Master-at-arms

“ Every recruit should be taught to hold his body in such a manner, that he feels himself firm and steady upon whatever ground he may be placed for the purposes of exercise or parade. See Position without arms.
To STAND well under arms. To be so perfectly master of the firelock as not to be embarrassed, or to be rendered unsteady by its weight, but to be able to preserve a correct relative position of the body through all the changes of the manual and platoon, &c. ”

“ The mind reaches out,—control of the body becomes a habit. The feet, legs, arms and body gradually come under the sway of the mind. In the position of the soldier, for instance, the mind holds the body motionless. In marching, the mind drives the legs to machine-like regularity. In shooting, the mind assumes command of the arms, hands, fingers and eye, linking them up and making them work in harmony.
Control of the body, together with the habit of discipline that the soldier acquires, leads to control of the mind,—that is, to self-control. ”

“ But you see a master in every school daily and hourly protesting against the awkw r ardness of his pupils' guards, against the clenching of the hand, the tension of the arm, the stiffness of the shoulder, in fact the wilful and sinful expenditure of force, without once explaining to them, so clearly that they never can forget it, the essential difference between the complete repose of the guard and the vivid muscular action of the attack.
To show how natural is our position, attempt in any manner to change it. There are many ways, but all will equally fail. ”

“ We were not only abler of body than the French, and, therefore, superiour in the use of arms, which are forcible only in proportion to the strength with which they are handled, but the national practice of shooting for pleasure or for prizes, by which every man was inured to archery from his infancy, gave us insuperable advantage, the bow requiring more practice to skilful use than any other instrument of offence. ”

“ Well, what has the habit of the body to do with the thought? Yes, I wear the sword. I was at the siege of Rochelle. I love the profession of arms because it keeps the soul in a region of noble ideas by the continual feeling of the sacrifice of life; yet it does not occupy the whole man. ”

“ The profession of arms is perhaps that alone, in which success and exaltation, even to the loftiest height of rank, excites no surprize, and provokes no envy. The qualities of personal valour combined with military talent, is that which obtains, extends, and secures the glory of a nation, in which every individual participates, and is more or less anxious to reward. ”

“ A man who aspired to the profession of arms, had to be trained for it according to fixed rules, and to go through each successive degree with as much precision as the bachelors and masters in the schools. ”

“ There is nothing more important to an army than the correct training of its infantry. The training of all the arms has much in common, but training infantry, owing to the manner of its use in battle, calls for much that is not required in the other arms. ”

“ Even martial sports had no charm for a lad who, while other young knights of his day—his brothers among them—were acquiring the use of arms in an endless round of tournaments, was serving his military apprenticeship in real warfare ”

“ In feats of arms, and in all the exercises of the palæstra, is not his attitude best calculated for defense or offense, who uses a certain art in all his motions, and keeps to a certain position of the feet? Composition, therefore, in my opinion, is to thoughts and words what the dexterous management of a bow or string may be for directing the aim of missive weapons; and I may say that the most learned are convinced that it is greatly conducive not only to pleasure, but also to making a good impression on others. ”

“ Resolved to rise in the service by my own merit alone, I strained every energy to become master of my drill in all its principles and theory. The sword or foil was never out of my hand when I could find an antagonist; thus I became an expert swordsman, as well as an excellent horseman, and a decidedly good average shot with pistol or carbine. ”

“ Never did I need my strength of body more, nor did the long training of my father come in better play. I made that long rifle-barrel both club and sword, knife and axe in one, striking, thrusting, clubbing, in the mad fury with which desperation bids a man battle for his life. ”

“ He made the best defence that a man could make against such an onslaught, and a wonderful defence it was. He was well-trained in arms as in all bodily exercises, supple of joint, quick of movement, long of limb and with muscles that were all steel and whipcord—indeed a very pentathlos. ”

“ Down to the sword, restore thy weapons bright,
Sad soldier, to the forge, a useless load;
And gun or carbine on thy shoulder lay,
Who without these, I wot, shalt touch no pay.
XXVI
How, foul and pestilent discovery,
Didst thou find place within the human heart?
Through thee is martial glory lost, through thee
The trade of arms became a worthless art:
And at such ebb are worth and chivalry,
That the base often plays the better part.
Through thee no more shall gallantry, no more
Shall valour prove their prowess as of yore. ”

“ I repeated this to Madame Carreño at Jenbach, and she seized my hands and shouted with laughter. Such a grip as she has! Her hands are filled with steel wires instead of muscles, and her arms have the strength of an athlete in training. ”

“ So, while blood was often let on both sides, the training produced a fearless swordsman who was so truly the master of his point that he could stop a thrust within a fraction of an inch of the spot he sought. ”

“ In the first lessons as to position, the instructor should carefully place the hands, arms, etc, of the recruit in the form desired. When he is more advanced, he should not be touched; but from the example shown, and the directions prescribed, be taught to correct himself when so admonished. ”

“ When their leaders perceived us drawn out in opposition, they also gave the word to halt, and endeavoured to form their men into some imitation of military discipline. The first ranks had muskets; some were mounted, but their arms were such as they had seized during their advance, their horses those they had taken from the peasantry ”

“ It is a good plan to practise the following movements every morning before beginning the sword exercises. To avoid confusion they are here given as in the little Manual on the Infantry Sword; they are effected without any accessories, and you commence by being in the position of “Attention,” i.e. stand with the heels close together at an angle of about sixty degrees, arms hanging down by the sides, chest expanded, back straight, shoulders back, and head well up. ”

“ I have been working hard with one since, and know a good deal more about it than I did; but my teacher says that I am too hot and impetuous to make a good swordsman, and that though I should do well enough in a melee, I shall never be able to stand up against a cool man, in a duel. Of course the marshal had no idea of teaching me arms, but merely, as he said, of showing me a few passes that might be useful to me, on occasion. ”

