If you had asked me back in the late 90s what would be the first early fencing book translated into English, I would have said “Achille Marozzo.” Few works have Marozzo’s fame through the centuries, or provides as many different weapons to study. Ironically, Marozzo has only seen an English translation in the last year, and the first serious English translation from the famed Bolognese school was Tom Leoni’s translation of Marozzo’s counterpart, likely school mate, and possible rival, Antonio Manciolino in 2010.

The Bolognese manuals provide a rich and diverse curriculum, but they are dense, repertoire manuals, rich on technique but sometimes confusing, even contradictory, on theory. Stephen Reich was one of the first pioneers in decoding the Bolognese school, and this 40-page primer distills everything you wish Marozzo, Manciolino, Dall’Aggochie, et al had begun their manuscripts with, but failed to do, or did in a piecemeal fashion:

1. Clear descriptions of guards;
2. Footwork;
3. tempo (and its direct application)
4. how to grip the buckler;
5. which attacks favor which targets;
6. types of parries;
7. a classification system for provocations and how to execute them;
8. How to use the above to construct multi-step partner drills.

This essay is a forgotten jewel of the HEMA community, and it makes a perfect student companion to the studying the works of Manciolino or Marozzo.