. Attacks primarily utilize the thrust, generally by means of the lunge, though the cut was still used when necessary. Occasionally rapier fencers also utilized off-hand weapons for defensive actions, including the use of the dagger, the rotella (round shield), the targa (a square-shaped buckler), or a cloak wrapped around the arm.
There is a myth that rapier fencing is the same as modern sport fencing. While the thrusting nature of foil and epee make certain actions identical (a sword is still a sword, after all), the two art forms are ultimately very different from each other. The major difference is the concept of scoring points vs. life & death: Certain actions make more sense in a sport environment that would be suicidal in a real duel. Further, modern fencing is based off of 19th century dueling weapons, weapons centuries apart from the rapier.
Like most forms of historical European swordsmanship, we only know as much as we do due to the published works of period fencing masters. These works include:
Nicoletto Giganti, 1606 Salvator Fabris, Lo Schermo, overo Scienza d’Arme (Fencing, the Science of Arms); 1606 Ridolfo Capoferro, Gran Similacro dell'arte e dell uso Scherma (Great Representation of the Art and Use of Fencing), 1610 Francesco Alfieri, 1640 and 1653
