The Twelve Days of Christmas with a Swordplay Flare

I hope everyone is enjoying their first day off. I know that I'm
already hankering to do a little duelling, so Santa better be
prepared! In the spirit of the season I thought I would share a
couple versions of the Twelve Days of Christmas with a fencing flare
to keep you all in the mood through the holiday. 

In Western France the Twelve Days of Christmas, known as "La foi de la
loi" has a very different verse who's final part appeals to my
sensibilities better than our North American version (I'm rather
partial to 11 as well). Here is a rough translation of the
lines/days: 

A good stuffing without bones,
two breasts of veal,
three joints of beef,
four pigs trotters,
five legs of mutton,
six partridges with cabbage,
seven spitted rabbits,
eight plates fo salad,
nine dishes for a chapter of canons,
ten full casks,
eleven beautiful full-breasted maidens,
and twelve musketeers with their swords. 

A little closer to home, our very own Michael Molnar has come up with
a fencing filk of the song in his "Twelve Days of Fencing" debuted at
our Christmas Party this past weekend. Here is Michael performing: 

And a transcription (with some descriptions) 

On the first day of fencing the master gave to me: 

A way to stringere more effectively. 

Two disengages
(referring to above and below) 

Three Arm Keys
(upper, middle, and lower) 

Four Different Measures
(largissima, larga, stretta, strettissima) 

Five Places of Pain
(from Fiore: eyes, nose, throat, ear, groin) 

Six Rapier Stances
(referring to the six guards presented in Capo Ferro's Gran Simulacro) 

Seven Provocations
(presented in the Bolognese texts) 

Eight Standard Sword Cuts
(M/R squalembrato, fendente, montante, M/R tondo, M/R sottano--or
falso dritto/manco) 

Nine Sparring Passes 

Ten Riding Lessons 

Eleven Warm-up Burpies
(the exercise -- we're fond of those here) 

Twelve Part Progression
(referring to a progression through Marozzo's twelve shown guards) 

Happy Holidays everyone!
Devon