Richard Francis Burton

“ Seaton's little accident, is the fatal facility with which the practised ewordsman despises his ignorant adversary. And we must not forget that mortal weapons level to a email extent all distinctions. The sharpened point resolutely presented at the face or the breast is always a most intelligible threat. The naked blade is a reality which dispels many a dream. Science still holds her own, but prudence and sang-froid, energy and animal courage, count for much in the struggle. ”

“ It is due to the moral power of the sword that those who know nothing, or the mere elements of it, should not be per- mitted to fancy themselves capable, by means of mere energy or blind vivacity, of successful defence against a hand familiar with weapons. Confidence, the strength of strength, should not be left to the share of ignorance at the expense of knowledge. And ignorance can surprise only the one-sided man who has accustomed himself to nothing beyond the regular routine of passes and parries. ”

“ The coup de temps is a parry and pass of opposition taken at the end of an attack, when you have divined the line which the sword will prefer. This anticipation of the opponent's lunge is taught in every school, but you rarely see it used except by a skilful sword playing with a beginner. It is the most dangerous of its kind, leaving you utterly undone if you have mistaken the adversary and who in such matters must not expect to make mistakes? ”

“ As soon as you are on guard, before your adversary has time to think, at him with a home thrust! " Or of this other, whose only thought is to throw himself like the avenger of blood upon his opponent.
However little such heads may be capable of reflecting, both will soon succeed in seeing that the distance between you and themselves, physical as well as moral, will prevent anything like a jeu de surprise. If they attempt it their movements will be disordered; they will run upon the extended sword, or, at least, they will show you that they are coming on to the attack. ”

“ He is suffering from what, perhaps, his seniors have forgotten, from self-consciousness which haunts him like his guardian angel. He, the great unknown, to be so unknown! He, the macrocosm, to be so very microscopic! Society would worship him as a demi-god if it only dreamed of his real, his unappreciable value. But how teach it to the world? He owns with a flush that he knows not perhaps this is the only thing that he does not know. ”

“ Can anyone tell me that the left- handed man has at his disposal a single pass or the shade of a parry which does not belong to the right-handed man? Certainly not. Only the latter, through want of practice, finds greater difficulty in adjusting his thrusts, for the simple reason that the inside of the arm becomes the outside and rice versa. The gaucher also always attempts to draw you on in carte, where he is quite at home, and if he be of fair force it is useless to attack him on that line or to encounter his counters of carte. ”

“ We may fairly pronounce the "secret bout," like the churchyard ghost, to have been laid at rest for ever by Science, who goes her ways without another thought upon the subject. To revive the defunct would be a return to old traditions and to systems which were the property of past ages. In these days the botte secrete suggests a something of treachery, and no man of honour would purchase victory at such a price. ”

“ Nor is it necessary to point out that prudence directed by reason is not to be confounded with indecision, but to prudence you must add familiarity with swordsman-life. It is indis- pensable to leave no style untried, even those which hardly deserve the name, or, to speak more clearly, which are utterly undeserving of it ”

“ I've heard you often talk of the stop-thrust; surely you must own that in your new and natural (?) system it is grossly abused." Or rather misused, I replied, which means much the same thing. The fact is, the stop thrust is rather instinctive than reasoned, and so it easily becomes the resource and the refuge of those who cannot parry. But, observe that it is a most danger- ous position, from which it is very difficult to dislodge the enemy.
Speaking Science, I cannot for a moment support a style of play which is ever outstretching the sword without reason. ”

“ Two first-rate left-handed fencers are never at home with each other, and a droitier always fencing with qauchcrs would lose much of his skill against right-handed men.
On the other hand, the serious disadvantage of the left- handed man, and one impossible to remedy, is that he presents the more dangerous side to the sword. Again, I doubt whether the conditions which cause a man to be left-handed are not obstacles to perfect manipulation. ”

“ The latter may be excused because, as the negroes say, they are " fencing for fence," but not the former.
When a thrust has been driven home, the pupil who has been touched makes some sign of acknowledgment, and the victor, instead of sharply recovering himself and standing upon the defensive, either drops his point or slowly resumes guard. How often we see, even in assaults, a ripost follow a successful pass so quickly as to be almost simultaneous, and get home chiefly because there has been undue neglect in returning carefully and quickly en garde. ”

“ Attacks made by advancing are more dangerous, let me repeat, than parries. You instinctively feel that you are exposed instead of making the enemy expose himself. The great difficulty, which only etudy and experience can solve, is to know how much may be risked and to proportion your venture to the gain expected. I need not warn you that in fencing, as in human life, Null-urn numen adest si absit prudentia a golden rule hardly enough applied to the many failures which seem to cumulate every condition of success. ”

“ Man should imitate the cock and the bull, and be wise. See the former in its poultry yard, the latter in its pasture, how they both before beginning a fray observe and measure the foe, each seeking to secure some advantage, whilst their sparkling eyes and wandering looks prospect the place upon which to plant the deadliest blow. ”

“ When it does happen the fault is with the fencer who has not prepared himself for the occasion. Many men attend the schools for years and never take the trouble of trying the experiment how they would act if opposed to a vigorous and resolute man who has never had a sword in hand. The attack I would call it the wild-beast style when, as Tasso Bays, Toglie * * il furor Vuso del arte, may sometimes succeed by chance. I have heard of an English naval officer who, utterly ignorant ot the foil, when placed before his opponent began to use it like a horsewhip, and succeeded. ”

