Historical Italian Mixed Martial Arts - A Nova Scrimia Documentry

Historical Florentine Soccer is a Reneissance battle game tradition, derived from the ancient Roman game Harpastum, played by the soldiers to stay fit and trained. Today, in its modern version, the game is still played in the heart of Florence. The goal is to score with the ball, called "Caccia", with every possible way and everything is allowed: players fight against each other combining wrestling, boxing, and all sort of grappling and striking techniques. It is a 50 minutes battle, with individual as well as group fights. No protections, no categories, and no limits. KO and injurues are the rules, and the fights looks like a modern mixed martial art fight, with a major difference: you must fight multiple opponents, coming from all possible angles, with no rounds to rest, moving on a challenging sand ground to gain your stand and to fight, kick or just run, while keeping a constant eye to the entire field, to your enemies and your allies. This is not like any duelling/ring bout; this is more like a war in a battlefield. Modern "abracar" combined in a team strategy between two small armies of 27 men to win the game, scoring as many "caccie" as possible.

Nova Scrimia Research Group was there to document this majestic event. To interview the players, the trainers, the organizers, and to document the event for you.

Here we present the trailer of the small documentary that will follow, as part of the new Nova Scrimia video series "The Journey of the Sun: Discovering Italy throught the Italian martial traditions".

Enjoy it, and stay tuned!