Editing History of martial arts (section)

===Renaissance to Early Modern period===
{{Further|Early modern warfare}}
The late medieval German school survives into the [[German Renaissance]], and there are a number of printed 16th-century manuals (notably the one by [[Joachim Meyer]], 1570). But by the 17th century, the German school declines in favour of the Italian [[Dardi school]], reflecting the transition to [[rapier fencing]] in the upper classes. Wrestling comes to be seen as an ignoble pursuit proper for the lower classes and until its 19th-century revival as a modern sport becomes restricted to [[folk wrestling]].

In the [[Baroque]] period, fashion shifts from Italian to Spanish masters, and their elaborate systems of [[Destreza]]. In the mid-18th century, in keeping with the general [[Rococo]] fashion, French masters rise to international prominence, introducing the [[foil (fencing)|foil]], and much of the [[Fencing terms|terminology]] still current in modern sports fencing.

There are also a number of Early Modern fencing masters of note in England, such as [[George Silver]] and [[Joseph Swetnam]].

[[Academic fencing]] takes its origin in the Middle Ages, and is subject to the changes of fencing fashion throughout the Early Modern period. It establishes itself as the separate style of [[Mensur fencing]] in the 18th