European Fencing: The Sword Lesson

Here we go again. Good books on occidental sword-fighting are much harder to find than those on Eastern martial arts. But European fencing is neither kendo nor iaido, it is not Japanese sword-fighting at all. There is an entire vocabulary attached to it, and a wealth of technical detail . . . a rousing example of the whole thrust of Western civilization. As concrete as the computer sciences. Philosophy and the inner advance of the student's psyche don't enter into it one bit. (Personally, I tend to agree, and think that such dangerous studies are best handled in the privacy of one's own home. Sorry, O mysterious East.)

In modern match fencing, there are three weapons used: the foil, the epee and the sabre. And the anatomy of the sword is as follows: what I would call the hilt - ie, the guard (which contains a small cushion to protect the fingers), the handle or grip through which passes the tang of the blade, and the pommel (or locking nut, screwed to the end of the tang) - is referred to as the mounting. As for the blade itself, its length is considered in two halves. The half closest to the hand is the FORTE of the blade. The half closest to the point is the FOIBLE. At the point of the blade is the button. So, when a fencer beats down the foible of his foe's blade with his forte, he is merely smacking the thinner flexible end of the opponent's weapon away with the thick hilt-end of his own - which he can apply with considerably more force.

The Foil

This is the lightest of fencing weapons. It has a tapering quadrangular rod for a blade, without edge. It evolved from the short court swords of the 1600's and 1700's - that is, from ornamental or dress weapons.

The Epee

This is a dueling sword, developed in the mid-nineteenth century to train fencers for actual duels. It is heavier than the foil, with a blade that is stiffer, fluted and triangular. For match fencing, at the point of the blade is affixed a spring-loaded pointe d'arret.

French foils and epees have simple bell-shaped guards. The handles are plain, and meant to lie lightly across the hand and be held and manipulated by the fingers only, as if the weapon was a long pen or pointer. Italian foils and epees has a cross-bar fixed across the inner bowl of the guard, sometimes with two rings through which the first two fingers are slipped. The handle is shorter, and the pommel is bound to the wrist by a strap or long leash. The Italian weapons fight with more strength; the French weapons permit more finger play and flexibility.

The Sabre

Now, this is the sort of cut-and-thrust weapon one imagines pirates fighting with. It has a flattened V-shaped blade, with a blunted cutting edge; the point is folded over to form the button. (Real immortals would improve upon these features for their weapons.) The guard is half-circular.

Vocabulary

ABSENCE OF BLADE: fighting without crossing (or touching) blades. Used against an opponent who likes to make attacks on the blade, to take the blade frequently, or to use strong pressures or beats on your blade when preparing his attack. You uncover a line (ie leave yourself vulnerable to a thrust in some line such as quarte or sixte) with absence of blade, thereby inviting an attack in that line.

ADVANCE: to step forward.

A PIED FERME: from a static position (without lunging until the final thrust in an attack).

ATTACK ON THE BLADE: a preparation for an attack, using beat, pressure or froissement.

ATTACK ON PREPARATION: an attack launched when the opponent is making a preparation for his own attack.

BALESTRA: a short jump forward, usually followed by a lunge. An alternative to the step forward, as a means of getting within distance to launch an attack.

BEAT: to strike the opponent's blade sharply with one's own. As opposed to putting pressure on the blade (a steady pressure of your blade on his) or the graze (froissement).

BIND: a preparation of attack which carries the foe's blade diagonally across from a high to a low line, or vice versa.

BREAKING GROUND: in fencing parlance, retiring or retreating. Stepping backward.

BROKEN TIME: a deliberate pause between two moves which would normally follow without a check.

CADENCE: fencing rhythm.

CEDING PARRY: a parry formed by giving way to an opponent who is taking the blade.

CIRCULAR PARRY: parry in which the defender's blade describes a circle to gather the attacker's blade.

COMPOUND ATTACK: an attack of several blade movements, in a series of false attacks or feints. The intention is to draw a premature parry, which will leave the opponent open in some line to a final thrust. Basically, compound attacks are combinations of the four forms of simple attack: straight thrust, simple disengagement, cut-over and counter-disengagement. For example:

-two disengagements constitute a ONE-TWO attack

-a disengagement followed by another disengagement is a DOUBLE

-a disengagement followed by a counter-disengagement is a DOUBLE DEGAGE.

COQUILLE: the bell-shaped guard of a foil or epee.

CORPS A CORPS: when the bodies of two fencers touch. They cannot then use their weapons with full effect.

COULE: a direct thrust. Your blade glides home along the opponent's blade without pressing down.

COUNTER-DISENGAGEMENT: deceiving the opponent with a change of engagement.

