Description of the Rules of the Art of Fencing: On Staff Fencing (1843)

Modernised edition, restored facsimile and critical notes.

Presentation

This work presents the first complete translation into Portuguese of Part Five – Fencing with Sticks from the military treatise published in St. Petersburg in 1843 by Nikolai Vlasievich Sokolov, fencing instructor for the Imperial Russian Army.

Part of the original manual Начертание правил фехтовального искусства (Description of the Rules of the Art of Fencing), this chapter is one of the most detailed European records of the 19th century on the use of the stick as a military training weapon. Designed for academies and units of the Imperial Guard, the text establishes a complete technical programme.

It includes historical notes, a glossary and direct comparisons with Portuguese Jogo do Pau.

Contents (summary)

• 24 restored original illustrations;
• Historical context of the Russian manual;
• Guards, distances, and body positioning;
• Attacks (strikes, thrusts, feints, and combinations);
• Approach, running, jumping and combat in motion;
• Techniques applied against multiple opponents;
• Progressive exercises for training.