Fundamentals of Italian Rapier: A Modern Manual for Teachers and Students of Historical Fencing offers a comprehensive theoretical foundation for seventeenth-century rapier fencing.
This book pairs descriptions of fencing techniques with over a hundred images, explaining the underlying reasoning for each fencing action as well as offering drills and exercises designed to help students internalize the three fundamentals of Italian rapier fencing: modo, misura, and tempo (technique, measure, and timing).
Through a synthesis of Italian fencing manuals for an English-speaking readership, Dori and David Coblentz offer a resource that is both sensitive to historical context and aware of modern trends in fencing instruction.
About the Author: DAVID COBLENTZ was certified as a Master at Arms by a board of maestri in 2010.
His training came primarily through the San Jose Fencing Masters Program, where he earned his Instructor (2008) and Provost at Arms (2009) certifications.
David has long been interested in curriculum development for historical fencing.
He has taught on this topic as well as others in venues such as the Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium, Riposte Harlem, Red Sun Classical Fencing, and So Cal Swordfight.
He is the lead instructor of the Decatur School of Arms, which he founded in 2012.
He lives in Atlanta with his wife, Dori Coblentz, and his two daughters, Elanor and Mary Adele.
DORI COBLENTZ was certified as a Provost at Arms with a concentration in historical fencing through the Sonoma State University fencing certification program in 2017.
Her training comes from the SSU program and from the San Jose State Fencing Masters Program, where she received her Instructor at Arms certification in 2009.
Outside of the salle, she teaches English at Georgia Tech.
Her research is on the history of fencing and its relevance for literary studies.
She published on this topic in her 2015, Killing Time in Titus Andronicus: Rhetoric, Timing, and the Art of Defense.