COUNTER-TIME: drawing an opponent's stop hit, parrying it and scoring with a riposte.

COVERED: a position of the sword-hand and weapon which closes some line of engagement against a direct thrust. When you are covered in, say, the line of quarte, then your hand and weapon are between his blade and your quarte, so that his thrust in quarte would be blocked by the position of your own blade (and your hand).

CROISE: taking the opponent's blade from a high to a low line on the same side as the engagement - not diagonally, as in a bind.

CUT-OVER: a blade movement, passing your blade over the opponent's blade.

DEROBEMENT: evading a foe's attempts to beat or take the blade while your arm is extended.

DETACHMENT PARRY: a crisp parry, in which your blade quits the opponent's blade immediately that it has deflected it.

DIRECT: an attack or riposte made in the line of engagement.

DISENGAGEMENT: a blade movement, passing your blade under the opponent's blade. This changes the line of engagement.

DOIGHTE: finger play.

DOUBLE: attacking move, during which the blade performs a complete circle to deceive the foe's circular parry. Ie. a disengagement followed by a counter-disengagement.

DOUBLE PRISES DE FER: a succession of takings of the opponent's blade.

ENGAGEMENT: when two fencers cross swords, they are engaging one another. The position of a fencer's sword hand relative to his target is called the line of engagement: they can be engaged in quarte or sixte, etc. Now, when a fencer engages his opponent's blade, he uses his sword-hand and blade to block the opponent's aim at some part (or line) of his body; this is called being covered in that line. Thus one can be engaged in sixte and covered also in the line of sixte.

EN MARCHANT: movement made with one or more steps forward.

EPEE: dueling sword.

EVASION: a derobement.

FALSE ATTACK: an offensive move not intended to score a hit.

FEINT: a pretense of attack, in order to draw some reaction from the opponent.

FENCING MEASURE: the distance which exists between two fencers.

FINGER PLAY: manipulating the weapon with the fingers (rather than the grip of the fist).

FLECHE: a short quick run, to reach an opponent who is out of lunging distance. A fencer who makes a fleche attack but fails to hit his opponent is off-balance, vulnerable to a riposte or stop hit.

FOIBLE: the half of the blade nearest to the point.

FOIL: the basic fencing weapon.

FORTE: the half of the blade nearest to the guard.

FROISSEMENT: grazing one blade along another

GAINING GROUND: in fencing parlance, advancing.

HIGH LINES: the parts of an opponent's body visible above his sword-hand while on guard.

INVITATION: the intentional opening of a line, to expose some part of your body as a target. You intend by this to get your opponent to attack into the open line, and then you parry and riposte.

IN QUARTATA: side-step. In effect, you remove your opponent's target, while leaving your own point in line to score a stop hit.

INVITATION: opening a line upon oneself, to invite the opponent's attack.

LA BELLE: the deciding hit of a bout.

LINE: in the low lines, the fencer's hand (and blade) are held low; in the high lines, high. The outside lines are those nearest to the sword-arm; the inside lines, those furthest away. Now, imagine that the fencer's torso is gridded off in eighths. Outside and high is the right shoulder (in a right-handed fencer, natch) while inside and low is the left hip. From the right shoulder downward, the grid reads: TIERCE, SIXTE, and then SECONDE, OCTAVE. Octave lies just above the waist. From the left shoulder down, the grid reads: PRIME, QUARTE, QUINTE, SEPTIME. These eight names are the eight lines of attack.

LOW LINES: the parts of an opponent's body visible below his sword-hand.

LUNGE: rapid extension of the arm, body and legs, from the on-guard position. For Highlander watchers: in the Methos fight scene of the Forgive Us Our Trespasses episode, when Methos slips and falls it is during a lunge.

MARTINGALE: loop of tape or string used to prevent a foil flying out of the hand during a bout.

MOLINELLO: a circular cut at the head made from the sabre parry of first.

ON-GUARD position: the basic fencing position, balanced for attack or defense, for advancing or retiring, etc. The fencer stands erect with feet contraposto (ie at right angles to one another) and with the right shoulder and right toe pointed toward the opponent. The left foot lies with its heel in the line of the right heel, two foot-lengths behind - that is, about eighteen inches. The sword arm is raised, half-extended with the hand in half-supination. The sword-hand is level with the right breast and the elbow is about a hand's length from the body. The blade follows the line of the elbow. The left arm is raised in a graceful arch. The legs are slightly bent. Note: the heels should always remain in line, whatever foot movements are made.

PARRY: to deflect the opponent's blade. A parry can be circular or lateral.

