Foil (fencing)

“ Feint Attacks, deceptive in character, are those which are preceded by one or more feints, or false thrusts made to lure the adversary into thinking them real ones. A feint is a simple extension, often with a slight movement of the body, threatening the adversary in a certain line, for the purpose of inducing him to parry on that side and thus leave the other open for the real thrust. At the same time any movement of the blade or any part of the body tending to deceive the adversary in regard to the nature of the attack about to follow, must also be considered a species of feint. ”

“ It is often used to take an opponent unawares or when he presses unduly hard on your blade. The Counter-disengagement is used when the adversary moves his blade, i.e. changes the line of engagement, upon which you execute a narrow circle, avoiding his blade, and thrust in your original line. The Cut-over (coupé) is a disengagement executed by passing the point of the foil over that of the adversary and lunging in the opposite line. The preliminary movement of raising the point is made by the action of the hand only, the arm not being drawn back. ”

“ With reference to actual duelling, it is a recognized thing that it would be the height of folly to attempt, sword in hand, the complex attacks, the full-length lunges, the neat but somewhat weak parries of the foil; so much so, that many have been led to assert that, for its ultimate practical purpose (which logically is that of duelling) , the refined art of the foil, requiring so many years of assiduous and methodical work, is next to useless. It is alleged, as a proof, that many successful duellists have happened to be indifferent performers on the fencing floor. ”

“ No one seems to have understood that with masks all the conventions could be safely done away with, root and branch, and sword-practice might assume all the semblance of reality. Nevertheless it should be clearly recognized that the basis of modern foil-fencing was laid with the épée or small-sword alone, in and before the days of Angelo, of Danet, and the famous chevalier de St George, who were among the first to adopt the fleuret also. ”

“ Now, for the more utilitarian purposes of duelling, the major part of the foil fencer’s special achievement and brilliancy has to be uncompromisingly sacrificed in the presence of the brutal fact that thrusts in the face, or below the waist, do count, insomuch as they may kill; that accidental hits in the arm or the leg cannot be disregarded, for they may, and generally do, put a premature stop to the bout. ”

“ Should he, however, be touched, even on the foot or mask, by the adversary, his touch, however good, is invalid. If both touches are good, that of the original attacker only counts. Stop thrusts are employed mostly against fencers who attack wildly or without being properly covered. ”

“ And as to the Practice of Schools and of the Sword, 'tis the same; for no one ought to do any thing with the Foil, but what he knows by Experience to be without Risque, according to his Rules. In some Cases, it is true, what is esteemed good in one, is not in the other. For Example: Thrusts with the Foil are good only on the Body, and with the Sword they are good every where; and that in an Assault with the Foil, the joining is reckoned as nothing, whereas in Battle 'tis the Seal of the Victory ”

“ 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. ”

“ After these seven movements have been practised and the position on guard reached quickly and accurately, the fencer may take up more advanced work. The natural instinct is to defend oneself, so a scientific means of defense is taught. Any movement that turns away an opponent’s foil is called a parry. As the fencing jacket is divided into different lines of engagement, there is a set parry for each. In all parries, it is important to 126 turn the point of the opponent’s foil away from your body. ”

“ The thrust, however, it may be remarked, is always some kind of a longe, and in parrying the one sword does not beat the other aside, but simply turns it by a turn of the wrist. The idea of the parry may be gathered from the fact that the point of the foil always describes a circle of not more than three feet in diameter in the air. Thus the adversary's point is turned aside from its object.
The art of fencing is so difficult to learn without a master that it is useless for any one to attempt by himself to do more than acquire skill in the simpler movements ”

“ The “counter-riposte” is a riposte made after parrying the adversary’s riposte, and generally from the position of the lunge, or while recovering from it, since one must have attacked with a full lunge if the adversary has had an opportunity to deliver a riposte. There are three kinds of ripostes: direct, with feints and after a pause.
The “direct riposte” may be made instantly after parrying the adversary’s thrust by quitting his blade and straightening the arm, so that the point will touch his body on the nearest and most exposed part ”

“ Usually it is settled beforehand, whether fencing gloves may or may not be used. As a rule they are, because they grasp the grip with greater certainty and render disarming more difficult. Besides, the handle of a foil or rapier is hard enough to tire or blister the delicate naked hand, and the fingers in contact with it suffer from every full-toned parry and from every shock of the swords. ”

“ It is from that date, namely, from the last third of the 17th century, that the sword, as a fighting implement, becomes differentiated into two very different directions. The military weapon becomes the back-sword or sabre; the walking companion and duelling weapon becomes what we now understand by the small-sword. Two utterly different kinds of fence are practised: one, that of the back-sword; the other, what we would now call foil-play.
The magnificent old cut and thrust rapier still flourished, it is true, in parts of Italy and Spain ”

“ We do not believe that the foil will ever die while swordsman- ship remains alive ; but it is a fact that the epee has given an impulse to English fencing of which the foil has never in its whole history been capable. ”

“ On the approach of the point of an adversary's blade (and how these approaches are made I will presently explain) , the right hand is moved a few inches—three or four will be enough—across the body on the inside, the hand being neither depressed nor raised, and the foil being kept on the same slope as in the Guard. [Pg 12] This guards the body on the inside above the hand, but (and here comes an important law in fencing) the very movement which has guarded the body on one side has exposed it on the other ”

