Difesa Pugnale
"Dagger Defense"

After decades of learning, researching and teaching knife arts, I believe that Difesa Pugnale is the most complete and effective tactical knife system. No other knife combat system has such a vast amount of information. This is an evidenced based European knife combat system used and proven in combat for over 800 years. Other systems tactics are based on tradition and non-aggressive resistance that are unrealistic and provide the practitioner with a false sense of skill. Difesa Pugnale is a system of practical combat flow and control of old and modern tactical knife combat knowledge. Combat knowledge such as this was thought to have been lost over the past century due to wars being fought with mechanical weapons and not close quarter hand-to-hand fighting. The strategies and tactics within this system are complete and very effective. You will learn the 26 knife angles of attack and how to defend them. You will learn anatomical targeting of the main muscular, nervous, skeletal and cardio vascular systems of the body for fast effective disruptions. You will learn effective grappling tactics of binding, breaking and control. You will learn how the human body reacts to stress based on modern research and its combat capabilities that the Military and Law Enforcement use. Students are taught in a fun, very safe atmosphere with training blades and eye protection.

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Fiore dei Liberi was a 14th Century Imperial Free Knight as well as a Mercenary who wrote one of the oldest, most practical and the best surviving manual on hand to hand combat. Its fighting tactics became the framework for effective grappling and armed close quarter combat for centuries to come inspiring many other combat authors to write books based on his tactics that have spread all over the world to other combat cultures.

In early times, Royalty enlisted and paid those with great combat skills for their services. They used their services as mercenaries for security and operations in their Kingdoms. Fiori was a famous mercenary and none of the students personally trained by Fiori ever lost a fight. One of those mercenary captains he trained fought another knight in a famous fight witnessed by over 12,000 people. He further pens an extensive list of other famous condottieri (Contractors/Mercenary Captains) that he trained in other fights. 

Fiore had a natural inclination to the martial arts and began training at a young age, ultimately studying with "countless" masters from Italy, Germany and other parts of Europe. He specialized in close quarter combat as is reflected in his manual. His strategies and tactics are timeless and as effective today as in the past. His manual did not include all of his knowledge, just a small amount of effective tactics as he wrote that if he spent the same time of study a doctor must do to become a doctor, that he would have a Doctorate Degree in each art of the sword, dagger and pole ax.

He writes of meeting many "false" or unworthy masters who lacked even the limited skill he would expect in a good student, and mentions that on five separate occasions he was forced to fight duels for his honor against some of these masters whom he described as envious because he refused to teach them his art. The duels were all fought with sharp longswords, unarmored except for a light padded jacket and gloves. He won every fight without injury. He also had used his art countless times against others over his lifetime never losing. The techniques he describes were meant to be the secret art of Princes and Kings. It was only intended for nobility and Fiore warns against allowing commoners to study its pages for fear the value of his techniques will be diminished if they become common knowledge. This is also the reason Arnes Diablo was practiced in secret for nearly a hundred years.

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The system of Difesa Pugnale is a system that can be used in addition to the Euro-Pinoy Cebu Knife Defense Art "Arnes Diablo" (To Harness The Adversary). Nothing should be added to or taken away from Arnes Diablo because it is such an amazing knife system. Arnes Diablo knife defense art is a mixture of European Knife Fighting and Philippine Combat Techniques developed by a French Master of European Fighting Arts and a Master of Philippine Arnis over a hundred years ago. The system of Difesa Pugnale applies the advanced strategies and tactics of Fiori Dei Liberi along with additional tactics of European Knife Combat and Philippine Combat Arts to create the ultimate modern tactical knife combat system.

Master Ceniza in Cebu is the master of Arnes Diablo (Baraw Sugbo). I am a personal Teacher under him in Arnes Diablo and very proud to be his student.