Fencing

“ Fencing is a most exhilarating exercise and one that is particularly suitable for those of us who live a town life. A dull day in London may be very sensibly enlivened by a brisk assault. The luxury of getting into flannels is increased by the reflection that for an hour at any rate one will think of nothing but the foils. For no exercise is so absorbing as fencing. Whether you are taking a lesson or are engaged in a friendly combat your whole attention cannot fail to be occupied. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Just beyond—separated by the almost invisible wire fencing—a group of peasants were working in the field. An old woman and a young girl, with ropes about their shoulders, were drawing a harrow, guided by a withered old scarecrow of a man. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The cosmopolitan character of fencing is another point in its favour. Not only throughout France and Italy, but wherever French or Italian is spoken, fencing rooms abound, and [Pg vi] the stranger who visits them is sure to be received with friendly interest and hospitality. Fencers are always glad to try conclusions with a new blade, and a very moderate knowledge of the art may often serve as a pleasant and informal introduction in a strange country. ”

“ In the fencing-hall the swordsmen, dressed in gray linen, with leather vests, their trousers tight around the ankles, a sort of apron falling over the front of the body, one arm in the air, with the hand thrown backward, and in the other hand, enormous in a large fencing-glove, the thin, flexible foil, extended and recovered with the agile swiftness of mechanical jumping-jacks. ”

“ There was quite a sensation in the fencing school, round which were gathered some forty or fifty of the young men of the day, when Maitre Dalboy called for his plastron and foil, for it was seldom indeed, and then only with swordsmen of altogether exceptional strength, that Monsieur Dalboy condescended to fence, contenting himself ordinarily with walking about the school and giving a hint now and then to those fencing with his assistants, not, perhaps, more than once a week taking a foil in his hand to illustrate some thrust or guard which he was inculcating. ”

“ It is important for the prestige of fencing, that those who have no knowledge of their weapon, or at most a mere smattering, should not be allowed to suppose that they can depend upon mere energy and a blind rush to defend themselves against a man who has been trained to the skilful handling of the sword. Confidence, that mainest mainstay of defence, ought not to be possible for the ignorant fencer ”

“ By fencing, nowadays, that is by foil-play, we have come to mean not simply fighting for hits, but a strictly regulated game which, being quite conventional, does not take accidental hits into consideration at all. This game requires for its perfect display a combination of artificial circumstances, such as even floors, featherweight weapons, and an unconditional acceptance of a number of traditional conventions. ”

“ Every Chore has here its place of practice; that is, a large room in the house of the fencing-master is hired by each Chore at a fixed hour of the day, where they meet together and practise fencing, the fencing-master often being present. Others who wish to accomplish themselves in the art of fence, join themselves to these Chore members, but it is forbidden to lunge, lest under the pretence of fencing the duel may be concealed. Of the German mode of fencing there is truly as little to say as if we should describe to any one how he should waltz. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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? ”

“ 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 ”

“ Not only may he at court be forced into quarrels, in which it will be necessary for him to defend his honour, but in all ways it benefits him. Look at his figure; nature has given him health and strength, but fencing has given him that light, active carriage, the arm of steel, and a bearing which at his age is remarkable. Fencing, too, gives a quickness, a readiness, and promptness of action which in itself is an admirable training. Monsieur le colonel has been good enough to praise my fencing, and I may say that the praise is deserved. ”

“ 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. ”

“ III It is the custom to represent fencing as an affair of skill, a mere turn of the wrist. Nothing can be more erroneous. Moreover, I have never found a woman willing to go through the preparatory work, however trifling it is m my system. All want to fence loose, even before they know the routine of the room, or even tierce from carte. ”

“ He had done a bit of fencing in his time, and we got talking about timber. He didn't believe in having fencing-posts with big butts; he reckoned it was a mistake. 'You see,' he said, 'the top of the butt catches the rain water and makes the post rot quicker. I'd back posts without any butt at all to last as long or longer than posts with'em―that's if the fence is well put up and well rammed.' He had supplied fencing stuff, and fenced by contract, and―well, you can get more posts without butts out of a tree than posts with them. ”

“ There is nothing more nice, or more necessary in Fencing, than Disengagements; the nicest Motion, being the smoothest and finest, and the most necessary, there being but few Thrusts where you ought not to disengage, and to several more than once; and there is no better Means of avoiding the Advantage that a strong Man has when he presses on your Sword. ”

“ I profess the greatest admiration for this consummate power of fence, so seldom seen to perfection. No one can think more highly of it than I do, and on that account I am strongly convinced of the necessity of devising a means to resist it, when it is used against me. I shall perhaps be told to combat it by an equally fine sense of touch;—but it is still more rare to see a bout of fencing in which the two men are evenly matched in this respect, and general principles should be based on general grounds, not on exceptional cases. ”

“ Finally, I like fencing because you cannot learn it. It does, indeed, demand practice, and long practice; but that is not sufficient, it must be your vocation: you must be born a fencer, just as you must be born an artist. And then, when the apprenticeship has been served, what pleasure is enjoyed! I doubt whether there is in external life a single act in which a man feels himself to live more fully than in a vigorous assault. ”

“ The woven-wire poultry fencing is an unusually difficult thing to handle and fasten on posts so that it will be taut and evenly stretched. The best method I have ever seen for drawing this fencing and holding it for nailing to a post is the use of the device shown in the sketch. It consists of a board, as long as the fencing is wide, with screw hooks set far enough apart to catch into the meshes of the wire, and a crosspiece attached to the board by pieces of rope at the ends and provided with a pulling loop in the center.—Contributed by Joseph C. Laackman, Meadow Brook, Pa. ”

“ 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 young gallants of a century ago used to practise fencing for an hour each morning. Why should not you do the same thing in intellectual fencing—you, the devotee of the noblest swordsmanship known to man, the swordsmanship of the law? ”

“ Without noticing the moral effect in drawing out character and in confirming courage, or the diversion, excitement, and noble emulation of the exercise, I believe fencing, which of course includes extension movements, to be the very best plastic exercise in the world in fact, the piince of calisthenics for acquiring grace, ease, and the full use of the limbs. ”

“ And yet of all arts, the art of fencing may be considered from the most widely different standpoints, and particularly may be approached with very varied degrees of knowledge and application. Is it so very certain that ‘premature loose play,’ as the professors love to call it, is so pernicious as they think,—the bad seed that cannot fail to produce an evil crop of vices? ”

“ 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. ”

“ Indeed, the first movements in fencing are the most trying to the learner; and he must not be discouraged if he fails to do them correctly at first—practice only will give him this power. The Longe is that extension of body which accompanies every attack, and is thus made:—The right [Pg 9] arm is extended straight from the shoulder, the arm and blade being on the same level; by a second movement, the right foot is raised from the ground, and a step made forward, about eighteen inches in length, while the left remains firmly planted in its place. ”

“ First, that in Fencing there are no more than five Thrusts or Places, which I have described in Page 27, shewing the Parade of each of them; and secondly, that there is no Motion without it's Opposite; so that as you cannot push without a Motion, there is no Thrust without it's Counter, and even several; for besides the different Positions of the Body, there is not only the Time to take, but also several Parades to favour the Risposts, which plainly shews, that doing one of these Things properly, this imaginary infallible Thrust, far from succeeding will expose him that would make it. ”

“ 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 ”