Dagger – 5th scholar of the 4th master

Folio 38 r. b

Translation

By pushing this dagger next to your uplifted elbow, it will remain in my hand and wound you for certain. However, this play must be done quickly, so that you do not counter it with your left hand.

Interpretation

Against a fendente stab, you make the cover of the 4th master. Lunge in with your left foot forward and slightly off line. With both hands, grab the attacking wrist using a sword grip. Having absorbed the shock of the attack, roll your right hand over to grab the dagger point. Be sure to do this smoothly and quickly, so that your opponent does not use the counter play to bind your hands. This is picture point shown.

Keep the pressure on with your left hand, pushing back toward their face. This jams any further possiblity of attack as well as pushes your opponent off balance. With your right hand, push the dagger tip up close past their forearm. Step through with your right foot as you do so to maintain the advantage. Keep all your movements close and controlled. This will strip the dagger from the hand.

Using your body weight more than an arm movement, drive the point into your opponent. Exactly where you hit will depend to a certain extent on the reaction of your opponent, but it should be somewhere on the centreline between the solar plexus and the face. Follow up with the remainder of Fiores five things.

You can see variations of this disarm performed against both fendente and sottano attacks in the following plays

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