The molinelli with wide rotation are very useful because, in addition to the aforementioned benefits, with them one obtains the actions that are performed in the bout; for example: if we from guard of second parry third and riposte to the opponent’s inside flank, we perform the traversone with the exercise molinello. So too if we from guard of second parry first and riposte, we have performed the molinello with wide rotation.
The molinello that serves to touch the opponent is certainly not that which one does in the beginning of teaching, when the maestro sees the ease in executing the molinello with wide rotation he must, with graduated lessons, oblige the student to quickly move the blade away by means of a sforzo, and he must use a few blows in tempo to the arm in order to make him increase the promptness in the final part of the molinello such that a little bit from the sforzo, a little bit from the blow in tempo to the arm, the student will be obliged to restrict his molinello in order to avoid the possibility of the blow to the arm in the execution of the molinello.
Now there is no doubt that he who will be morally stronger, and yet more confident in the outcome is the one who, being worried about the consequences of the clash, will know how to keep his cold blood unperturbed in every moment of the action.
Now, if the one who succeeded in putting his opponent in a parry is perfected in the mechanical part, at equal speeds he is certain to touch.
Otherwise his advantages will pass to his opponent, because in order to have parried, he is found in an advantageous position and a contrast of parries and ripostes will occur, with equal mechanical strength victory will be with the one with greater intellect. As shown in this bout I would be able to cite a hundred other combinations in which the fencer’s morale and intellect are due to the mechanical part studied in the instinctive effects of man.
Rossi’s work is an illustration of the Radaelli system. Rossi has attempted to modify the grip of the sword in order to better have the blade in hand; a modification which a technical Commission appointed by the Ministry of War thought appropriate to not accept. Aside from this, Rossi is a faithful interpreter of the Radaellian theories he supports and widens, and in various exhibitions and fencing tournaments he has always achieved excellent results in the application of his own system.Below is a picture from Rossi's treatise of this modified foil grip. It appears to have been rather popular in Italy, as it was still being listed in fencing catalogues into the 20th century.
Born in Bassanello, Padua, in 1851, he had his first fencing lessons from Lieutenant Montefredini, from the training battalion, who first placed him on guard in 1872. He then passed on to Milan with Radaelli, who was very fond of him. There he was a master and assistant in Radaelli’s teaching.
The latter having died, Rossi left the army and was appointed director and professor of the Milanese Fencing and Gymnastics Society, known as the Società del Giardino, one of the most important in Italy, where he is to this day.
A very strong and correct fencer, all over he has made the goodness and efficacy of the Radaelli system shine above the others, which are oftentimes supported with bad arts.
(Other articles in this series: Part 1 | Part 3)
In part 1 of this article we read that Parise had collaborated with Radaellians Salvatore Pecoraro and Carlo Guasti on refining his sabre method such that it was accepted by the Ministry of War for use in the cavalry and artillery. We read of the glowing praise showered upon Parise and Pecoraro, with them both receiving knighthoods for their labours. And finally we read claims about how the Master's School's supposed attempts at reconciliation with the Italian fencing community were rather superficial, with the editors of Scherma Italiana claiming that their magazine was forbidden among the school's staff.
However in that very same issue of Scherma Italiana in February 1891, they also published a letter from none other than the Vice-director of the Master's School, Salvatore Pecoraro:
MOST ILLUSTRIOUS MR. EDITOR.
I read in the first number of the newspaper Scherma Italiana that the new sabre handling [method] for the cavalry was completed by Cav. Parise in union with the Radaellian masters Pecoraro and Guasti, and that Mr. Parise 'by changing his mind about the many defects found in his method, has sacrificed self-esteem and self-interest for the art'. This is not correct, as this new fencing method was the sole work of Cav. Parise, who had been writing it since 1885, save for a few slight modifications made by him on the advice of the Turin Commission, but not in the sense that the newspaper Scherma Italiana suggests.
The masters Cesare Cavalli, teacher at the NCO School, and Ettore Dabbene, a teacher at the Cavalry School, can testify to what I write.
So much for the truth of facts.
In asking you to publish this, Mr. Director, accept the kind regards of
Yours truly
SALVATORE PECORARO.1
This letter is in response to the first extract from Scherma Italiana shown in part 1. By responding to this article Pecoraro obviously puts extreme doubt on the claim that staff were forbidden from reading the newspaper. His response is also rather humble regarding is own contribution into the new sabre method, such that it almost seems to contradict the previous articles with respect to his involvement.
All this excitement around rumours from Rome meant that the editors of Scherma Italiana seem to have got their hopes up for a sort of fencing redemption, as seen in this notice from an October 1891 issue:
A very dear friend of ours writes to us from Rome that in the Ministry of War there exists a special Commission charged with compiling a new official fencing treatise, drawing from the various methods now in existence.
