Destreza Vulgar
Period term for common Iberian fencing, which the authors of La Verdadera Destreza defined themselves against. Little of it survives, mainly Portuguese works such as Godinho 1599.
Quick Facts
SpainCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
About Destreza Vulgar
Destreza vulgar is not a school with its own founder but a designation the authors of La Verdadera Destreza used for older, common fencing. Charles Blair (Acta Periodica Duellatorum, 2015) states that they called it destreza común, destreza vulgar, esgrima común and esgrima vulgar, and that Carranza also called it la disciplina vulgar and falsa destreza. The second dialogue of the 1582 book by Carranza bears the running title Diálogo segundo de la falsa destreza. Blair also points out that Spanish and Iberian fencing in general was broader than la verdadera destreza.
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Manuel Valle Ortiz and Mary Dill Curtis (Materiales para la Historia del Deporte, 2009) write that Carranza and Pacheco refer to this contemporary style, but little of it survives. The best-known Spanish authors before Carranza, Jaime Pons of Perpignan and Pedro de la Torre (1474) and Francisco Román (1532), are known only from later citations, and their works have not survived. According to the authors, we do not know whether they were predecessors of true or common destreza. According to them, little is known about common destreza apart from some Portuguese works, such as the Arte de esgrima by Domingos Luís Godinho from 1599, and apart from references by the authors of true destreza. According to Valle Ortiz and Curtis, Pacheco de Narváez and Manuel Cruzado y Peralta describe the technical aspects of common destreza contemptuously, only to attack and refute them. The Libro de las grandezas de la espada by Pacheco devotes its first section to the techniques of common destreza and to how to counter them according to the principles of true destreza.
History
The best-known Spanish fencing authors before Carranza are known to us only indirectly. Manuel Valle Ortiz and Mary Dill Curtis (Materiales para la Historia del Deporte, 2009) list Jaime Pons of Perpignan and Pedro de la Torre, both for the year 1474, and Francisco Román, whose Tratado de la esgrima con figuras was published in 1532 in Seville. Their works have not survived. The document on the 1466 examination of Arnau de Castellbó as master of arms mentions Jacobus Pons of Perpignan as his teacher. Román came from Carmona and, according to the records, was a master and chief examiner.
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Charles Blair (Acta Periodica Duellatorum, 2015) states that the authors of true destreza called the older fencing destreza común, destreza vulgar, esgrima común and esgrima vulgar. Vélez de Guevara used the term destreza primitiva for it in 1641. Carranza also called it la disciplina vulgar and falsa destreza, and the second dialogue of his 1582 book bears the running title Diálogo segundo de la falsa destreza. Rada defined false destreza in 1705 as the one that lacks the necessary foundations for reaching the goal. In 1702 the book Las tretas de la vulgar y común esgrima de espada sola, y con armas dobles was published in Zaragoza. Diccionario Biográfico Español lists it among the works of Pacheco de Narváez, while Leguina (1904) and Valle Ortiz with Curtis attribute it to Manuel Cruzado y Peralta, who according to Leguina summarized the techniques that Pacheco rejected, together with Pacheco's counter-techniques, and added notes.
How it differs
Valle Ortiz and Curtis (2009) describe true destreza as a system established in Spain in the late 16th and early 17th century in the works of Carranza and Pacheco, and common destreza as a contemporary style to which they appealed. Diccionario Biográfico Español contrasts Carranza's mathematics-based system with an earlier system that could largely be summed up as handling weapons by force. Rada in 1705, according to Charles Blair, when considering the choice of maestro mayor, contrasted handling weapons with displays of common fencing. English Wikipedia states that the older esgrima común continued alongside true destreza but was increasingly influenced by its forms.
Technique
Valle Ortiz and Curtis (2009) published a short Spanish fencing text from the library of the Royal Palace in Madrid, probably from the 16th century. Its first paragraph describes sequences of tajo cuts with the fingernails up and revés with the fingernails down with footwork, similar to the reglas del montante. The second paragraph describes parries, deflections and replies in pronation and supination. According to them, Godinho in Arte de esgrima of 1599 describes tajo cuts with the point and fingernails up and revés with the fingernails down, accompanied by left and right foot steps. According to Valle Ortiz and Curtis, Carranza cites Román in the second dialogue on common destreza and states that Román's book contains sixteen reglas del montante. According to Darío Sánchez García (Acta Periodica Duellatorum, 2022), Pacheco's Libro de las grandezas de la espada shows in its first part the techniques of common destreza and explains how to counter them according to the principles of true destreza.
Today
According to Valle Ortiz and Curtis (2009), the surviving sources of common fencing are mainly Portuguese, among them Godinho's Arte de esgrima of 1599 and Thomas Luiz's Tratado das liçoens da espada preta of 1685. Godinho's manuscript of 1599 is held by the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal and is digitized. Wiktenauer places Godinho's terminology and techniques among the surviving fragments of the esgrima común of earlier masters and lists a modern edition of Godinho by Manuel Valle and Tim Rivera from 2015.
Did you know
According to Charles Blair (2015), Carranza distinguishes the diestro from the esgrimidor, speaks of the arrogance of the esgrimidores and of the art of arms that the common people call esgrima, a name unfit for ears accustomed to honor. In his second dialogue, according to Valle Ortiz and Curtis, the master Ciudad parodies a lesson in common fencing and calls it his secret and useful destreza gained through great effort. The word order was not fixed. Pérez de Mendoza y Quijada in 1675 writes la vulgar esgrima and la vulgar destreza. Francisco Santos de la Paz in 1712 in Lima claimed that there is no difference between esgrima and destreza.
Frequently asked questions
What does destreza vulgar mean?
It is a period term for common fencing, used by the authors of La Verdadera Destreza. Charles Blair also gives destreza común, esgrima común and esgrima vulgar, while Carranza speaks of falsa destreza.
Have any sources of common fencing survived?
Few. According to Valle Ortiz and Curtis, they are mainly Portuguese works, such as Godinho's Arte de esgrima of 1599, and references by the authors of true destreza. The earlier works of Pons, de la Torre and Román have not survived.
How did common fencing differ from true destreza?
Diccionario Biográfico Español contrasts Carranza's mathematics-based system with an earlier system that could largely be summed up as handling weapons by force. Pacheco then showed in his book how to counter the techniques of common fencing.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.