Intro
I chose to specialize into being a florentine fighter over any other particular weapon set because it was what I enjoyed the most. I'm not here to make any kind of argument about it's superiority over other weapon sets. Everything, contextually, has it's own sweet spot, where a particular weapon set or style is just the thing that's needed. What I'll be talking about is my own experience with that thing and the ways in which I, and other fighters that I have observed, have used it. I'm going to start by assuming that anyone who is reading this already has a basic grasp of the fundamentals like footwork, shot placement, techniques for generating speed and torque, feints, blocks, offensive parries, combos, tempo, momentum, etc. For the most part I'll be talking about florentine fighter on a higher more theoretical level, though I'll try to generate concrete examples whenever I'm able to, hell I may even sprinkle some basics in as I go through things. Having never written about a particular style in any real detail I'm not as practiced giving this particular set of advice, and I'm not yet sure how it's going to be organized. That will all just have to come with time. I'll also mention that I'm going to talk about many different kinds of florentine fighting, which design decisions each one takes (where you place your hands, feet, torso and weapons) and how those design decisions grant strength and weakness in each style. In the end it's going to be up to each person to learn how to develop the style that makes the most sense for them rather then the particular style that is "best".
Rock, Paper, Scissors and Aggression
There's 3 basic engage ranges that you'll find yourself fighting in, regardless of the weapon set you're using. Short range (grinding range), mid range (weapon range) and long range (picking / sniping range). At short range you're close enough to touch your opponent and are prepared to throw swings that become almost impossible to block. Mid range is where most people fight at, which is nominally close enough to hit your opponent with your weapon consistently while staying far enough away that they can't close with you. Long range is out of weapon reach, in which you use your body mechanics and footwork to slide briefly into your own maximum reach, take a shot, and then slide back out of reach. Most of the design decisions for a style start here in deciding which range you are most comfortable at. If you find that you don't want to get close to someone then it's best to learn how to keep your distance, and how to extend your body in order to land those long distance shots. If you decide you'd rather be up in someone's face then you need to learn how to get close without getting killed, and you'll need a set of weapons to match that style that won't get crossed or catch on your opponents gear when you do close. If you decide that you want to focus on mid range then you need to get really good at judging distances and having impeccable footwork as your success or failure will then depend on your ability to keep your opponent at the right distance from you.
Finally you have to decide if you're (generally speaking) the aggressor, or generally speaking the defender. As the aggressor you get to choose the tempo of the fight by forcing the enemy to respond to your attacks, providing you with ample opportunities to read your opponent, to fake them out, and to generally mess with their mind. If you choose to be on the defensive, as a florentine fighter, this means that anytime a person leaves the smallest opening your lightning quick reflexes immediately take that shot. Choosing to fight as an aggressive fighter exposes you to danger because every time you swing you leave yourself at least a little bit open, and an opponent may take those opportunities when you aggress to take limbs or your torso. The advantage being that since you are on the offense your opponent will have potentially many more chances to make a mistake and miss a block then you will. If you choose to play defensively it means that you give up setting the tempo of the fight and you have to respond to whatever your opponent does. This means being patient and blocking until they make a mistake, but this also means you may have to block repeatedly before you're ever given an opening, and if you miss one of those blocks, you'll be dead before you've even swung in retaliation. Both sides have their merits and it's more about what suites you best.
I personally have fallen into being an aggressive fighter. When I first started fighting I was a brawler, an in close, up in the grind fighter. I used short swords that allowed me to stab and slash VERY efficiently at close range. They were weighted to be heavy on purpose because they were built out of red cores. The end result was that I could one hand block, or sometimes even swat away enemy polearms and when faced with a sword and board fighter could often either slap their weapon away before coming down on their arm, or just crush through their blocks outright. I had much faster feet back then. At this point in my fighting career I've transitioned to a midrange fighter who uses two bats and works angles in order to light a person up from midrange. I use the skills I developed as a point blank range fighter in order to counter aggress when someone happens to get to close to me and I can't sustain the range I want to. I am currently learning how to fight at long range but this tends to require a patience that's not really consistent with my own nature :-P.
