La Posta di Falcone

La Posta di Falcone:

If any of you saw Kingdom of Heaven, a movie I disliked the first time I saw it, but like better on each subsequent viewing, you saw a bit of genuine Medieval swordwork:

"Genuine Medieval," but not for the time shown: This type of sword was not used in the Crusading period. It is true that the "Italians" called the guard "la posta di falcone" -- at least, we know that one of them did.



Philippo Vadi of Pisa was an Italian student of arms, who thought much of how to maintain social harmony through training in arms. He begins his work with a call to be careful whom you teach:

This way he, with a generous heart, who sees my work should love it as a jewel and treasure and keep it in his heart, so that never, by means, should this Art and doctrine fall into the hands of unrefined and low born men. Because Heaven did not generate these men, unrefined and without wit or skill, and without any agility, but they were rather generated as unreasonable animals, only able to bear burdens and to do vile and unrefined works.

My experience has been that the 'unrefined' folks are that way out of laziness rather than in-born character: as you can lead a horse to water but can't make him drink it, so you can lead them to a "jewel and treasure," but you can't get them to perform the rigorous practice and thinking necessary to internalize it. With this as with other defensive arts of more modern use, there is little to fear: Colonel Coopers' letters are freely available online, but the criminal class carries on not training itself in the fine points of the weapons they misuse. They are not interested: the arms are only the means to a momentary satisfaction of a passing desire. If they had what it took to master the arms, they would not need to be criminals.

In fact, if you can find one whose interest in these skills is strong enough that he does show some willingness to develop newfound discipline and dedication in order to learn them, by all means teach him. Whatever peril there is in his learning the use of arms, there is also at least that much hope in his learning self-control. The first use of the sword is against yourself: to cut away the parts that are lazy, that are cowardly, that are overly aggressive, that are unjust and unforgiving. It is not for no reason that a man who has taken the time to master the sword -- as Vadi -- turns his thoughts more and more to the business of peace.

It is these men who make the peace, and it is the training that makes the men. It also fulfils a mystery:

And with these documents often it happens that a man weak and of small stature submits, brings to the ground and conquers one large, strong and valiant, and the same way the humble conquers the haughty and the unarmed conquers the armed; and many times he who is on foot conquers a horseman. Since it would be very unbecoming that such a noble doctrine should perish and fail by carelessness, I Philippo of Vadi from Pisa, having practiced this Art from the years of my youth, having searched and traveled many different countries and lands, castles and cities to learn from many masters perfect in the Art[.]

Last summer in Iraq, we pushed out of our strong places of fortification, intending to move out among the people and live with them. We built many smaller fortifications, less imposing and easier to reduce. We put more people out on patrol. Our soldiers and Marines spent more time outside the wire.

We said that we knew this would bring worse casualties, but it would be a risk that soldiers would run in order to protect the people. What happened instead -- which we did not expect -- was that our own casualties declined as well:



We should not have been surprised. The chief thing is being willing to meet the danger.

What allows 'the humble to conquer the haughty' is a heart willing to encounter the danger, combined with a mind that is awake and ready to learn. Both of these things can be brought out of a man's character only through training and self-discipline.

If he has them, though, he has learned the 'high guard' -- the posture of the falcon, which surveys all the world and decides how to deal with it.