Saviolo Part I: Principles

Greetings, First, I must offer an apology to all my modern and classical fencing readers as this particular blog is more aimed at the Renaissance fencer in the readership. Saviolo is a master of particular interest to myself as his method appealed to me. I will be presenting in this blog some of the research that I have made on Saviolo giving some information about his method and how it was applied. Various points will be made about this particular system which will be of interest to various people, and I hope that the information present will be of interest to my various readers. All of the references in this blog come straight from Saviolo's treatise. Vincentio Saviolo is a master of the Renaissance period, more specifically he is one of the Elizabethan period. He taught in London and held a school at Blackfriars, which is on the south bank of the River Thames. Of especial note is that the same region held a theatre which was sold to William Shakespeare. Of particular interest to me is that the chap who sold the property to Shakespeare was a chap named Henry Walker. Saviolo published his own Treatise "His Practice in Two Bookes" in 1595, and his name is present in the works of George Silver who was a contemporary of Saviolo. Saviolo's treatise is a composite treatise encompassing principles from three different schools of thought brought together to form a single system. This in and of itself makes Saviolo's technique interesting and of note to the Renaissance fencer. The treatise and the information contained within is presented as a discussion between a master and his student. In this particular case it is Saviolo talking with his student Luke. Unlike many manuals the principles are not presented singularly but are presented within the text as a practical representation of what a person should do against their opponent. There are some which are elicidated simply, but for the most part they are within the discussion between the master and the student. The three schools of thought from which Saviolo draws his information are the Italian, Spanish and German. Each one of these is used for a particular application and then are combined together to form the overall system. The Italian school is present in Saviolo's use of the thrust, and more to the point, the dominance of the thrust over the cut in the use of the rapier. The footwork is primarily circular in order to gain an advantage over the opponent due to the angle of one opponent to another, thus presenting principles present in the Spanish school. Finally, the method of cutting presented by Saviolo is designed to defeat the opponent while defending at the same time and also before the opponent has time to respond, thus presenting elements from the German school. This makes for what should be a very complex system. Externally the system is quite simple, but internally once deeper reading is made of it, the hidden complexity within the system is exposed. In order to understand both the simplicity and complexity of the system presented by Saviolo, it is first important to examine the general principles upon which the system is based. The first of these principles is about entropy and emotional control. Entropy is using only the amount of energy that is required in order to achieve an objective, in this particular case it is to defeat the opponent.

“this I would advise you, when you would make these passages, or put your weapon under your enemies, that you doe them not in vaine nor without some advauntage.”

This passage states that the combatant should not perform actions without gaining some advantage over the opponent. The energy of the combatant is thus maintained and not used for actions which would not gain him some advantage. In achieving this particular principle, the combatant will have a larger store of energy and thus will be able to last longer against the opponent than if he used energy to perform actions which did not achieve something. One place where this can be present is in the use of fury in order to defeat the opponent, thus Saviolo warns against this.

“Wherefore as well in this ward as in the other, take heede that you suffer not your selfe to bee blinded and carried awaie with rage and furie.”

 Bibliography Saviolo, V. (1595) His Practice in Two Books

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The rest of this article can be found in Un-Blogged: A Fencer's Ramblings by Henry Walker, which is available in paperback from:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blogged-Ramblings-Henry-Leigh-Walker/dp/098764470X
Booktopia: https://www.booktopia.com.au/un-blogged-henry-leigh-walker/book/9780987644701.html
Among other places...

It is also available in electronic format (pdf) from: https://buy.stripe.com/fZecP419c7CB9VKeUV

... or direct from the author.