Floryshe
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Floryshe ("To Flourish") is an English term from at least the mid 1300s used in the brief English sword text, MS 39564, c. mid-1400s, to refer to the brandishing of a sword or other weapon with large showy movements during practice or prior to play or fight.
[edit] Modern Usage
The term is currently used within The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts to mean an unstructured practice routine of guard transitions, cuts, thrusts, slices and parries with appropriate footwork. Although a floryshe is often confused with the performance of a kata they are very different. A Kata is a very structured set of moments repeatedly performed to learn techniques. A floryshe, on the other hand, is an expression of techniques already learned. As a training tool, a floryshe is similar to shadow boxing. Because it is unstructured, a floryshe is never performed the same way twice. The modern usage is loosely based on the historical usage, but the two should not be confused.
