The Chicago Swordplay Guild is a modern school of

swordsmanship Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to a ...

and

Western martial arts Historical European martial arts (HEMA) are martial arts of European origin, particularly using arts formerly practised, but having since died out or evolved into very different forms. While there is limited surviving documentation of the martia ...

, and

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It provides organized instruction in the study and practice of historical European swordplay, with a principal focus on the

Italian school of swordsmanship The term Italian school of swordsmanship is used to describe the Italian style of fencing and edged-weapon combat from the time of the first extant Italian swordsmanship treatise (1409) to the days of Classical Fencing (up to 1900). Although the ...

and other martial arts of the 14th–17th centuries. Co-founded in 1999 by Gregory Mele and Mark Rector, the Chicago Swordplay Guild seeks to be consistent with the methodology of the ancient European fencing schools by combining scholarship and research into the teachings of the historical Masters, with the practical knowledge gained through solo and partnered drilling and fencing. Since techniques are taught in reference to how effective they would be in a real encounter, the Guild practices with an absolute emphasis on safety, control, competence, and skill at arms.

Membership

Beginning with a small group of people interested in

swordplay Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

the Chicago Swordplay Guild today has more than 50 active members, with dues-paying individuals ranging in age from their late teens to their mid-fifties, and of which 30% are women. A cross-section of the membership includes people in fields such as law, nursing, acting, civil engineering, ichthyology, computer programming, fitness training, paleontology, library science, Renaissance clothing design, publishing, education and the fine arts.

Location

The principal training venue is Forteza Fitness and Martial Arts located in the Ravenswood neighborhood on Chicago's near northside, Forteza is an almost facility that was designed and built specifically for the study of western martial arts. The Chicago Swordplay Guild also has sister schools operating in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

(Chicago Swordplay Guild North) and

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

(Rocky Mountain Swordplay Guild).

Curriculum

The Guild has a detailed, structured curriculum that focuses on the

of the 14th–17th centuries. This curriculum is divided into three courses of study; medieval swordsmanship, or ''armizare'', Bolognese fencing, and late Renaissance rapier fencing.

The Medieval Italian Tradition

The medieval martial arts curriculum is primarily based upon the surviving records of the tradition founded by the

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giulia ...

master at arms,

Fiore dei Liberi Fiore Furlano de Cividale d'Austria, delli Liberi da Premariacco (Fiore dei Liberi, Fiore Furlano, Fiore de Cividale d'Austria; born ca. 1350; died after 1409) was a late 14th century knight, diplomat, and itinerant fencing master. He is the ear ...

(1350?-1410?). Maestro dei Liberi gave no formal name to his school or his martial art, simply calling it ''l'arte dell'armi'' or ''armizare'' ("the art of arms"). His art is preserved in the manuscripts he left behind, all entitled '' il Fior di Battaglia'' (the Flower of Battle). The style of Dei Liberi outlived the founder due to the surviving manuscript of another master-at-arms, separated from dei Liberi by two to three generations of time. This later master, Filippo Vadi, is known through the treatise he penned c. 1482 entitled ''

De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi ''De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi'' was written by Italian fencing master Filippo Vadi between 1482 and 1487. It consists of an opening prologue describing the art of fencing followed by colored plates illustrating specific techniques for the longsw ...

'' (also "the art of arms"). Between these two men, we have today a complete martial art of a richness and complexity to stand beside any other in the world.

(Early Renaissance) Bolognese Swordsmanship

The primary sources for the Guild's

Bolognese Swordsmanship Bolognese Swordsmanship, also sometimes known as the Dardi school, is a tradition within the Italian school of swordsmanship which is based on the surviving fencing treatises published by several 16th century fencing masters of Bologna, As early a ...

training come from five works from the 16th Century: an Anonymous text of c.1550,

Antonio Manciolino Bolognese Swordsmanship, also sometimes known as the Dardi school, is a tradition within the Italian school of swordsmanship which is based on the surviving fencing treatises published by several 16th century fencing masters of Bologna, As early as ...

(''Opera Nova'', 1531),

Achille Marozzo Achille Marozzo (1484–1553) was an Italian fencing master, one of the most important teachers in the Dardi or Bolognese tradition.Castle, Egerton (1885), ''Schools and Masters of Fenc'', Londra, G. Bell, rist. (2003) ''Schools and Masters of Fen ...

(''Opera Nova'', 1536),

Angelo Viggiani Bolognese Swordsmanship, also sometimes known as the Dardi school, is a tradition within the Italian school of swordsmanship which is based on the surviving fencing treatises published by several 16th century fencing masters of Bologna, As early as ...

(''Lo Schermo'', written c. 1550 and published posthumously in 1575) and

Giovanni Dall'Agocchie Giovanni Dall'Agocchie was an Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian langua ...

(''Dell'arte di Scrimia'', 1575). All of these texts share a consistency of terminology and curriculum that is traced to the most famed teacher of the tradition, Guido Antonio de Luca, from whose school came masters

and

, and the famed

condottiero ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europe ...

