Description
For this Tuesday rotation we are going to be study the works of Pietro Monte, an Italian professional soldier, mercenary, philosopher and writer of the 15th and 16th centuries.
This is a look into the Sidesword, the single hand straight bladed cut-and-thrust renaissance sword, as well as sidesword and shield, and a passing glance at dealing with Longsword with a smaller weapon.
Monte is an interesting character in HEMA because he was not teaching sword play for the rich and bored but for professional soldiers of all ranks. Going so far as to be the first HEMA source we are aware of to teach breakfalling.
All Monte’s work comes from the basis of wrestling so is similar to old style broadsword in the sense that old style broadsword is based on boxing.
13/10/2026 Week 1: Movement and flow
20/10/2026 Week 2: Strikes and the power of three
27/10/2026 Week 3: Movement as a defence
03/11/2026 Week 4: Single Swordplay, Bringing it all together
10/11/2026 Week 5: Sword and shield in Monte
17/11/2026 Week 6: The Full Monte (Monte sidesword vs monte sword and shield vs longsword)