In a word, it would be a matter of taking the good of the various schools now in existence and merging that into a new and unique system that satisfies everyone and gets rid of the fencing friction that now troubles our amateurs and professionals.
This project, which seems to be becoming a reality, was advocated by us in the first issues of Scherma Italiana.2
Unfortunately this does not seem to have occurred, as just three months later Scherma Italiana then republished the following excerpt from another newspaper:
On the first of February the NCO fencing instructors from the regiments in which the new system of fencing for the mounted forces has not yet been adopted will be called to the Master's School in Rome. With this measure the total suppression of the application of the Radaelli system will begin.3
This put a definite stop to many of the Radaellians' hopes for reconciliation in Italian fencing, Scherma Italiana included. In their comments below this excerpt they claim to have been told previously that the sabre system now being taught at the Master's School was 'pure-blood Radaellian', so the announcement of the 'total suppression of the Radaelli system' must have been particularly shocking to them.
This supposed suppression seems to have occurred quite quickly, as can be seen just one month later when Scherma Italiana republished the following three excerpts from Corriere Italiano, Sport Illustrato, and Esercito Italiano, respectively:
The NCO fencing instructors of the regiments in which the new system of fencing for the mounted forces has not been adopted will be called to the Master's School on the 1st February. This will establish the unique system of fencing for all mounted forces.
It is desired to know if the Parise-Pecoraro system, subject of lively and fair criticism, should be taught to the new fencing masters for the mounted forces after the unattractive trial was done.
——————In Rome is the first group of NCO fencing masters in the artillery regiments, called for the instruction of sabre fencing on horseback, according to the method presented by Cav. Masaniello Parise and approved by the Commission appointed in the last year by the Ministry of War.
The lessons will be imparted by the Vice-director of the Master's School, Cav. Pecoraro, and will last five hours per day.
We have sought to obtain a copy of this method, but everywhere we looked we were told that it was not been given to the presses. It pains us, not only because in this way we can only have very vague notions about it, but also because the means of the tradition does not seem the most appropriate to us, and it can encounter danger when the masters, after having learnt it in Rome one way, having arrived at their regiment, teach it in another way.
The printing of a few pages costs so little!
——————At the 13th artillery regiment the special course of instruction for the handling of the sabre on horseback has closed, to which all the fencing instructors of the artillery regiments were called.
Taking part in this course, aside from the NCO troops, were also the one-year volunteers and officer cadets of the same regiment.
Tomorrow the fencing instructors will depart for their respective regiments.
The course was done under the personal direction of the director of the Master's School of fencing Cav. Parise and Vice-director Cav. Pecoraro.4
So it seems that by February 1892 all military fencing instructors had received their training in the new Parise-Pecoraro cavalry sabre method, however it was still not accepted as satisfactory by all. There was also still some confusion as to what exactly the new method looked like, and whether this could be considered as a partial success for Radaellian principles. In April of that same year Scherma Italiana writes:
We are grateful to Sport Illustrato, who kindly inform us that the new sabre instruction — as was reported to us by a person deemed trustworthy — is not pure Radaelli; but a cross with what the previous molinello tried to amalgamate, to perform the cut (Radaelli system) with the slicing molinello5 (Parise system) which follows the same cut. In short: with a hybrid combination, the effectiveness and power of the cut achieved by Radaelli with his molinello was sacrificed to the idea of slicing.6
These conflicting ideas of what the Parise-Pecoraro system entailed continued to circulate among Italian fencing enthusiasts. An article published by Scherma Italiana over two years later states that there had still been no publication of the Parise-Pecoraro method, and that there were still many conflicting reports as to who was actually involved in its formulation and how Radaellian it truly was.7
In part 3 we will take a look at the military regulations and determine what exactly the Parise-Pecoraro method looked like and how it compared to the old Radaellian method.
The Ministry of War has called all the fencing masters of mounted regiments to the Master's School ad audiendum verbum3.
It has to do with the approval and implementation of a new fencing method for the mounted units carried out by Cav. Parise in union with the Radaellian masters Pecoraro and Guasti.
We are very pleased by this event, because it is more proof that our (often harsh) criticisms of the method taught at the Master's School were more than justified.
For this act we praise the Ministry of War and Mr. Parise, who by changing their minds about many defects found in its method have sacrificed self-esteem and self-interest for the good of the art.
That is good; bravo Mr. Parise! We will read the new work, and if it so deserves we will be as equally giving of praise as we were full of disapproval towards your method which we considered too imperfect.4
Among the honours of the Order of the Crown of Italy granted recently on the occasion of the new year, on proposal by the Ministry of War, were two who, according to us, deserve to be specially noted for their significance.
They are the appointment to Officer of Cav. Masaniello Parise, director of the Master's School, and the appointment to Cavaliere of Maestro Salvatore Pecoraro, also assigned, as vice-director, to the same school.
