Spadone (Montante) Sparring - Niccolò Menozzi vs Federico Malagutti

[@wildgfey7444]

The best montante sparring vid I've ever seen. Atmosphere included. Also I love how on 0:36 the fighter on the right pulled off the move of Iberian montante simple rules #6, straight out of textbook and performed perfectly. Really inspiring to watch

[@SchildwachePotsdam]

Yay, more Spadone sparring - nicely done both of you! Would you say, you are both a bit more cautious with these (due to impact power) than with feders?

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Schildwache Potsdam I would say a little. Most of the time I wasn’t care that much because the weapon is “slow by itself” only on some thrust we were a bit cautious

[@laordendelguaraguao8002]

Great video as always sir, very educational. Kudos to Niccolò his footwork through this fight was absolutely SOLID and my favorite part of the video. Very controlled movements on both parties. NO WASTE.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Thank you very much!

[@laordendelguaraguao8002]

@@FedericoMalagutti Always.

[@smokinpipechannel9602]

I always love the background music in your sparring videos 👍👍👍

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Smokin' Pipe Channel thank you!!

[@DamonYoungYT]

Very cool, especially the slightly different speed.

[@bluesoul7163]

We must tell to Hidetaka Myazaki how Spadone was used in combat... In dark souls series a special powered charachter just swing the swprd from left to right.

[@vold2268]

If i remember well,one of the manuscript say that in a rare fight like this,you should almost use the weapon like a short spear,do you feel like this would be effective? Like what happen near 5:00

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Well as many other ways of using a weapon it finds its use and it can indeed be effective. It haves its pros and cons. The forward hand is lesser protected, the reach is shortened etc. But you also have good control of the tip, a better leverage on the weapon. So as in many other cases is a trade which should be decided in regards of the single, specific fight or situation. So yes, it can be effective, but it needs training, situation awareness and precision.

[@jeffreycierniak8536]

That was awesome! Just two dudes duking it out massive blades.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Jeffrey Cierniak ahahahahahah!

[@emrealtun8415]

İts amazing very cool great Sparring :)

[@FedericoMalagutti]

EMRE ALTUN thank you!

[@nicholasw777]

Curious, how much log sword technique do you think crosses over into Spadone?

[@darthplagueis13]

Great video, though it seems kind of weird to me that the majority of sparring with this weapon you find on YT is usually two people who are both using it going up against each other when that doesn't appear to be the main purpose the spadone style was invented for. I'd love to see someone practice how good it actually is for defending against groups and people using shorter weapons.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Believe me, it’s impossible to practice that kind of sparring safely even with foam weapons due to acceleration of the tip and leverage. That’s why you don’t see it. Otherwise you would see it controlled or without any contact with the opponent.

[@sirxarounthefrenchy7773]

@@FedericoMalagutti I know it's a old video but you can free spar with a montante used as in the source BUT I've only used a nylon blade. The adversary cannot go all in because I cannot without hurting them and they must wear full protective gear, also they have to "respect the blade". What I mean by that is that one cannot take the hit "for the team" and block the montante by sacrificing his or her life so the companions can attack the montante wielder. But you can definitely spar with it and it's quite fun to do !

[@cmbaileytstc]

I notice there seem to be a lot of hits where the defender seems to have trouble deciding whether a downright blow was going to the inside or outside line in time...does the weight make it slower and more awkward to move these things in lateral parries/from inside to outside and vis versa?

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Yes, the weight of course influences the way of fencing with them. If the weapon keeps its momentum it is possible to go fast, but to work out parries and trying to not get hit it’s impossible to keep the flow all the time. So longer pauses happens while recovering the weapon or inverting the direction of the motion.

[@goddamnpiero6153]

2:15 He's just standing there menacingly. Bellissima dimostrazione comunque, siete davvero bravi.

[@book3100]

Wow! Some fearsome exchanges there! Can you imagine it? With any serious intent these takes limbs off! If i were younger i would take up this arm.

[@GonzoTehGreat]

This looks to my untrained eye like longsword sparring but with great-swords! They seem to unwieldy to be used for dueling, so I suspect their historical usage was specialized and limited to the battlefield. What do you think? How did sparring with these Spadone differ from sparring with a longsword and what were the pros/cons?

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Marozzo describes fighting in duel with what basically is a “relatively small spadone” let’s say around 150s centimeters. Other manuals show it against multiple opponents. Talking about sparring and differences from Longsword, this spar looks like LS because it’s the most reasonable way to fight a single opponent in a duel. The great difference is the control I need to have while cutting to not hurt the opponent, which isn’t a thing in longsword. But even without control, the timing of the fight and its motions would result slower.

