Fencing master

“ You must watch, too, my boy—good fencing masters—and learn how to parry and thrust. It’s of no use to carry a fine blade like that if you don’t master its use. Some day you may have to draw it to defend the King, and aim its point perhaps at an assassin’s heart; and that will be a harder target to hit than that motionless mark. You seem to have drawn upon the King’s furniture to the great damage of the carving. Denis, my lad, you ought to be able to handle a sword to better purpose than that. ”

“ And yet out of deference to my friends I say this much for the plastron. Most fencing masters neglect one of its most important uses. Ag soon as the pupils have made a modicum of progress towards the necessary regularity, let each in his turn put on the leather jacket and give the lesson to his fellows. It will teach them tolerance for those who are feebler than themselves. I presume the fencing schools neglect this useful practice because it is wasting time, and because the parents who have paid the master expect all the teaching to come from him. ”

“ They push me, they slap my face, they tread on my toes, they call me by unpleasant names. What if I am a fencing-master? Must I on that account submit to every manner of ill-treatment from your bad-mannered friends? Perhaps had they found out sooner that I am a fencing-master their manners would have been better. ”

“ We had fencing-lessons twice a week; and there were many swordsmen in the elder classes who need not have feared any ordinary antagonist. Of this a fencing-master from a neighboring Canton, on occasion of a visit to our teacher, had one day tangible and somewhat mortifying proof. ”

“ Lemercier was the first fencer at the Court of France, where fencing was an accomplishment known to all, and there was no man in Britain equal to Sir William Hope, whose "Complete Fencing Master" was long famous among the lovers of the noble science of defence. ”

“ Fencing-masters don’t promote freebooting expeditions, and, besides, a fencing-master is always urbane and polite, cringing to every one. I have watched Roland closely at times, trying to study him, and in doing so have caught momentary glimpses of such contempt for us, that, by the good Lord above us, it made me shrivel up. You know, Greusel, that youth has more of the qualities usually attributed to a noble than those which go to the make-up of any tradesman. ”

“ Those few who study fencing have wholly adopted the French school. In London, however, a salle was opened by the famous Antonio Francolanza, of Catania, the last descendant of the well-known Sicilian fencing master. In Germany and Hungary, and generally in the provinces bordering upon Turkey, the favourite weapon is the sabre, and the people have become most dexterous in its use.
The French system is thus described:
The French fencer, armed with a blade lacking shell and cross- bars, is unable to adopt some attacks and not a few defences ”

“ The older works expounded the art of fighting generally; taught the reader a number of valuable, if not “gentlemanlike,” dodges for overcoming an adversary at all manner of weapons: now the lucubrations of fence-masters deal almost exclusively with the walking sword, that is, the duelling weapon—with the rapier in fact, both with and without its lieutenant, the dagger.
It must be remembered that at this period private duelling and cavalier quarrelsomeness amounted to a perfect mania. The fencing master was no longer merely a teacher of efficacious, if rascally, tricks ”

“ Methodical instruction in fencing was originally rather looked down upon, but still was accepted in the curriculum of the ephebi, and in the inscriptions the fencing-master (ὁπλόμαχος) has a regular place beside the other masters. Plato also recommends fencing as strengthening for the body and useful in case of war, but he warns people to avoid all display and professionalism.
In the course of time other exercises in arms were added. Throwing the spear was part of the regular gymnastic training practised even by boys ”

“ In order to acquire this Quality in Fencing, it is necessary that the Master, in his Lessons, shou'd shew what Opportunities are to be favourably laid hold of, two opposite Actions at one and the same Time, That whilst he is uncovering some Part of his Body, he cannot, at the same Instant, parry, because by the Parade, it must be covered; so that by making them make their Thrusts, and other Motions, by the Discernment of the Eye, they find themselves by Practice ready to oppose all the Motions of the Antagonist without the Assistance of the Will. ”