, Giovanni de Medici.

The Late Renaissance Italian Tradition

The Chicago Swordplay Guild's

rapier A rapier () or is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use (dueling and self-defense) and as a military side arm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Impor ...

curriculum is drawn from the great Italian masters of the turn of the 17th century, particularly the work of Grand Master

Salvator Fabris Salvator Fabris (1544-1618) was an Italian fencing master from Padua. During his life he taught in various European countries, most notably in Denmark where he was the fencing instructor of King Christian IV. It was during his time in Copenhagen ...

(1544–1618) from

Padua, Italy Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

. The roster of Fabris' notable students included Prince-Archbishop John Frederick of Bremen and Christian IV, King of Denmark, under whose patronage he published his exceptional rapier-fencing manual ''Lo Schermo, overo Scienza d'Arme'' ("on fencing, or martial knowledge").

Training

Member Training

After completing two introductory classes in their weapon of choice, candidates are invited to join the Chicago Swordplay Guild. In addition to intermediate to advanced techniques in the Italian medieval longsword and Italian Renaissance

, Chicago Swordplay Guild members move into the study of historical Italian combat techniques such as medieval grappling (close quarters combat), dagger combat,

arming sword In the European High Middle Ages, the typical sword (sometimes academically categorized as the knightly sword, arming sword, or in full, knightly arming sword) was a straight, double-edged weapon with a single-handed, cruciform (i.e., cross-shape ...

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

and

pollaxe The poleaxe (also pollaxe, pole-axe, pole axe, poleax, polax) is a European polearm that was widely used by medieval infantry. Etymology Most etymological authorities consider the ''poll''- prefix historically unrelated to "pole", instead mea ...

. Members of the medieval arts also train in armored combat. Two female members of the Guild currently study the art of medieval mounted combat as taught by the 15th century master at arms,

Introductory Classes

The Chicago Swordplay Guild offers 12-week class sessions in

, including Introduction to the medieval Longsword and Introduction to the Renaissance Rapier, year-round through the

Chicago Park District The Chicago Park District is one of the oldest and the largest park districts in the United States. As of 2016, there are over 600 parks included in the Chicago Park District as well as 27 beaches, several boat harbors, two botanic conservatories ...

, the

College Of DuPage College of DuPage is a public community college with its main campus in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The college also owns and operates facilities in the Illinois communities of Addison, Carol Stream, Naperville and Westmont. With more than 20,000 s ...

and other locations in the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hi ...

WMAW

The Guild and its founders have been active in growing and educating the international

western martial arts Historical European martial arts (HEMA) are martial arts of European origin, particularly using arts formerly practised, but having since died out or evolved into very different forms. While there is limited surviving documentation of the martia ...

community. Beginning in fall 1999, the Guild has hosted the biannual Western Martial Arts Workshop), an ever-growing weekend symposium of researchers, instructors and students from the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Publications

The Chicago Swordplay Guild has also been in the forefront of new publications in the Historical European Swordsmanship movement. Co-founders Gregory Mele and Mark Rector have been prolific researchers and have published a number of books and essays on European swordplay. *''Arte Gladitoria Dimicandi: The 15th Century Swordsmanship of Master Filippo Vadi'' *''Medieval Combat: A Fifteenth-Century Manual of Swordfighting and Close Quarter Combat'' *''Highland Swordsmanship: Techniques of the Scottish Sword Masters'' *''In the Service of Mars: Proceedings from the Western Martial Arts Workshop 1999-2009''

Affiliates and Sister Schools

The Chicago Swordplay Guild maintains close fraternal ties to many different

organizations. The following organizations are those with whom the Guild collaborates to share resources and research and to cross-pollinate curriculum and methodology. *Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts Toronto, Ontario, Canada *Alliance Martial Arts Ithaca, New York, U.S. *Les Maitres d'Armes, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada *Northwest Academy of Arms Eugene, Oregon, U.S. *Order of the Seven Hearts Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. *Rocky Mountain Swordplay Guild Denver, Colorado, U.S. *Selohaar Fechtschule Oxford, Connecticut, U.S.

Notes

References

Medieval martial arts keeping history alive
''The Journal Times'', September 11, 2009

''USA Today'', March 12, 2008
A Baroque and Dagger Affair
''Time Out Chicago'', Issue 135
Classes keep ancient art of swordplay alive
''Kane County Chronicle'', February 23, 2009
COD class teaches basics of medieval swordsmanship
{dead link, date=November 2016 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes ''Glen Ellyn News'', September 11, 2007
When Anachronists Attack
''Chicago Reader'', February 26, 2004
L.A.'s Knight Life
''BrooWaha: Citizen Newspaper'', January 8, 2008

External links

The Chicago Swordplay Guild websiteThe Rocky Mountain Swordplay Guild websiteChicago Park District Arts Partner in Residence Program
Historical European martial arts revival Non-profit organizations based in Chicago