For the terminology, Italian is the default for <1600...French fencing vocabulary did not become widespread until later. A reasonable exception might be made for Spanish in the case of destreza, though. Below are the Italian terms, per Tom Leoni, here:
The first name of the cut is
either mandritto or riverso. A Mandritto is any cut
that proceeds from the right side of the swordsman doing the cutting. A Riverso is any cut that
proceeds from the left side of the swordsman doing the cutting. The second name of a cut is any
of the following, depending on the specific direction of the action. Fendente: a cut proceeding vertically
downward. Squalembrato: a downward cut proceeding diagonally. Tondo: a cut proceeding along a horizontal
plane. Ridoppio: an upward cut proceeding diagonally. Examples:
mandritto tondo ( = a cut proceeding from
the right side of the swordsman and traveling on a horizontal plane);
riverso ridoppio ( = a cut proceeding from
the left side of the swordsman and traveling upward, diagonally). There are four cuts that do not
follow the typical nomenclature of mandritto or riverso: Falso dritto: an upward cut proceeding diagonally right-to-left, delivered with
the false-edge of the sword. Falso manco: an upward cut proceeding diagonally
left-to-right, delivered with the false edge of the sword. Sottomano: an upward vertical cut proceeding from
the right side of the swordsman doing the cutting.
Montante: an upward vertical cut proceeding from
the left side of the swordsman doing the cutting.
I'm not sure what you mean by "cutting diagram". Do you mean a footwork diagram like this one from Thibault? Or something more like Fiore's segno?
William Elder
Academia della Spada |