“ They had been in the habit of spending hours every day in these lessons, glad of some active occupation, and the exercise had developed the young baron’s frame, strengthened his muscles, and greatly augmented his natural suppleness and agility. He was passionately fond of and had thoroughly studied the noble art of fencing, and, while he believed himself to be still only a scholar, had long been a master in it—a proficient, such as is rarely to be found, even in the great cities. ”

“ One, two. Recover. Again, with the foot firm. Leap back. When you make a pass, Sir, you must first disengage, and your body must be well turned. One, two. Come, beat tierce and thrust. Advance. Stop there. One, two. Recover. Repeat. Leap back. On guard, Sir, on guard. (The fencing master touches him two or three times with the foil while saying, "On guard." )
MONSIEUR JOURDAIN: How was that? (Breathlessly)
MUSIC MASTER: You did marvelously!
FENCING MASTER: As I have told you, the entire secret of fencing lies in two things: to give and not to receive ”

“ Compared with boxing, fencing has the advantage that it can be continued even into old age. Now, however willing one may be to be punched and pommelled, there usually comes a time when it is inconvenient to appear in public with a black eye or a bruised cheek. Few men who take to fencing and master the preliminary stages can make up their minds to give it up, until they are obliged to do so for want of time or opportunity. ”

“ But, although he was a master-hand at fencing, it was impossible for him to face such odds. He was gradually put on the defensive, and it looked every moment as if he would be struck down. But fortune favoured him. ”

“ Then there are the fencing-masters, or professors of fencing, as they prefer to be called. They are generally gay, good-natured, well-meaning fellows, devoted body and soul to their pupils, especially to those pupils who have done them the honour to kill someone in mortal combat. Their weak point is said to be veracity; not on all occasions, but whenever they have the foil in hand. ”

“ In the ladies' fencing room, however, the master requires peculiar qualifications. He must make the exercise amusing as well as profitable; he should inspire his pupils with the wholesome ambition of becoming accomplished fencers, which, of course, they will not be. ”

“ When the body is carried to the front you will often see the master lay down his foil and set the pupil up like a sculptured torso with both hands. This is dancing master's fencing. There is no harm in the forward position; it does not increase exposure, because the angle which it assumes diminishes the area of surface, and to a certain extent protects itself by giving additional trouble to the adversary's point. It is also a sovereign remedy against low thrusts. On the other hand, bending backwards is an absolute defect; it is ruinous to all quickness, both in attack and in riposte. ”

“ V. How to Teach Fencing " You must not let your listeners suppose," remarked Lord B., " that you would make arms the business of every man's life."
Of course not, unless they are to be soldiers; we may leave that to their intelligence. A pleasant and useful exercise should not be turned into an absorbing pursuit. Some will be amateur fencing masters, like myself; others will take up a foil gymnastically, or to spend a pleasant hour amongst friends. ”

“ A Master's Play shou'd be neat, subtle agreeable, and useful, as fit for Combat as for the School.
The Art of Fencing being to make the most of a good or bad Disposition, when 'tis good 'tis capable of being made perfectly dexterous, and when bad, the Defect of Nature is to be repaired by Art. ”

“ Commonly, when any fencing-masters are desirous of showing their courage and their great skill, they issue mutual challenges, and, before they engage, parade the town with drums and trumpets sounding, to inform the public there is a challenge between two brave masters of the science of defence, and that the battle will be fought on such a day. ”

“ Then came the age of the rapier, coeval with the general disuse of the buckler. There may be discerned the dawn of fencing proper, which will fully arise when, in Caroline times, the outrageous length of the tucke will at last be sufficiently reduced no longer to require the dagger as a helpmate. The third was the age of the small-sword. With its light, elegant and deadly practice we enter a new atmosphere, so to speak, on fencing ground. ”

“ Yes, if one is not a thorough good fencer; but if one is not, he finds it more natural to strike a downright blow than to thrust. Besides, I don't know that I have learnt fencing so much in order to defend myself as because it is a fine exercise in itself. ”

