Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

sponse to the use of cut-and-thrust swords, and only later did it find use
against other rapiers. Although a cut-and-thrust blade can be used in some
ways like a rapier, a true rapier cannot be used like a cut-and-thrust blade.
They were separate weapons with distinct methods. The cut-and-thrust
sword also utilized the unique gripping method of fingering the ricasso (the
thicker dulled portion of the blade just above the hilt), in which the index
finger wraps around the guard to allow for superior point control and
agility as well as ensuring a better hold. This highly effective manner of
gripping followed from the ring hilts developed on late medieval swords
and also was crucial to the later use of the rapier.
Most of these swords were capable of slashes, draw-cuts, and thrusts.
Practice was conducted with wooden versions (wasters) and non-edged
steel versions (blunts). With its practicality, the Renaissance cut-and-thrust
form presents an effective and well-reasoned approach to swordsmanship.
Although Renaissance cut-and-thrust swords continued to find use as field
weapons in war, they became eclipsed as personal weapons of urban selfdefense
by the dueling tool par excellence, the vicious and elegant rapier.
However, as a military armament the cut-and-thrust sword was also eventually
to be replaced by the handgun and the curved cavalry saber, both
more suitable for the primarily mounted armies of later ages.
The rapier lent itself to a highly effective form of personal combat—it
was vicious as well as elegant in its lethality. It was strictly a personal
weapon, never used, nor intended for use, on the battlefield. Originally,
starting about 1470, any sword worn only in civilian dress was often referred
to as simply a rapier (or espada ropera [Spanish; sword of the robe]),
but the word rapier quickly took on the meaning of a slender civilian thrusting
sword. Rapiers had slender, acutely pointed blades, and varied considerably
in length, thickness, cross-sectional shape, and edge sharpness. True
rapier blades ranged from early flatter, triangular blades to thicker, narrow
hexagonal ones. For most sophisticated gentleman, the use of the rapier became
a popular martial skill to study. Its introduction as a weapon was a
gradual process that was highly controversial at the time and often violently
disputed. The sword is considered to be of Hispano-Italian origin and was
the first true civilian weapon. It became the premier weapon of urban selfdefense
and private dueling from roughly 1540 to 1690. It was eventually
surpassed in this role only by the widespread use of handguns.
As a weapon, the rapier is extremely fast, and its extensive reach is
formidable. Some blades could be as long as 50 inches. Its powerful, quick
thrust was lethal in its penetrating power. A simple stab wound of only a
few inches could prove instantly fatal, and it intentionally targeted the eyes,
the heart, and the lungs. A rapier’s thrusting attack was difficult to parry
and could not simply be knocked aside. It had the unique capacity to make
Swordsmanship, European Renaissance 583