“ The complete swordsman studies his own physical powers and discovers the utmost use that can be made of them, thus technically called the jeu de temperament. One man is strongly made in the upper works and fines off below the torso. This, the French shape, will require a different method from the opposite or English make. The short man gains by standing upon the defensive, by advances within measure, by battements, croises, and parries in seconde. The tall man loses in attempt- ing to imitate him; he should keep long measure and affect the time-thrust. ”

“ If, on the other hand, his opponent be of equal ability and sang-froid he cannot forget how much he throws away in case of failure.
I must again draw your attention to a golden rule in the 6tudy of the sword. The first preoccupation of the man who attacks should be never so to commit himself that if his attempt happen to miscarry he cannot once more return to safety. In other words, never attack in such a way that you cannot defend yourself against the ripost.
Want of faith, then, is one of the most essential points in our difficult art. It is equivalent to the study of your adversary ”

“ Well, this Instinct, with a capital I, is the teacher, this love of life, this idea of self-preservation which exists in all organic nature. And from instinctives we reasonables may take a useful lesson. ”

“ Or you may proceed by a false engagement, your weak being opposed to his strong, or again by a demi-attack which is safe enough if freely marked. Either the adversary comes to the parry or he extends the sword; you then take possession of it, being careful never to quit it, and, above all things, not to feint.
I am speaking scientifically, you will observe, of these various "stoppings." If a man says to me, "I know very little of fencing, but I defend myself as I can," he is welcome to all the faults he fancies ”

“ The ignotwn is not only their solo strength, but their single chance of success. Remove this false prestige, and they will become not merely harmless to you, but proportionally dangerous to him who uses them. ”

“ How often it has happened that a man mortally hurt has with his last thrust killed his antagonist, and, indeed, he is justifiad in so doing by all the laws of the duello. Remember that the wound leaves always a second or two before the effects show themselves in dropping the weapon, staggering or collapsing 1o the ground. ”

“ It is no longer the careless exchange of thrusts, the tentative passes, the perilous ventures, often more brilliant and enter- prising than reason permits. Both adversaries, without render- ing an account to themselves, have looked upon the rencontre as a far more serious affair than usual, a sport approaching the earnest. ”

“ What man terms instinct, another word for reason, the former being the lower, the latter the higher, action of a brain, or spinal marrow, or nervous system, or tout ensemble, or whatever the psychologist of the future shall determine to be the causa causans, with less grey matter, or fewer folds, or shallower convolutions, or, again, whatever may make the difference. ”

“ The brain may be working violently and the heart beating with unpleasant force, yet the settled purpose is there, and the abnormal state will last only till real danger shows itself. And you will probably find your man far more to be dreaded than one of the unimpressionables who go to the fray as they go to the feast. ”

“ These are individual opinions, but honour is an individual code which a man draws up for himself according to his conscience and his sense of right. He certainly does not and should not borrow it from his neighbour. ”

“ Men are so apt to fit themselves into the grooves upon which they run smoothly, and to make habit something more than a second nature. I know dozens of good riders who would feel very awkward if compelled to mount a tall horse on the off side, like a tailor, as they say. ”

“ Sometimes an adversary will during the attack suddenly withdraw his arm so that you parry in the air, and then rush upon you, leaping to the side and thrusting at the flank. Or, after a falso attack, he will bend to the ground so as to avoid the ripost which passes over hie head and strikes vou in the low lines because you are unprepared for this sudden disappearance. ”

“ Tarmes may always annul the incognito of the left-handed man by representing him at times in lessons to his pupils. Some do so, and they do right. The pupils also, should they have leisure, must not neglect to work both sides of the body. ”

“ It is a mistake of the modern schools not to make more use of the true rapier in the lesson as well as in the assault. The weight is different, the blade is broad, straight, and com- paratively unelastic, and the change of weapons gives aplomb to the hand. ”

“ You must allow much to envy, hatred, malice, and all manner of uncharitablenese. Besides which, men of the higher and the highest temperaments, who do not show certain marks of what is called euphemistically " nervousness " and who are utterly destitute of physical fear, are exceedingly rare. ”

“ There are many different kinds, not a single kind, of courage, and in one especially, constancy under physical pain and even torture, women are generally far braver than men. Again, the same individual will vary at different times^ of his life. ”

“ The opposite case is the more common, when a timid boy, possibly depressed by bad health, ill-treatment, or unwholesome conditions of life, develops like Abyssinian Bruce into a man of remarkable daring and sangfroid. ”

“ What makes a man old fn what may be called the prime of life save habits, without the self-confidence, the pug- nacity, and the animal spirits to oppose them? Why are my contemporaries of Alma Mater for the most part bochi e relli, with bald heads and grey beards, with paunched eyes and worn countenances? ”

“ Yet wouldn't they be doubly dangerous if used by a strong man against a weak? " asked Claude.
Doubtless, although I should hope that the strong man would not make use of them. If he stands before an ignorant fencer, what need has he of such stratagems? ”

“ His foible is in tierce, and he cannot defend his shoulder and flank like his breast; he is also more vulnerable in the high than in the low lines.
These are general rules known to every teacher. But you must not believe those who assure you that the left-handed man lacks variety of movements ”

“ The adversaries watch each other, study the move- ments opposed to them, and preface execution by threatening approaches. The weapons reflect their hands, the hands their thoughts, and both seem to speak with lips. ”

“ Car si nous poursuivons nostre action touiours d'une mesme maniere et aveo mesrne quantite de pas, il pouroit estre que 1'ennemy feroit bien son conte qu'il nous attraperoit, non seulement en la place ou il nous void, mais ausei en cette ou il S9auroit qu'il nous faudroit venir ”