“ Feints are much used in Fencing, whether it be by reason of their Number, their Ease, or the Success that attends them, gaining more Time and Light than is to be got in plain Thrusts, there being no Thrust to be given so well as after a Feint. ”

“ The keynote of the book is that a fencer must fence with his ‘head.’ Bazancourt generally calls it ‘instinct,’ or ‘inspiration.’ But call it what you will, there can be no doubt that the continual tax that fencing makes on the resourcefulness of the player gives it its subtle and enduring charm. The unforeseen emergencies that have to be faced, and the varieties of play that are encountered in meeting different opponents, make fencing of all sports the least mechanical and the least monotonous. ”

“ Audible acknowledgment of all touches, whether on the target or not, is universally considered to be a fencer’s duty. Fencing competitions are held in Great Britain under the rules of the Amateur Fencing Association, and in the United States under those of the Amateur Fencers’ League of America.
Fencing Terms (not mentioned above) : “Cavazione,” Ital. for disengagement. “Contraction, Parries of,” those which do not parry in the simplest manner, but drag the adverse blade into another line, e.g. to parry a thrust in high sixte by counter of quarte. “Controtempo,” Ital. for time-thrust. ”

“ In furtherance of this object, a branch society had been formed in Dublin termed the “Knights of Tara,” which met once a month at the theatre, Capel-street, gave premiums for fencing, and proceeded in the most laudably systematic manner. The amount of admission-money was laid out on silver cups, and given to the best fencers, as prizes, at quarterly exhibitions of pupils and amateurs.
Fencing with the small-sword is certainly a most beautiful and noble exercise: its practice confers a fine, bold, manly carriage, a dignified mien, a firm step, and graceful motion. ”

“ They bore the mind and weary the nerves; and it is the interworking of his nerves, muscles and will that a climber has to train. If he is prevented by circumstances from getting open air [Pg 66] exercise, he may find fencing the most effective, concentrated and lasting indoor practice which he can fit conveniently into his working day. An hour’s hard fencing with both hands, comprising exercises, free play and a cold douche to finish, uses every muscle and connection of the body to the full, but risks no local strain. For in fencing every movement must be supple and yet controlled ”

“ There is a class of fencers who are thoroughly—in fact too thoroughly—convinced that they are very dangerous fellows, and that they are never hit. You repeatedly come across this sort of thing in the fencing room:—Your opponent delivers an attack which you parry ”

“ With his favorite weapon he was as skilful as if he had taken at least a provost's degree in the art of fence. The bout in "Hamlet" was, of course, prearranged in every thrust and parry, but, even so, there was need of a trained fencer's grace and precision in it. Good fencing was in itself a show worth seeing, in a time when every man knew how to wield one weapon or another.6
The audience was wrought up to that pitch of interest which every fifth act ought to witness, when the final scene came on. ”

“ At the present day people have gradually come to admit that there is some good in these innovations, which have suddenly enlarged the scope of fencing. ‘Fencing,’ they say, ‘is more difficult than it used to be, but less graceful.’ Are these qualities then necessarily incompatible with each other? ”

“ We no longer live in the days when every gentleman carried a sword at his side and as a matter of course knew how to use it. The taste for fencing is not so universal that we are all impatient to be initiated into its inmost mysteries. Some of us may not have sufficient leisure or sufficient inclination; we are too busy or too lazy. I believe that what most men think about it can be put in a very few words:—‘We don’t want to fight but—if we must, we should like to be able to show our teeth and fight like gentlemen,’ that is all that the average man wants with fencing. ”

“ The fencer should remember to use mainly the fingers and wrist; the part played by the arms is subordinate.
Think quickly. Thrust and parry coolly and make every movement count. If your movements become hurried and flustered, the result is slashing, which is not good fencing—good headwork counts. Try to fathom your opponent’s methods and take advantage of every opening she gives. Consistent practice and confidence will enable you to be ready for any situation which may come about. ”