THE SCHOLA SAINT GEORGE CLASS PROGRESSION

Through experimentation and design, we have arrived at course progressions designed to build a solid foundation of skills with each combatant and to create sensible progressions of coursework intended to grow a student's skills and sophistication, whether they intend to spar, develop skills for self-defense, or to study the arts for their own sake.

Schola courses follow three broad, but intertwined tracks. The first, the Italian medieval martial arts, focus on the fundamentals of combat through the works of Fiore dei Liberi and Filippo Vadi. The second builds upon foundational elements found in the Pallas Armata, designed to focus on historical rapier skills. The third is a proposed equestrian track designed to integrate combat skills with horsemanship (this is prety advanced stuff--no one is doing this yet).

Since the medieval martial arts track is our main focus, students begin their study with Introduction to Italian Medieval Swordsmanship, our "Elephant" class, which prepares students with the development of basic skills that should be common to all three tracks, including balance, footwork, our biomechanical power generation, strike accuracy and elementary defenses.

Upon completion from the Elephant course, students can progress into a study of the medieval marital art through more intensive and detailed look at the foundational elements and the giocco larga crossed sword principles in Fior di Battaglia. At this point students should be qualified for tournament play. Next in the series is the much longer giocco stretto module, incorporating Fiore's unarmed and dagger combat with the giocco stretto longsword plays. By this time the student should be ready for advanced work with in the medieval martial arts, and is expected to develop one or more Breadth weapons, which can include the spear, poleaxe, sword & buckler, medieval sword & shield, the modern cane, Jogo do Pau, or giocco stretto as a self-defense system. The medieval progression culminates with armoured combat or advanced techniques drawn from Filippo Vadi's treatise, Arte Gladiatoria Dimincandi. Students should then pursue various breadth applications of their art, potentially to include the German school of swordsmanship, modern self-defense applications, rapier play or equestrian arts.

For remote study groups, study for the Italian medieval martial arts track may be done via coordinated study, video tape and seminars. Seminar fees for Schola Saint George study groups are all but waived, and it is hoped that students will be able to grow their own local instructors capable of integrating new students through the Elephant class and Medieval Italian or Renaissance tracks. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to pursue this option, as we are keenly interested in helping students to progress.

Rapier
For students of the rapier, the progression is still very young and not yet fleshed out,but will begin by focusing on the English Pallas Armata of 1639. Depending upon how this track grows, the school could well add Joseph Sweatnam, or switch to the Italian track following Salvatore Fabris.

Equestrian
Integration of the equestrain arts has been a powerful desire of the founders, and with the addition of instructor Michael Canfield, we are closer to reaching this goal. This track is in the proposal stages, but should qualify students within the SCA for both equestrian games and jousting, but it will drive towards International Jousting Association standards employed by the Company of the Boar and the Royal Armouries at Leeds.  

FOUNDATIONAL COURSES

Introduction to Italian Medieval Swordsmanship
Approximately 50-75 hours of class study
A quick course designed to introduce the art and magic of the medieval longsword. Students will, through Fiore de Liberi's Segno, learn basic stances, footwork, cuts, the hierarchy of defense, the importance of stepping off-line, conduct cutting practice and engage in elementary sparring using gambesons, fencing masks and CSG-style longsword simulators. This is the foundational course that ties all future study together, and it focuses on the development of a solid fighting platform with simple, direct footwork, efficient harnessing of the body's large muscle groups to develop power and speed, and solid technique for delivery of effective blows. Fundamental defenses are also covered, and new for 2004 is an ending module that applies the lessons learned to unarmed defense against baton, knife and gun. Upon completion of the course and several weeks of sparring, students may undertake their test to obtain the Compagno (Elephant) rank within the Schola.
This course is available in Texas's DFW  and within the Californa Bay Area (East Bay). For affiliate groups it is now available via video!

Introduction to English Rapier (Pallas Armata)
Approximately 30-40 hours of class study
For combatants interested in Renaissance swordsmanship, this course will include fundamentals of rapier work drawn from the English Pallas Armata of 1639 (http://www.pallasarmata.org). Combatants will learn the four hand positions common to most rapier combat; footwork; strikes, thrusts and lunges; and elementary defenses. Combatants should acquire a rapier and mask of their own (see the equipment page). This course is designed to be the foundational course for all future rapier work within the Schola.
This course is available in Texas's DFW  taught by Andy Borman, starting in January 2005.

