A flourish is one term that can be used to describe a choreographed sequence of movements. The concept is found in other martial arts, with kata being a well-known example from karate and other Japanese arts. Other HEMA disciplines also have the same concept, although perhaps with different names: Marozzo wrote about “assalti” (assaults) for the weapons that he taught, and Dom Figueyredo wrote about the “regras” (rules) for the montante.
Sometimes, people talk about “flourishing” and mean something like “shadow boxing”, where the individual performs a variety of unscripted movements, perhaps both in attack and in defence against an imaginary opponent. In this course, however, we are going to use the word to refer to a more scripted and choreographed sequence of actions.
Why the term “flourish”?
It is a word used in the Ledall Roll describing the English method of using the longsword, and the word found some popularity in the community in the early days of the current HEMA movement. It is a nice way to refer to the activity without borrowing a term like “kata”.
Are flourishes important for understanding the art?
Well, in some disciplines, it is crucial. Karate organisations tend to consider their katas to be an important part of the culture and of transmission of the art. Within HEMA, the Bolognese authors considered their assalti to be quite helpful, and the rules of the montante were the primary method by which the use of this weapon was taught.
However, in other disciplines, such as the use of the longsword according to German sources, there seems to be much less emphasis placed upon these kinds of exercise. Therefore we can consider them to be useful supplementary exercises, but not a central or important method for training.
Are flourishes useful for actual fighting?
You might not use your sword in precisely the same sequence of movements, but the skills you learn about balance and general mobility, about dexterity and fluency of sword handling, and the physicality that you develop by practising these things will definitely serve you well.