Achillini's Sword and Buckler

The Game of Bolognese Fencing

Image of Giovanni Filoteo Achillini, the Author of Viridario

The Sword and Small Buckler of Achillini, from the Viridario:

Take the sword in hand with the buckler, looking gallant, with your right foot in front and off to the side so that you look like you know how to handle yourself. Make your steps show that you are both fierce and refined. And start by touching your buckler with the false edge of your sword and go into Guardia Alta.

If I wanted to explain the whole game to you, the touches, the blows, the falsi dritti and the footwork, I could fill more than a thousand pages, so I will show you the plays that have profited me the most. Typically, you play this game to three passes and after a hit you return to your starting place.