A Day with Liberi - Bob Charron February 17, 2001

On Saturday Feb. 17th AEMMA hosted "A Day with Liberi". This one day workshop focused entirely on the work of Fiore Dei Liberi the early 15th century Master of arms. The presentation was given by Bob Charron of the St. Martins Academy of Medieval Arms. Through diligent translation, interpretation and physical testing performed by Bob and his colleagues at their academy, Mr. Charron has systematically revealed the "secrets" of Liberi's fighting system. Bob's presentation effectively illustrates the simple efficiency of the Liberi system.

The presentation was divided into 2 parts. The morning session was devoted to an overall introduction to the text and illustrations of the Getty's version of Flos Duellatorum. Every plate that includes text and illustrations was reviewed, explained and demonstrated. In this section Mr. Charron's complete research and deep understanding of the material was evident. Mr. Charron is an effective speaker and his depth of knowledge coupled with his practiced approach enabled all participants to clearly grasp the principals of the material.

In the afternoon the techniques discussed in the morning session where put to practical use. The speed and ease that the basic techniques could be learned is a testimonial both the Liberi's System and to Mr. Charron's ability as a speaker and teacher. By the end of the day everyone was amazed with both the effectiveness of the techniques and their simplicity. Clearly mastery of this well thought out and completely documented fighting system will take a lifetime but thanks to Bob Charron and his thorough and effective presentation basic understanding took just one day. Everyone who attended agreed that they are now equipped to do much more in depth study of this fascinating material.

AEMMA thanks Bob Charron for his excellent work and strongly endorses his presentation.

Segmented videos are provided below for reference and viewing. The video file sizes range from 1.9MB - 5.7MB. The files will require QuickTime and are compatible with most Windows and Mac systems.

No.	Segment	Description	Video
1		Bob provides an introduction to the "man", Fiori dei Liberi, who beginning of the 1400 he enters the court of Niccolo III d'Este, Marquise of Ferrara, as the master swordsman. Bob stresses that the Liberi works are understandable and in a logical sequence.	(4.4MB)
2		He continues with a description of the first part of Liberi's manuscript which covers wrestling or abrazare. In this clip he is demonstrating one of four fundamental postas, that being the posta longa.	(5.7MB)
3		The next section of Liberi's manuscript covers techniques and defensive concepts with the dagger or daga. Here, he is demonstrating a crossed and double hold or incrosada e dopia on the dagger, which can be deployed either defensively or offensively. This hold relates to earlier transitional material that uses a baton for applying locks.	(2.6MB)
4		Liberi continues his sequence by moving from the dagger techniques to dagger & sword. Here, he is demonstrating a parry with the dagger followed by an elbow push (a fundamental defensive move described by Liberi in the earlier sections).	(3.9MB)
5		Bob continues reviewing the manuscript in the order as Liberi wrote it, with a review on sword techniques. In this segment he describes the half-sword technique that implements the concept of a "false-point" or punta reversa.	(4.2MB)
6		The next section reviewed covers the pole-axe or l'azza. Here, Bob describes the classic pole-axe position immediately after a low strike and parry. This is followed by moving in to the opponent, covering the visor with the hand and deploying an attack by placing the pole-axe between the legs.	(5.2MB)
7		Liberi's manuscript concludes with a description of spear or lança techniques. Bob is demonstrating what would initially be construed as an awkward posture, but demonstrates its effectiveness in morphing into an offensive posture.	(4.4MB)
8		The afternoon involves practical application of the techniques as described by Liberi. Here, Bob instructs the subtleties of a disarming technique for an attack with a dagger.	(4.3MB)
9		The workshop day concludes with longsword techniques. In this clip, some additional fine tuning instructions for evading the strike following through with a strike to the forearm.	(1.9MB)