he Arditi were Italy's shock or storm troops...an amazing lot really. I'll try to focus on their training, which, interestingly enough, was based upon the works of Fiore dei Liberi (lit. “flower of the free”) published as Fior di Battaglia (lit. “fine battle” or, as is commonly accepted, “Flower of Battle”).
Fiore de’ Liberi was born around 1350 and died after 1409. He was a professional Master at Arms, the maker of warriors who embodied the state of the art of martial teaching in his time, and from whose instruction sprang a number of condottieri (lit. “leaders”) who were mercenary soldier leaders or warlords. These professional soldiers were of the military free companies contracted by the Italian city-states and the Papacy, from the late Middle Ages and throughout the Renaissance. In plain old American slang, these guys where THE bad asses of their day.

The Fior di Battaglia covers the following:
abrazare (wrestling & hand-to-hand fighting)
daga (dagger, with an emphasis on self-defense and armored combat techniques)
spada a una mano (single-handed sword)
spada a due mani (two-handed sword)
spada in arme (sword used in armor)
azza in arme (poleaxe used in armor)
lanza in arme (spear used in armor)
all weapons "a cavallo," or on horseback

These are developed into martial techniques, called "zoghi" or "plays" by Fiore de’ Liberi (Ken's Note: I cannot find a direct translation of “zoghi” from Italian.)

http://iccf.freeforums.org/the-arditi-and-fiore-de-liberi-t923.html