Introduction to Chivalric Horsemanship (TBD)
PROPOSED
Slated to be the foundational course for the equestrian track within the Schola, details TBD. The course should qualify the student to ride with sufficient safety and control to participate in equestrain games. 
This course may be available in the  Californa Bay Area  taught by Michael Canfield.  

INTERMEDIATE COURSES

Medieval Long Play: Giocco Larga
 Approximately 50 - 100 study hours
Designed to immerse students with more intensive work using the principles recorded by the 14th century Italian swordmaster Fiore de Liberi, this module represents next step into the study of medieval swordsmanship as taught by the Schola. Students will build upon the principles underlying Fiore de Liberi's system, expanding their unerstanding of footwork, use of the posta, principles of defense  and the governors of a fight. The course seeks to enhance students sense of timing and distance through two parts: a review and expansion of the material in the Introductary course, plus examination and application of the main giocco larga longsword plays from Fiore dei Liberi. Encoded within these plays are the tactics and principles that govern intermediate and advanced swordwork. Students also participate in focused sparring exercises to integrate techniques into their repetoire, sparring either in blossfechten equipment or in gear appropriate to competive venues such as the Adria, ECS or the SCA. Graduation from this level accords the combatant the rank of Tyger, equivalent to a blue belt, which is prerequisite for tournament play.

This course is available in Texas's DFW  and within the Californa Bay Area (East Bay).

Medieval Close Play: Giocco Stretto
 Approximately 150 - 350 study hours
A more intensive look at the close-quarters applications of fighting under Fiore dei Liberi's system. This level of study includes a module in how to fall properly, in Fiore's unarmed poste, use of the baton, selected unarmed and dagger plays, and applications of giocco stretto for the longsword. This is a much longer course than is the one for giocco larga (long play), and is more difficult. Currently the plan is to award mastery of this level with the rank of Lyon, equivalent to a green belt.

This course is available in Texas's DFW  and within the Californa Bay Area (East Bay).

Armoured Combat (Fiore dei Liberi, Filippo Vadi)
Approximately 70-150 hours of class study: giocco larga course and armour prerequisite; giocco stretto recommended
For tournament combatants, armoured combat represents the height of the chivalric arts, both on foot and on horseback. This course focuses on preparing and qualifying the foot combatant for combat in armour using the medieval sword in one or two hands. The focus is on the "halfsword" techniques presented in Fiore dei Liberi and Filippo Vadi's treatises, but includes a few tricks fram Paulus Kal and Talhoffer (chiefly hooking). Combatants will develop familiarity with armoured combat through sparring and competitive work, perparing them to compete in WMA, SCA or tournament company events. Included are modules on falling in and out of  armour, unarmoured halfswording play, and armoured sword in one and two hands. Combat with both batons and swords is covered.
This course is currently available in the Texas DFW and within the Californa Bay Area (East Bay).

Medieval Equestrian Games
PROPOSED: Prerequisites Chivalric Horsemanship, Introduction to Medieval Swordsmanship
This course should take the student through competency, safety and competition in equestrian games including tilting at the ring, quintain, and hurling lances and Saracen heads.
This course not yet available

ADVANCED COURSES

Medieval Poleaxe (Hans Talhoffer, Jeu de la Hache, Paulus Kal, Fiore dei Liberi, Filippo Vadi, Pietro Monte)
Approximately 50-60 hours of class study: spear class prerequisite
For the feat of arms, few medieval "assault" weapons can match the poleaxe for its diversity or complexity. Fiore dei Liberi called it, "Ponderous, Cruel & Mortal", but the weapon can be used to exercise the combatant in arms like no other. The course builds skills with the poleaxe and examines intermediate and advanced mental concepts including feeling (fuhlen), initiative, pressure, and integration of giocco larga and giocco stretto in a combat situation.
This course is currently available in the Texas DFW area only. 