“ The [145] beauty of all exercise and marching, consists in seeing a soldier carry his arms well, keep his firelock steady and even in the hollow of his shoulder, the right hand hanging down, and the whole body without constraint. The musquets when shouldered, should be exactly dressed in rank and file; the men must keep their bodies upright, and in full front, not having one shoulder too forward, or the other too backward. The distances between the files must be equal, and not greater than from arm to arm, which gives the requisite room for the motions. ”

“ Finally, military ideals and methods of psycho-physical education are helpful regulations of the appetite for combat, and on the whole more wholesome and robust than those which are merely esthetic. Marching in step gives proper and uniform movement of legs, arms, and carriage of body; the manual of arms, with evolution and involution of figures in the ranks, gives each a corporate feeling of membership, and involves care of personal appearance and accouterments, while the uniform levels social distinction in dress. ”

“ The poise of the head, the erect position of the shoulders, the proper holding of the arms and hands, depend upon the training and development of the arms and shoulders. Most persons are negligent in this respect and allow the upper part of their bodies to hang by their bones. This is noticeable in those who are “stoop shouldered,” a habit which becomes fixed. The first thing a soldier is trained to do is to stand erect and hold himself up by his muscles. No person who can not control his upper muscles will acquire any grace or beauty of movement. ”

“ In nearly all the arm exercises it is necessary to hold the arms in some fixed position from which the exercises can be most advantageously executed, and to which position the arms are again returned upon completing the exercise. ”

“ Strength and power impart agility and quickness. This every physician and every sensible man knows.
A soldier only becomes fit for his work after the muscles of his body have been gymnastically attended to and developed. ”

“ Being " above the arms" (Ic haut des armcs; II disopra delle armi) is when your hand and sword are more elevated than those of your opponent. It is necessary to remember this distinction, as some schools assign the victory, when both oppo- nents touch simultaneously, to the "higher line" of thrust.
By thus mastering first principles, the most complicated treatises will readily be understood, and the theory of managing the sword becomes self-evident. My royal road to learning, in fact, is the path of common sense. ”

“ And those that have professed arms but for an age, have, notwithstanding, commonly attained that greatness, in that age, which maintained them long after, when their profession and exercise of arms hath grown to decay. ”

“ A master of the sword or the halberd towered so far above his less expert fellows that he refused to act in unison with them, and it was not until the middle of the seventeenth century that the doctrine of strictly disciplined action obtained practical vogue. ”

“ We must seek, here, not the part of the great martial chieftain only, but the part of that heroic chief and leader of men and ages, who discovered, in the sixteenth century, when the chivalry of the sword was still exalting its standard of honour as supreme, when the law of the sword was still the world's law, that brute instinct was not the true valour, that there was a better part of it than instinct, though he knows and confesses,—though he is the first to discover, that instinct is a great matter. ”

“ Those who use the five arms [20] with skill, who are clever, strong and quick, and careless of the enemy, should be given rank and decoration, and used to decide the victory. Their parents and families should be cared for, encouraged by rewards, and kept in fear of punishment. ”

“ You move like a professor. Bend your knees a little more, and when you practice alone for I see that you will be a swordsman bend them as much as possible. The academic law is that the knee should be on a plumb-line with the instep. ”

“ It, too, has its manual of feints, holds, tricks, and specialties, and calls out wariness, quickness, strength, and shiftiness. Victory need involve no cruelty or even pain to the vanquished. The very closeness of body to body, emphasizing flexor rather than extensor arm muscles, imparts to it a peculiar tone, gives it a vast variety of possible activities, developing many alternatives at every stage, and tempts to many undiscovered forms of permanent mayhem. ”

“ And so on for larger units and the combined action of all arms; good ground for early instruction is that whose features, from their nature and distance from each other, lend themselves to illustrate conditions under which the power of each unit and arm may be most profitably employed in conjunction with others. ”

“ He must be master of his weapon, not only to show the various movements but also to lead in the exercises at will. He should stimulate the zeal of the men and arouse pleasure in the work. Officers should qualify themselves as instructors by fencing with each other.
113. The character of each man, his bodily conformation, and his degree of skill must always be taken into account. When the instructor is demonstrating the combinations, feints returns, and parries the rapidity of his attack should be regulated by the skill of the pupil, and no more force than is necessary should be used. ”

“ The right hands are joined together, as in shaking hands, and each sticks his thumb nail into the third joint or upper end of the forefinger; the name of the grip is Boaz, and is to be given in the following manner and no other: The Master gives the grip and word, and divides it for the instruction of the candidate; the questions are as follows: The Master and candidate holding each other by the grip as before described, the Master says, "What is this?" Candidate—"A grip." Master "A grip of what?" Candidate—"The grip of an Entered Apprentice Mason." Master—"Has it a name?" Candidate—"It has." ”

“ The object of the facings and marchings is to give the soldier complete control of his body in drills, so that he can get around with ease and promptness at every command.
The marchings,—the military walk and run,—also teach the soldier how to get from one place to another in campaign with the least amount of physical exertion.
Every man knows how to walk and run, but few of them how to do so without making extra work of it. One of the first principles in training the body of the soldier is to make each set of muscles do its own work and save the strength of the other muscles for their work. ”

“ What happens in action? Does the rifle dictate tactics to the sword, or the sword to the rifle? What precise part does the question of weapons play in the ascription to Cavalry and the denial to Mounted Infantry of all the difficult and important duties of the major reconnaissance, duties obviously requiring many faculties, mental and physical, which have no connection with the steel weapon? Can a man ride quicker or better, be more observant, original, or intelligent because he carries a sword? Finally, how is training to conform to weapons? ”