Scherma Genovese (Genoese Knife Fencing)
Genoese fencing with the knife and other weapons. The evidence is weak: one book from 2012 and mentions of the Genoese knife.
Quick Facts
ItalyCharacter & 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 Scherma Genovese (Genoese Knife Fencing)
Scherma genovese is a Genoese fencing tradition. It is a little-known tradition and sources are few, and we are looking for reliable ones. What is documented is that the Genoese knife has its own type and its own technique. Alongside the knife, two more weapons are named in the Genoese tradition: the spada d’abbordaggio, that is a boarding sword used in fighting on ships, and the spadone, a long two-handed sword. We have not been able to document a founder or a year of origin. A modern proof of existence is the book by Claudio Parodi from 2012, which describes Genoese work with the stick, the knife and holds. It was self-published, so it is not a peer-reviewed source — it is proof that someone practises the tradition today, not proof of its historical form. An older proof of the environment from which the tradition comes is the measure of the Genoese Council of Ten of 9 September 1699, which again forbade carrying the Genoese knife in the port zone.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.