The best style is...
None. While learning to do one thing well is the first task of anyone choosing to go down this particular path, the endgame of learning any form of florentine is learning how to blend short, medium and long range combat with thoughtful aggression or defense. Being able to get in close and grind on an opponent is a very useful skill set, but it's not terribly useful in a line fight. Being able to fight at mid range and control distance is great when people are on either side of you, but won't protect you if someone winds up trying to bulldoze you. Learning how to snipe at a person using your reach is an excellent skill set, but it only matters if that person doesn't outrange you. For any particular skill set you pick up there's going to be pitfalls. There is no one size fits all style that is "the best". The best style uses all three ranges, and chooses to play offense or defense as the situation demands.
As an example. Suppose that you're fighting outnumbered. Let's say 10 people who are not as skilled as you are, and for the most part not extremely aggressive or well coordinated. Let's say to start out with a few of them are injured (say at the end of a battle). A group of 3, immediately rush you, once they discover that you're alone. In this situation you want to go on the defensive ASAP and throw as many long range shots as you can to try and get rid of some arms or legs as they close. Let's assume you get an arm on one guy and a leg on the other, but they're still charging (the 2 with legs). Now you transition to mid range combat as the two start to close on you, picking off the guy who you previously armed first before dealing with the last guy. The last charging guy is now alone, and perhaps they aren't used to fighting in close, so you counter aggress by moving into them, surprising them with your aggression and causing them to get tangled when you get in close. In that few span of seconds you've gone from long range to mid range to short range, and you've gone from defense to offense. Now you have 7 people left, 1 of whom is alone, and let's say 5 who are clustered near some legged teammates and one guy who is now showing up late to the 3v1 fight. At this moment you go aggressively after the person who was coming to help and attack them at whatever range is convenient, quickly shredding them before they have the opportunity to get back to their teammates or the guy you legged earlier. Now you can go aggressive on the person who you legged as the rest of their teammates attempt to get close, hauling their legged teammates. Fight that legged guy at long range but go on the offense. Once you've won it's down to you against the remaining 5, let's say 2 of those people are legged and 3 of them are still standing. Let's say one of them is a polearm. You'll want to rotate around the group quickly, basically trying to keep away from the polearm. Play defensively but go for any long range shots you can land, alternately killing people who are down an arm or executing a person with two down legs as they're moving. As soon as the polearm is exposed (not covered on both sides), go aggressive, and try to take them out. They are now down to 4, or perhaps 3 if you've landed a good shot. At this point (usually) the people with legs will rush you. Now you get to play defense at mid range again, moving backwards and letting whoever runs fastest get dead first. Assuming that the polearm had legs you've now just got 2 legged people left. Go back to playing offense at long range. Rotate your enemy and go for leg snipes when they put both legs down.
Viola. The battle is won, but it has demanded that at times you go on the offensive and choose to take the fight to a person who is alone, because for that split second in the battle it's the best chance you're going to get to fight at good odds. When that moment happens it's important to aggress and take the advantage that you have because if you don't then the chance passes and you have to fight more people at once. You've had to play defense, because, since they outnumber you, you've had to avoid fighting them all at the same time. You've had to work at all ranges. You get up close and personal to the people who don't know how to respond to your aggression, and when you rushed that polearm. You fought at long range when your opponents didn't have the legs required to catch you, and you fought at mid range when you had to hold them off and they did have the legs to catch up. Fighting florentine well is learning how to eventually do all of these things. That having been said, find the one that feels most natural to you first and learn that. After you've got one thing down well you can start to fill in the gaps. Most people will have a personal preference for the kind of fighter that they prefer to be that's just inborn. Fight the way that makes sense to you because it's what you'll be best at, just don't forget to learn the other stuff, especially the things you're bad at, because sooner or later you'll be forced to use them.
