The German school of fencing (Deutsche Schule; Kunst des Fechtens) is a system of combat taught in the Holy Roman Empire during the Late Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern periods, as described in the contemporary Fechtbücher ("fencing books") written at the time. The geographical center of this tradition was in what is now Southern Germany (Augsburg, Frankfurt, and Nuremberg). During the period in which it was taught, it was known as the Kunst des Fechtens, or the "Art of Fencing" (commonly mistranslated as the "Art of Fighting"). Though the German school of fencing focuses primarily on the use of the two-handed longsword, it also describes the use of many other weapons, including polearms, daggers, messers (with or without a buckler), and the staff, as well as describing mounted com