Italian Martial Arts

Lately Italian Martial Arts are experiencing a revival given that there is increased interest in medieval fencing. This has led to the development of associations such as FISAS that organizes championships at the National Level for Medieval fencing. An organization known as Nova Scrimia also promotes the teaching of the Italian School of Swordmaship as described by Master Fiore Dei Liberi in his 1410 treatise Flos Duellatorum in Armis et sine Armis, also know as "Fior di Battaglia" (The flower of Battle). Italian Martial Arts are mostly centered on the use of weapons (swords, daggers, sticks and staff). Regions like Sicily, Calabria, Campania and Apulia have a tradition in knife and stick fighting and there are still masters of arms that continue the tradition and teach the skills of stick fighting and knife fighting. There are also schools that teach Gladiatorial Combat, such as the group ARS Dimicandi. 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. During the Renaissance the swordmanship of italian soldiers proved itself against the Landsknecht and the Swiss Pikemen at the battle of Calliano, against the Landschnecht at the Battle of Ravenna in 1512 and agaist 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. In another episode known as the Challenge of Barletta 13 Italian knights faced and defeated 13 French knights in hand to hand combat. 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. An unfortunate consequence of the effectiveness of italian knife fencing is that it has been adopted and even developed further by criminals
Numerous styles of stick figthing and knife fighting exist in Italy. these are
1) Italian school of swordsmanship
2) Istrumpa (Sardinian Wrestling)
3) Liu-bo (Modern art based on Sicilian Staff fighting)
4) Paranza Lunga (Sicilian Staff Fighting)
5) Paranza Corta (Sicilian Knife Fighting)
6) Taccaro (a Neapolitan Style using a special stick named Taccaro)
7) Venetian Cornoler (stick fighting from Venice)
8) Bastone Genovese (Stick Figthing from genoa)
9) Bastone Calabrese (Calabrian Stick Fighting)
10) Bastone Pugliese (Apulian Stick Fighting)
11) Daga Veneziana (Venetian Dagger)
12) Daga Blognese (Bolognese Dagger)
13) Ars Dimicandi (a reconstruction of Gladiatorial Combat Styles)
14) Nova Scrimia (sword, rapier, stick, hand to hand combat)
15) FISAS (devoted to medieval sword fighting)
16) Canne Italiana (similar to the French "La Canne de Combat", but slower and with more powerful strikes)
17) Bastone Italiano (similar to Baton Francaise)
18) Lotta Lombarda (a mixture of Burmese Lethwei, Brazilian Luta Livre and American Catch Wrestling)
19) EuroCombat (a new art blending all european and western martial art styles, intended for military combat or street self defense)
20) Sistema Sal (created by Prof. Merendoni for military combat)
21) Sistema Di Autodifesa Pavese (self-defense method for people over 40, lacking athleticism)
22) Scherma Di Coltello Pugliese (Apulian Knife)
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