I had the opportunity to go down and spend some time with Brian Stokes this past weekend. He was hosting Fiore Fest 2008 at his home. He has an indoor salle and a fairly large backyard to practice in. Some of Brian's local students were there as well as about eight of us from out of town. Saturday was devoted to going through the plays of the First Master of the Dagger while Sunday was spent going through the Giocco Largo plays of the sword in two hands. Brian also provided the opportunity for those present to do some test cutting on Sunday. I am very appreciative that Brian opened his home to us, and shared not only his expertise but much of his research with us, free of charge.

I was only able to be there on Sunday, but I stayed a bit longer, and Brian graciously went through the dagger plays with me after everyone else had left. Prior to presenting the material, Brian showed us the high res scans he has of the Getty version of the manuscript and explained how he came up with his interpretations of the plays. Now I must admit that after this weekend I have a lot to think about. While much of what Brian showed us was familiar to me and similar to my own interpretations and what I had seen from other devotees of Fiore, a lot of it was different. Brian is a very skilled martial artist, and is very devoted to studying Fiore's manuscripts. He is very good at explaining his interpretations and demonstrating them. Anyone who is interested in Fiore's system would do well to spend some time with Brian. He is very good teacher, and whether you agree with him or not, you should listen to what he has to say. At the very least, it will make you take another look at the manuscript and possibly re-examine your own interpretations. I know I will be going back and looking a lot closer at the manuscript and re-thinking my own take on Fiore's system. I also look forward to working with Brian more in the future.

Chris,

Thanks for the very kind words. I do hope that they spur on some of my local San Diegans to come out for some fun with Fiore.

I am please to announce that there will be a Fall Fiore Fest® on the weekend before Thanksgiving. This time we will be focusing on the stretto, lance, and pollaxe of Fiore. Anyone interested in attending might plan now as I discovered that the space I can offer will handle at most 12 people at a time.

I can be reached at brian@scholasanmarco.org or 858-755-6447.

Thanks,

Brian


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Schola San Marco
Italian Sword in the Fiore Tradition
www.scholasanmarco.org

Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem

The wife and I just got back home a day late due to missing a flight secondary to the old "O'Hare shuffle" (how can they say your plane left already when one can see it still parked at the gate?!?!?!?!!!!) :wtf:

Thank you very much for your gracious hosting of Fiore fest, what a wonderful way to get out of the frozen Midwest for a while.

Brian allowed me to participate in the abrazzare training on Friday PM, the First Master of the Dagger plays on Saturday (along with some of the second master) and Giocco Largo on Sunday. He had tatami mats prerolled and soaked for sale and patiently taught us how to cut with a longsword (I did notice him slapping his forehead and taking an aspirin or two out of frustration when it was my turn). :lol:

Brian makes efforts to stick to the source material, a task made easier by his access to high resolution images of the Getty text. He sticks to figuring out the most simple and efficient way to arrive at the position shown in the illustration using the text as a guide.

The event is managed very much as an interactive working group with all participants having a say on how a technique might be best performed. Brian is quite flexible in revising an interpretation if, during dynamic analysis of the play or close scrutiny of the text/artwork, it becomes apparent that he has "screwed it up". I have never heard him cop out and defend himself by saying that the text is flawed and the artwork limited.

He is a Fiore Fundamentalist :!:

Mr. Stokes treated every one well and kept things running on time, organized and focused on learning.

Mike Barna