The Arte dell'abbracciare ("art of the embrace") is a medieval Italian form of unarmed combat presented in Fiore dei Liberi's Flos Duellatorum del Armis, published in 1410.

As with the German combat grappling art of Kampfringen, the Arte dell'abbracciare features a wide variety of close-combat techniques. However, the Italian method does not include any throws using the hips as leverage points. Instead, dei Liberi advocates a sophisticated system combining joint-locks and breaks, leverage control techniques directed to the opponent's head and neck, and various tripping and entering methods. The system also includes striking and pressure-point attacks.

The Arte dell'Abbracciare also has many technical similarities to the Arte della Daga, and it seems likely that these two methods were practiced in conjunction to some degree.

The Flos Duellatorum frequently depicts a single attack and up to five different  counterattack variations. These can also be employed in fluid sequences, with the defender shifting from one to the other depending on his opponent's reaction, resistance, etc.

The "defender" in the sequence to the left is wearing a black ribbon or garter on his leg.

Arte dell'abbracciare links

The HEMA Technical Analysis page contains an Arte dell'abbracciare counterattacking sequence

John Kovacs' demonstration of Arte dell'abracciare techniques