Free Assault

There are many opportunities when you join the SSA to enjoy free fencing in an atmosphere of good humour, safety and at the same time challenge yourself and apply what you have learnt from week to week.

Safety
the equipment used is checked regularly and students are taught the etiquette of the "salle" (place of practice) which is included in our code of conduct. Protective clothing is to be worn for free assault

Our wish is to teach the true techniques handed down to us by the great masters of the art and science of rapier defence. In order to do so, it is not sufficient to simply read the texts written in the period, nor to take the word of modern interpreters of these martial arts of our forefathers. In the first instance, the “great masters” such as De Grassi, Saviolo Capo Ferro and many others were writing in the Italian of the time which is hard enough for a modern native Italian speaker to interpret, and what has been handed down is often the product of shaky translation and dubious interpretation. Even the English of the time (some150-250 years ago) was very different than that of the late 20th century, and so even where original texts written in our own tongue survive, it is not always clear exactly what the writer is trying to say.

Coupled with these straightforward linguistic problems the fact that the teachers were often deliberately camouflaging some of the techniques they were passing on to their paying students, lest their rivals in business (for a business it certainly was) should steal an advantage, then you can see that mere bookish scholarship is unlikely to give us the whole story.

Therefore, as with all martial arts or body skills, it is only by doing that we may come close to understanding what we are about, and a large part of that doing takes the form of drilling and fencing with our colleagues in the Academy and others from the growing community of European Martial Artists.

Part of the accurate simulation of techniques is coupled closely with the weapons we use. Modern foils, epees and sabres just will not do - they are far too light and 'whippy', quite unlike the real rapier, which, even in its late, stiletto-like form, could never be flicked around like modern Olympic foil for example. Our weapons are more accurate and performs as a reasonable facsimile. At the same time, modern metallurgy allows the blade to be strong, and flexible enough to 'give' on impact to keep our fencing safe.