This is the oldest manual on Spanish knife fighting ever published and is the only know historical text on the subject. This annotated translation provides a window to the methods of knife fighting practiced by the working class, the criminal class, and the Gypsies in 19th century Spain. With original drawings, it offers a revealing glimpse into the ways in which armas blancas cortas, or small edged weapons, were used on the dark and grimy cobblestone streets of the Spanish underworld.