Three Drills to Improve Your Voids in Rapier | Giratas & Low Voids

Body voids in rapier -- such as giratas & low voids -- are a lot of fun to perform in a bout. They have a certain grace & magical elegance to them when they land. But they do need a certain level of practice to get right, both in terms of the mechanics of a void as well as the timing of the void. In this video, we look at three rapier void drills you can do at home. All you need is a minimal amount of space and a fencing pendulum to void around. We look at all three giratas (the girata stabile, mezza girata & tutta giratta) as well as three low voids (reverse lunge, sbasso & pasatta sotto) Historical Note: While girata is a historical term found in Fabris, the sub-groups of the giratas are modern terminology as a teaching tool. Also low voids were often just described as “carrying the body low“ and the pasatta sotto could mean a low-void with a lunge or a low-void with a passing step. RELATED BLOG POST: Errata: In the video I say “spinal flexion“ when I meant “spinal extension.“ Special thanks to my wife Kate as well as Kaja Sadowski for inspiring the drills in this video! Kate’s Blog Kaja Sadowski’s Blog Also thanks to Guy Windsor for the Capoferro & Fabris high-rez plate images. You can purchase copies of his super high-rez scans at DONATIONS: If you found this video useful, please consider a small donation so I can continue to produce rapier & other historical martial arts content. Donate at ⚔️SOCIAL⚔️ IG: ​ ​ Twitter: ​ Youtube: ​ Blog: ​ ⚔️ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR⚔️ Justin Aucoin (Remy Delemontagne de Gascogne in the SCA) has been fencing since 2006, first as a foilist and then joining the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) in 2010. For the past eight years, he has studied Italian rapier, going through the works of Giganti, Capoferro, Fabris, and most recently, Alfieri. His current area of study is 17th Century French martial arts. As a competitor, Remy has won numerous rapier tournaments in the SCA -- both in singles and in group melee -- including Carolingia’s Baronial Champion, East Kingdom Crown Champion, and named 6x to the Pennsic Champs team. He is also a former general of the East Kingdom Rapier Army, is a member of the SCA’s Order of Defense, and holds a Silver Broach and a Maunche for his historical martial arts research, and a Silver Wheel for his coaching service. Outside of the SCA, Justin has taught rapier at Athena School of Arms, one of Boston’s premiere HEMA schools. He is a Level One student guide & apprentice instructor through Academie Duello. He is also a certified personal trainer through NASM.