These two names certainly need no special introduction; they are well-known as two talented champions of Italian fencing.
But as we were saying, the two honours just granted to them deserve to be specially noted, and indeed, as far as we know they would be the well-deserved reward for a new important work completed by Cav. Masaniello Parise, with the assistance of Maestro Pecoraro.
It is well-known how for a long time new regulations for the handling of the sabre in the mounted arms were in discussion, regulations that had never been able to be brought fully to their positive conclusion due to difficulties for reasons of a varied nature and which are unnecessary to note here.
These difficulties would now finally be resolved, accepting some important and very useful proposals made by Cav. Parise, and therefore said regulations can be said to be of imminent publication.
Moreover, the new proposals were supported by a long, detailed, and practical experiment performed in Rome, in the Macao barracks, with men of the Foggia cavalry regiment and under the personal direction of the appointed gentlemen.
The results obtained were excellent in every respect, and the proposals were fully accepted with applause by the competent Commission that had to examine them and today can now be said to be an accomplished fact.
At the final demonstration, in addition to the aforementioned Commission, His Excellency General Corvetto, Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of War, also attended; the general appeared very satisfied with the new method of sabre handling and directed lively and deserving praise towards the masters Parise and Pecoraro, who now, in their honours just obtained, have confirmed the importance that the Ministry of War has rightly given to the their work, and from which a great benefit will be derived for the instruction of sabre handling in the mounted forces.7
As we have announced, the Ministry of War has recently published the 1st volume of the Regulations of exercises for the cavalry, Regulations which must be considered definitive and which will therefore replace what was adopted last year by way of experimentation.The writer of this article is anonymous, however the comments from Scherma Italiana, written under this article by one 'M. O.', state the belief that the author belongs to the Master's School. In spite of this author's calls for 'reconciliation' between Italy's fencing factions, M. O. claims that Scherma Italiana has received letters from master at the Master's School stating that there was 'unofficial order' that its staff are not allowed to read Scherma Italiana due to Jacopo Gelli being its editor.9
Meanwhile, with the publication of the 1st volume, the matter of sabre handling on horseback especially has remained resolute, for which there has been adopted a more practical and more rational system, not to mention more in harmony with the true purposes that that important exercise must be directed to.
In the past, it is well-known that sabre handling on horseback was based on a system that, if it had its merits, it nevertheless had a serious defect, which is that the soldier was taught sabre play almost completely the same as that which was taught in the fencing hall, therefore play which could not then respond completely to the various requirements of sabre handling on horseback.
Nor should it then be overlooked that the old system required a longer teaching method, the execution from the mounted position having to be preceded by numerous instructions with the soldiers on foot, intended almost exclusively to teach those famous molinelli accompanied by large back and forth movements of the body, which could be better described as gymnastics rather than fencing.
The new system of sabre handling instead teaches the soldier, up until the last moment, movements that could and should then be executed from horseback, accustoming him to actions which, while they cannot but greatly develop the muscular force of his arm, are then immensely effective from the point of view of the potential of the blows, which are not stopped during the action, but this is carried out entirely and in a complete manner.
And the practical results that were had during a long experiment carried out in Rome by the Foggia (11th) Cavalry Regiment, under the personal direction of Cav. Parise, director of the military Master's School of fencing, and Cav. Pecoraro, a master teaching at the same school, as well as the technical Commission delegated by the Ministry of War to the examination of the new system of sabre handling on horseback, clearly proved all the merits of the system and how this is perfectly in harmony with its mission.
Following this experiment was a good course of instruction which the fencing NCOs of the cavalry regiments were called to, a course which was also carried out under the direction of Cav. Parise and Maestro Pecoraro and which will lead to the consequence of having in practice uniformity and regularity in the application of the new system.
We firmly believe that the new sabre handling will quickly bring excellent results in the instruction of our cavalry trooper, who, thus ceasing to cut the air, as General Boselli so appropriately expressed in his recent study on the cavalry arm, can be trained a fencing exercise that is very rational and therefore more suited to everyone’s intelligence.
And since we find ourselves on the topic, we want to add a few considerations which are especially recommended by all the comments contained in a letter by Mr. A. B., a letter that we published in a previous number of our newspaper through that spirit of impartiality which we did not want and never want to avoid, but nevertheless could, especially for a few assertions, lending themselves to a less exact interpretation of what we believe on the subject and moreover what would be in contradiction to what we have written and cited on other occasions.
And first of all we should stop at the remarks that Mr. A. B. intended to direct to the military Master's School of fencing and to the system that is currently taught there. However apart from the fact that a similar discussion does not seem to be able to lead to some result, given that the current method of teaching fencing in the army was approved by the Ministry of War, which proves with facts of giving more importance and greater consideration to it every day, after having been supported by a unanimous and favourable opinion of a Commission composed of people very competent in the art; we believe that it is precisely the desire to persist in discussions of such a nature that will take us further and further away from the result that Mr. A. B. shows to desire so much, from the day in which 'the intellectual forces of Italian fencers no longer intent on fighting, are more usefully used in the progress of fencing'.