“ It was not until gunpowder began to bring about the disuse of heavy armour that anybody ever dreamt of thrusting. The earliest fencing was hacking with sword and buckler, and the early foil was a rough sword-blade quite unlike the implement we now use. Fleuret meant in Old French a sword-blade not yet polished and hilted, and we find it used, as we do Eng. foil, of an apology for a sword carried by a gallant very much down at heel. As late as Cotgrave we find floret, "a foile; a sword with the edge rebated." Therefore foil is the same as Fr. ”

“ At such a time a quick thrust will often catch him unawares and score. Opportunities for preparation attacks are often given when the adversary attempts a beat preliminary to his thrust; the beat is frustrated by an “absence of the blade,” i.e. your blade is made to avoid contact with his by a narrow movement, and your point thrust home into the space left unguarded by the force of his unresisted beat. ”

“ To fence well it is necessary to think quickly and act calmly. The fencer must judge what is best suited for her to do. She must divine her opponent’s attack. Thus she must be mentally alert all the time.
For the beginner and inexperienced fencer, it is necessary to have a good foil, one that is the proper weight for the strength of the fencer. Never use a foil that is too heavy; it is better to have a light than heavy one. A foil must also have the proper balance. To test the foil lay the blade across the finger about an inch below the hilt. ”

“ For there it all is: there resides the delicate and masterly faculty which alone constitutes the superior fencer—tact. Is it not wonderful to see how much sensibility and life flows between these two digits? They tremble, they palpitate beneath the pressure of the foil in contact with their own, as if an electric current communicated to them all its movements. For them the aid of sight is not necessary, for they do more than see the hostile sword ”

“ Example: Being at the engage, 1. Number one, feint straight thrust at chest; disengagement at chest; at stomach, lunge; 2. Number two, parry right, parry left, and low parry left; 3. ASSAULT. (87)
799. An opening may be offered or procured by opposition, as in the press or beat. (88)
800. In fencing exercises every feint should at first be parried. When the defense is able to judge or divine the character of the attack the feint is not necessarily parried, but may be nullified by a counter feint. ”

“ Your adversary, you say, will not come to an engagement. Very good; then you must force him to it by feints, or by threatening to attack. Either he attempts to parry or he attempts to thrust. In either case you get command of his blade by a simple or by a double beat, as the case may be, and then you drive your attack home.
“It holds good with fencing, as it does with all warlike measures, whether on a large scale or [Pg 109] small, that you must not wait for what you want to be brought to you; you must learn to help yourself; take no denial, but by force or fraud get possession. ”

“ The Volting of the Body, which many People call Quarting, shou'd never be done but at times when you are abandoned, as in Case of Lunges or on an Engagement of Feint in Disorder, of when finding yourself so disordered as not being able to parry, you must of necessity have recourse to volting in order to avoid the Thrust; but to do it at an improper time, as some do, is very dangerous, by reason of the Facility of parrying it, it being a Figure in Fencing which gives the least Strength, Extention, of Swiftness to a Thrust ”

“ First-rate foil play has invariably been too delicate in its essence,, too ideal in its aim, too unpractical in its courteous fragility for the majority of Englishmen. It is the foundation of the knowledge of all weapon play, and your true foil player need never be at a loss in a scrimmage, even if he bears but that unromantic symbol of civic respectability the silk umbrella. But in itself the foil has always appealed to a very small minority of our countrymen. ”

“ I should tell him—as he retires and straightens his arm—to change the line occasionally; that is to say to pass his point under his opponent’s blade and threaten him on the other side, in fact a simple disengagement. It is the easiest thing in the world to understand, and anyone, however little he may be skilled in the art of fencing, can do it with the greatest ease; the act of retiring itself facilitates the execution of the movement. An hour’s practice will make him familiar with this change of line, which as I remarked just now answers the double purpose of attack and defence. ”

“ Formerly, when foils were capped with leather, not with gutta-percha knobs, some puerile dexterity was also shown in locking the buttons and in screwing the foil out of the opponent's grasp. Disarmings, in fact, are fitted only for the theatres. ”

“ 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. ”

“ As a rule there is no handle on the butt. The art of grasping the round wood firmly, of holding the long weapon level with the hip, and finally of making the sharp tip strike squarely on the foeman's shield (however he may slant the latter) is a matter of training for wrist and eye which possibly exceeds all skill in fencing. The whole body works together in lance play. ”

“ To this Manner of parrying Seconde, there is but one Opposite, which is done by feinting below, and as the Adversary is going to cross your Sword, in order to parry, you must disengage by a little Circle, with the Hand in Seconde, which preventing the Enemy's Sword, gives an Opportunity of hitting him above, if the Wrist is lower than I have observed, or in Flanconnade, if the Wrist is high. A Man that parrys below, in order to avoid this Feint, must redouble his Circle to meet the Blade. ”

“ The play of individuals is determined by their respective temperaments and physical powers. But every fencer should be always ready to deliver a well-aimed, swift, direct thrust at any exposed part of the antagonist’s arm, his mask or thigh. Very tall men, who are usually not particularly quick on their legs, should not as a rule attack, otherwise than by direct thrusts, when matched against shorter men. For if they merely extend their sword-arm in response to a simple attack, their longer reach will ward it off with a stop or counter-thrust. ”

“ I can say with literal truth, that I have never taken a foil in my hand for a serious assault without feeling a real tremor, and most fencers have experienced and indeed are generally conscious of the same sensation. ”