|
|
Due to the busy schdules of Whitman students we will only be holding a 1-day session in the Fall (hopefully followed by a 2-day session in the Spring). The teaching will be done by Andrew Telesca, who will be working from his own experience under Maestro Sullins and using Maestro William Gaulger's Book: The Science of Fencing as a guiding reference. Throughout the session emphasis will be placed on careful explaination of the actions, and all students will work with each action briefly. However, a great deal of time will not be spent practicing any particular action, instead moving rapidly from one action to the next to cover all the material and see how it relates. To work on mastery of the individual actions one should attend the weekly lessons. We plan to repeat this session in the Spring, but bring Maestro Sean Hayes up from Eugene, Oregon to teach it as a full two day Saturday/Sunday event. Session 1 The first session will attempt to build students' understanding of the Italian school from the ground up. This means we will start with a careful look at the Salute, First Position, and The Guard. Next we will consider all the primary footwork actions in the school, and cover their execution in careful detail, trying to provide an understanding of the reasoning behind why they are executed in that specific fashion. From there we will stop moving for a moment to consider the weapon itself, including such details as proper grip, the parts of the foil, the different strengths of the blade, and the wrist strap. We will also cover hand positions, the 4 primary guards, the 4 lines of offense, and the 4 lines of defense. This should be review for most participants, however, the repetition will likely serve to fill in some blanks that were forgotten due to lack of experience at the original teaching. Finally, the bulk of the day will be focused simultaneously on the attack and the defense, showing how for each action there are effective counter-actions. This should include the 4 simple attacks, the 4 primary types of parry, direct and indrect ripostes, finesse actions on the blade, feints and compound parry/attack sequences, compound ripostes, and violent actions on the blade. In this session blade work will be done primarily with minimal mobility. Schedule for the Day (tentative): Notice: unlike most events at Whitman, we will start on time. There is a lot to cover and time will not be wasted waiting for people to show up. 9:00AM-10:00AM: Optional stretching and warm-up (recommended). 10:00AM-10:30AM: Verbal introduction to the Italian School, its principles, and its history. 10:30AM-12:00PM: The Salute, First Position, The Guard, and Footwork. 12:00PM-1:00PM: Lunch break and Gear Selection for those without it. 1:00PM-1:30PM: The Weapon, hand positions, guards and lines. 1:30PM-3:15PM: The 4 Simple Attacks and corrosponding invitations (in all 4 lines), the 4 primary parries and corrosponding ripostes. 3:15PM-3:30PM: Break 3:30PM-4:00PM: Finesse actions on the blade. 4:00PM-5:15PM: Feints, Compound Attack/Parry-Risposte Sequences. 5:15PM-5:30PM: Break 5:30PM-6:00PM: Violent actions on the blade. 6:00PM-7:00PM: Optional Open Bouting and warm-down. 7:00PM: Optional Group Dinner. |