And it is precisely because this fact, which we desire no less, may soon come true when we promised ourselves to never bring the discussion of such a matter into the field of personalities, convinced that a similar discussion can only greatly harm the prestige and worth of Italian fencing.
They therefore set aside comparisons of facts and names, which, whilst not appropriate, could not then hold up in the practical field, and before judging the results of a method of teaching which certainly never failed the test, whatever it was, one at least begins by saying that these results are mature and that with time the champions of that method can develop and fortify themselves, as did those people belonging to other methods and whose names are now put forward whenever one lowers oneself to those comparisons which we will never deplore enough.
And if the authors of these comparisons then questioned their conscience again, they would be convinced of a fact that we have been convinced of for a long time now, and that is that all the names that are currently referred to as fruits of an excellent teaching method were in practice so attached and persuaded of such excellence that from person to person they ended up moving away from it, some more, some less, and today it may well be said that each of those names is considered the head of a system and school, and who in practice have ended up fighting each other because of their different dogmas, which has made tireless proponents.
Oh! what would not be gained by that strong and noble art, which all the talent champions, which today Italy has the fortune of counting, continually fight for, if this conflict, rather than being intended to come down on each other to the detriment of everyone and the art, was instead the result of all the forces united together with the supreme intention of giving to Italian fencing that position of honour that it is well entitled to!
And this truly favourable and important result can only be obtained when it can be said to be an accomplished fact that reconciliation which some time ago was attempted here in Rome, a reconciliation which, we are certain, will be full and complete if all those who must give their contribution can and will sacrifice even some of those concessions, which will honour those who do and without whom we can never even talk to each other about this desired and much necessary reconciliation.
This is the field upon which all the forces of Italian fencers, and especially those who merit and fortune gave a very honoured and triumphant journey, must today be brought together.
And on this field Esercito Italiano will certainly never deny its approval for all those who can and will effectively strive to achieve the goal they mean to achieve. And it is in this consideration that we are pleased when the Ministry of War, with the honours recently granted to Cav. Parise and Maestro Pecoraro, has shown once again that it knows how to suitably appreciate the large contribution that they have always given and give to the development of fencing in the royal army.8
In recent days at the depot of the Lucca Lancers, stationed in our city, a fencing course has been opened for lower officers of the army in order to provide the army with distinguished instructors.
We praise the minister of war highly for having founded this school and we commend the choice of city, because Milan and Naples are the sole population centres in Italy where this science, so useful and beneficial for the physical and moral development of the youth, is cultivated. The distinguished Maestro Radaelli has taken on the commitment of this teaching with the system he used in his well-known fencing hall.
Special point and sabre fencing courses.
In order to provide the army corps with able fencing masters, and through this promote in these corps the good principles of this art, 3 special courses were founded, one in Milan, under the management of the territorial cavalry command, for NCOs, corporals, and soldiers of the cavalry regiments and those of the field artillery; there the course will last 2 to 3 years.One in Modena, at the Military School of Infantry and Cavalry, for 25 infantry and Bersaglieri NCOs; and another in Parma, at the Normal School of Infantry, for another 25 infantry NCOs. The duration of these two courses was fixed at around 9 months, that is from the 1st November 1868 to the 31st July 1869; and it is understood that after this course the same number of NCOs will be called until all the corps have fencing masters.Those who have successfully completed the course will be issued with a license, by the Ministry of War, as military maestri for point and sabre fencing, and as such they will be recognised and adopted in their respective corps.Similarly the Monferrato Light Cavalry Regiment was charged with teaching four low-ranking military men of each of the light cavalry regiments in a special method of handling the sabre both on foot and on horseback, which will then have to be adopted by all the cavalry regiments of the army.
Special course on sabre handling and fencing with the Monferrato Light Cavalry Regiment.
In view of the good results obtained by the special course on sabre handling and fencing, which took place last year with the Monferrato Light Cavalry Regiment for 4 NCOs, corporals, or soldiers of each light cavalry regiment, the same course was renewed for the same number of NCOs, corporals, or soldiers for each regiment of lancers.The course began on the 16th November 1869, and should end on the 30th April 1870.
1. In the Milan military district a Scuola Magistrale of fencing has been founded in order to train NCO fencing instructors and assistant fencing instructors for the Army.
2. The direction of this school will be entrusted by the general commander to a brigade commander of the Milan garrison, and the instruction will be given by the professor of fencing Mr. Giuseppe Radaelli.
3. Both the students sent to this school and its required personnel will remain active in the corps to which they belong, and during their stay at the school they will be included in the Milan district.
