The Science of Arms
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Worcester Polytechnic Institute Digital WPI Interactive Qualifying Projects (All Years) Interactive Qualifying Projects April 2013 The cS ience of Arms Cecelia R. Franzini Worcester Polytechnic Institute Haoyang Zhang Worcester Polytechnic Institute John Arthur Tordoff Worcester Polytechnic Institute Logan M. Harrington Worcester Polytechnic Institute Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/iqp-all Repository Citation Franzini, C. R., Zhang, H., Tordoff, J. A., & Harrington, L. M. (2013). The Science of Arms. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/iqp-all/2624 This Unrestricted is brought to you for free and open access by the Interactive Qualifying Projects at Digital WPI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Interactive Qualifying Projects (All Years) by an authorized administrator of Digital WPI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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