Advanced Italian Longsword (Filippo Vadi's Arte Gladiatoria)
Approximately 50-60 hours of class study: giocco stretto & giocco larga classes prerequisite
Fillipo Vadi added an immense amount of technical material to the Italian longsword tradition. This course focuses not on Vadi's plays but upon the integration of all longsword techniques in Fiore and Vadi together into a complete, flowing combat system. Emphasis is on subtle manipulation of combat psychology, refinement of timing, and a sense of distance. Focus is definitely on measure through a study of Vadi's prologue, chapters and selected plays.  
This course is available in Texas's DFW .

Medieval Jousting
PROPOSED: Prerequisite Equestrian Games
This course will focus on the development of stability with the lance with full armour on horseback, using lances set to the International Jousting Association's standards (solid base, balsa tips).
This course not yet available

Mounted Combat Techniques (Fiore dei Liberi, Paulus Kals)
PROPOSED COURSE: medieval  jousting, giocco larga & spear classes prerequisite
For mounted combatants, the material in Fiore dei Liberi and Paulus Kals appears to be an application of the fundamentals, chiefly the lance work and the exchange of the thrust. This short course teaches how to displace an incoming lance at speed using techniques from Liberi and Kals using a sword or lance.
This course not yet available--contact us if your're interested!.

BREADTH COURSES

Medieval Sword & Buckler: Royal Armouries RA MS I.33
The earliest known medieval fighting treatise, Royal Armouries MS I.33 ("one thirty-three") details an efficient system of sword and buckler play as could have been employed by civilian travellers during the whole of the Middle Ages. This course builds upon footwork and body mechanics developed in the Elephant course, and counts towards the breath requiremens for the Lynx ranking (brown belt). The fundamentals are directly applicable to work within the SCA, Adria, ECS, or reenactment play.

This course is available within the Californa Bay Area (East Bay), taught by Robert Holland.
 
Medieval Spear (Misc. + Codex Gladiatoria, Fiore dei Liberi, Fillipo Vadi)
Approximately 40-50 hours of class study
For any of the medieval or Renaissance arts, a sense of timing, line and distance is fundamental to the art of fighting. The medieval spear is a very easy weapon to learn these concepts through, and because of its limited options variables are much easier to see and master. This course can stand as a foundational course, or it can serve as a breadth course. Students will work with the short lanza, focusing on techniques built through spear as found in the German Codex Gladiatoria and with staff work drawn from our more intensive poleaxe course.
This course is available in Texas's DFW  and the Californa Bay Area (East Bay).

Fundamental Sword & Shield (SCA)
PROPOSED
Slated to be the foundational course for the equestrian track within the Schola, details TBD.  
This course may be available in the  Californa Bay Area  taught by Michael Canfield.

Application of Medieval Principles to the Modern Walking Cane (Canemasters System) 
PROPOSED
This course extends the Schola fundamentals to the modern cane, offering students a potent self-defense alternative. The course should qualify students at the Intermediate level in the Canemasters system.
Future course planned for the Texas's DFW area by Brian R. Price

Fiore dei Liberi's Giocco Stretto as a Modern Self-Defense System
PROPOSED: Giocco stretto module prerequisite
This course will focus on self-defense applications of Fiore's work applying and extending the system to modern defensive situations against blows, kicks, punches, grabs, batons, knives and guns.  
Future course planned for the Texas's DFW area by Brian R. Price

Portugese Stick Fighting: Jogo do Pau
PROPOSED: Elephant course prerequisite
ThA vibrant modern martial art that compliments the Schola's biomechanics perfectly, this course will introduce the student to Jogo do Pau and will apply our power development skills to the use of the padded Jogo do Pau equipment. The emphasis for this course is on practical sparring using the Jogo do Pau equipment..  
Future course planned for the Texas's DFW area by Brian R. Price

The Backsword in Pallas Armata
PROPOSED: Introduction to Rapier module prerequisite
The backsword is a fantastic weapon, with powerful applications to all single-handed sword techniques. This course will draw from the Pallas Armata and build combatants able to fence competitively with the backsword. Backsword and appropriate sparring gear required.  
Future course planned for the Texas's DFW area by Andy Borman.