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The Science of Arms

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The Science of Arms IQP-JLS-0070 The Science of Arms Interactive Qualifying Project Proposal Submitted to the Faculty of the WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation by ___________________ ___________________ Cecelia Franzini Logan Harrington ___________________ ___________________ John Tordoff Haoyang Zhang April 30, 2013 __________________________________________________ Professor Jeffrey L. Forgeng, Major Advisor Keywords: History – Higgins Armory Museum, swords, swordfighting ABSTRACT This project for the Higgins Armory Museum created an instructional DVD detailing the history and techniques of single-handed swords, longswords, rapiers, staff weapons, and daggers. The project team researched modern and historical sources on the weapons, studying their cultural context as well as combat techniques; the team interviewed experts in the field of medieval weapons, and filmed sequences of costumed combat and modern training. The 45- minute DVD will assist teachers and students in the Armory’s historic swordplay classes. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the following individuals for lending us their knowledge, support and time to help us complete our project: Professor Jeffrey L. Forgeng, Dr. Ken Mondschein, Chris Palagi, Sandy Coyne, and Evan Davidson. CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Weapon Research .................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Single-Handed Sword by Haoyang Zhang ................................................................................................................ 5 1. Sword History ............................................................................................................................................................. 5 2. Parts of the sword ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 3. Types of Swords ....................................................................................................................................................... 10 4. Fencing Masters on Single-handed sword .................................................................................................... 15 5. Single-handed sword Fencing Techniques ................................................................................................... 18 Longsword by Logan Harrington ............................................................................................................................... 27 1. Artifact and History ........................................................................................................................................... 27 2. Sources ................................................................................................................................................................... 30 3. Unarmored Techniques ................................................................................................................................... 35 4. Armored Techniques ........................................................................................................................................ 40 Rapier by Cecelia Franzini ............................................................................................................................................ 45 1. Artifact and History ........................................................................................................................................... 45 2. Rapier fencing masters .................................................................................................................................... 51 3. Techniques ............................................................................................................................................................. 60 Staff Weapons by John Tordoff ................................................................................................................................... 63 1. Artifact and Its History..................................................................................................................................... 63 2. Sources and Techniques .................................................................................................................................. 69 Daggers and Grappling by John Tordoff .................................................................................................................. 75 1. Artifact and History ........................................................................................................................................... 75 2. Masters ................................................................................................................................................................... 79 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................ 85 i Sources ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 87 One-Handed Sword .......................................................................................................................................................... 87 Longsword ........................................................................................................................................................................... 90 Rapier .................................................................................................................................................................................... 93 Staff Weapons, Daggers and Wrestling .................................................................................................................... 94 Appendix A ............................................................................................................................................................................... 98 Storyboards ......................................................................................................................................................................... 98 Single-Handed Sword ................................................................................................................................................. 98 Longsword ................................................................................................................................................................... 107 Rapier ............................................................................................................................................................................. 113 Staff Weapons/Daggers Storyboard ................................................................................................................. 125 Daggers and Wrestling ........................................................................................................................................... 134 General Principles ..................................................................................................................................................... 138 Appendix B ............................................................................................................................................................................ 148 Higgins Armory Museum Drop-in Workshops: ................................................................................................. 148 About the Authors .............................................................................................................................................................. 149 ii INTRODUCTION The goal of this project was to create a DVD that gives an overview of several types of European weapons in use from the 1300 to the 1700s, including their history and proper implementation. These weapons include single-handed swords, rapier, longsword and hand-and- a-half swords, and staff weapons, wrestling and daggers. The DVD has been created with the intent that it will be used by the Higgins Armory Museum as an introductory source of information for the instructors and students in its historical combat classes. Higgins Armory Museum is the only arms and armor museum in the Western Hemisphere. It features collections from Medieval Europe, Middle East, India, Africa and Japan, and its historical combat classes allow students to learn combat arts from the European medieval and Renaissance periods. The museum is enrolled in the US National Register of Historic Places. The historical combat classes at the Higgins Armory Museum comprise of two regular classes, the Salle d’Armes and Viking Training. The Salle d’Armes offers instruction for weapons such as the rapier, longsword, dueling sabre and staff. Students also learn classical forms of modern fencing weapons including foil and épée. The Viking Training class teaches combat skills practiced by Icelandic Vikings. There are also drop-in workshops that feature a variety of different themes, as well as courses to introduce children to swordplay. These included
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