Complex sentence: The German tradition was largely eclipsed by the Italian school of rapier fencing by the early 17th century, however, practitioners of the German school persisted at least until the end of the 18th century.
Split into simpler sentences: The German tradition is eclipsed by the Italian school of rapier fencing by the early 17th century. However, there were scattered lines of practitioners around at least until the end of the 18th century.