Young noblemen and household officers hone their skills by daily practice. The earlier period sees the use of the “hand-and-a-half sword” and dagger, the slashing falchion and buckler (often used by archers when the battle came hand to hand). Once the basic forms of attack and parry were learned, a real fight to the death would seldom last more than a few seconds. The weapons were heavy and an opponent might as easily be disabled by a crushing blow from the pommel as by a cut from the blade. Later the slim, elegant rapier and dagger became popular in courtly circles whose members learned from Italian masters who had developed fencing into an elaborate art, defined by rules. Much was learned from fighting manuals of the different styles of attack and defence, several of which we would show in bound facsimile editions.