[@hugo-pg5tv]

Late comment but is the spadone a better sword than a katana?

[@cmbaileytstc]

How maneuverable do these feel compared to regular feders with about a meter of blade? Do you have to be unusually strong to wield them well? Do you do staff, and if so how much like that form is the montante?

[@FedericoMalagutti]

They weight almost twice as a feder and are longer. So because of this are far lesser maneuverable. As any weapon it benefits from a better strength level. But to answer your question: no It’s different compared to a quarterstaff by many aspects, but shares a few of them with it.

[@clementfleury1913]

Looks great, I thought sparring with these swords was too dangerous (but you keep control). How much the Spadone weighs, around 3 kgs?

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Clément Fleury more or less 2.5/6

[@clementfleury1913]

@@FedericoMalagutti Thx, their weight varies a lot depending on the shops.

[@kreiger]

Would that last move Niccolo does also work with longsword? Or would the spin before the thrust be unnecessary?

[@FedericoMalagutti]

TrueDamascus it would work but better without the spin, as you said. Spadone needs more rotations to speed up and decrease the amount of force needed. I am far worst than Niccolo on this side, as a Longsword guy.

[@thespadoneproject5352]

Spadone needs to get advantage of momentum so the spin may be a way to follow this path in order to fatigue muscles less. With a longsword you can just contract your action and recover the sword directly after a clean cut. The longsword weight does not impede your movement, so I would not suggest to do such a thing, unless you are willingly adopting a more "flourishy" style just for "scenic" taste.

[@antoinepichon1426]

The sensations are totally different with a longsword isn't it?

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Antoine Pichon yes ;-)

[@atomic_wait]

I'm 198cm tall, I need to try wielding one single-handed like the Mountain :p

[@antoinepichon1426]

@@atomic_wait good luck man

[@FedericoMalagutti]

Calum Clark LoL!

[@Vindrows]

Da profano, la maggior lunghezza e versatilità dello spadone me lo fa considerare un'arma superiore alla longsword ("spada" in italiano?), specie nelle mani di un lungagnone in grado di maneggiarla con sufficiente velocità. Ed in generale mi son reso conto di sposare in pieno il luogo comune per il quale, entro certi limiti di maneggevolezza e durabilità, avercelo più lungo è sempre meglio. 😂 A livello accademico c'è unitarietà di pensiero? Ed in caso contrario da che parte ti schieri?

[@FedericoMalagutti]

lol! Beh allora lo spadone è versatile inteso come possibilità di impiego, ma non supera la normale spada lunga in questi termini. Sono versatili in ambiti differenti, lo spadone è un'arma utile per gestire molti avversari, mentre la spada lunga è un'arma "da fianco" spesso secondaria in battaglia o primaria in termini di duello, e situazioni di vita civile, tra cui l'autodifesa. In sparring preferisco la due mani (spada lunga), sia per affetto, sia per via della maggiore velocità e maneggevolezza. Lo spadone è molto divertente ma in duello a volte è goffo e porta a delle scelte obbligate dettate dall'inerzia che non sempre è facile da ridirigere (e ancor meno di fermare). In termini di trattatistica lo Spadone è un'arma che sembra essere stata utilizzata molto poco in contesto duellistico, di più invece in ambito guerresco (ma anche li ricoprendo un ruolo minoritario e specialistico) e di "deterrente" in termini di vita civile, ossia spesso veniva affidato a guardie e soldati incaricati di sorvegliare punti chiave, in quei casi il deterrente dettato dal timore di avere a che fare con quell'arma era di ancor più valore che l'effettivo impiego dell'arma stessa. Ci sarebbe molto altro da dire comunque. In breve, personalmente preferisco la spada a due mani di stampo medievale, ciò nonostante trovo lo spadone molto divertente e affascinante.

[@Vindrows]

@@FedericoMalagutti Grazie per le delucidazioni!

[@banana_pancake7171]

Man. I'd love to practice sparring.

[@banana_pancake7171]

Seems like a fun experience.

[@FedericoMalagutti]

it is! eheheheh

[@jimmynicolas4602]

De sacré engins ! 👍😀

[@ErickeTR]

3:07 amazing!

[@Druid_Ignacy]

Thrusts were the tasties :3

[@bellisperennissturdivant]

nice

[@cenispickdock]

Not enough rolling

[@katahajimeudegarame2397]

looks a lot like kendo , loved the video, alreqady own a weeb sword, i am thinking ina spadone or swiss sabre next

[@DIVUSPRINCEPS]

Un poco noioso...non c'è misura e non c'è azione...quindi cosa c'è? Nulla