PASSATA SOTTO: a stop hit favored by the Italian school. When an opponent attacks in the outside high lines, wait till the last moment and then surprise him by ducking underneath his blade, so that he impales himself on your point. Needs perfect timing to execute.

PHRASE: a sequence of fencing movements exchanged between two opponents, leading up to a hit.

PISTE: the surface upon which one fences. Usually a cork mat

PLASTRON: a hemp undergarment, worn as a safety precaution at epee.

POINTE D'ARRET: attachment to the point of a foil or epee, which electrically registers a hit during a bout.

PRISE DE FER: taking the blade with an envelopment, a bind or croise.

PRONATION: position of sword-hand with fingernails downward. The opposite of SUPINATION.

RASSEMBLEMENT: bringing the leading foot back to the rear foot while rising to full height.

RENEWED ATTACK: offensive movements which are made immediately that the original attack fails. There are three kinds: the REMISE, the REDOUBLEMENT and the REPRISE.

-REMISE: renewal of an attack, in the same line as the original attack and without withdrawing the sword-arm. Will only work against an opponent who has parried or otherwise avoided an attack, but who has then opened a line without riposting (or is making a delayed or compound riposte).

-REDOUBLEMENT: renewed attack with a different blade or arm movement. Will only work against a foe who does not riposte after parrying, or who delays his riposte.

-REPRISE: renewal of attack after returning to the on-guard position.

REVERSE BEAT: a change bear or, at sabre, a beat made with the back of the blade.

RICASSO: the flattened part of the tang of the blade, between guard and cross-bar, of an Italian foil.

RIPOSTE: the offensive move made after parrying. A COUNTER-RIPOSTE is an offensive move made after parrying a riposte or a counter-riposte. In a fencing phrase the first offense after parrying is properly called a riposte and all succeeding ones are counter-ripostes.

SABRE: cut-and-thrust weapon.

SABREUR: duelist with the sabre.

SALLE, SALLE D'ARMES: the fencing studio.

SALUTE: fencers salute each other before putting on their masks, and again (shaking hands afterward) when the bout is finished.

SCIABOLA DE TERRENO: sabre duel.

SENTIMENT DU FER: the feel of the opponent's blade, his style and intentions, through the medium of your own blade against his.

SPRING BACKWARDS: means of getting quickly out of distance after a failed lunge attack.

STOP HIT: a counter-attack meant to halt the development of an opponent's attack.

SUPINATION: position of the sword-hand with the fingernails upwards. As opposed to PRONATION.

TAKING THE BLADE: a preparation for attack by a PRISE DE FER.

TEMPS D'ESCRIME: time taken by a fencer to perform one simple move, ie a blade movement or a foot movement, etc.

TOUCHE: the word used to acknowledge a hit.

TROMPEMENT: offensive blade movements which deceive the opponent's parries.

UNCOVERED: a position of the hand and blade where a line of engagement is not closed (ie guarded).

Schlager Duels

Remarks about a schlager practice bout in Prague in 1922, held by a student's fencing club behind locked doors: "In a schlager duel the two combatants face each other in an upright position at close quarters and must not move their feet or bodies during a bout. The swords are very heavy with elaborate basket hilts (rather like Scottish military swords), held above the head when on guard so that the forearm is in front of the face. Owing to the close quarters, cuts are made exclusively at the head and shoulders of the opponent, while defence is exercised by the hilt of the sabre and the forearm, which is well padded. No mask is, of course, worn except in a practice bout; the eyes are protected by steel goggles, while a leather band protects the jugular veins in the neck. One-minute rounds are fenced and each combatant has a second to hold his sword-arm during the rest periods between rounds, since otherwise he must not move from his on-guard position. A president starts the bout and stops it by striking up the duellists' swords with his own. The duel continues until loss of blood from the cuts on head and cheek forces one of the duellists to retire. The scars of cuts received in duels on the head and face (which, it is said, are best preserved by rubbing in white wine while they are healing) were venerated as signs of courage - and were much admired by the ladies."

The History of European Fencing

Probably the earliest record of fencing dates from about 1190 BC, and appears in a relief carving in the temple of Madinet-Habu in Egypt, near Luxor; this was made during the reign of Ramses III. The carving shows what must surely be a practice bout, whose participants use swords with well-covered points and also wear masks. The masks are fitted with large bibs and padded over the ears, and tie to the wigs of their wearers. Some of the fencers are shown parrying with narrow shields strapped to their left arms. There are judges with feathered wands looking on, and spectators from Syria, the Sudan and Egypt. Hieroglyphs show one fencer saying: "On guard and admire what my valiant hand shall do," and the spectators cry: "Advance! Advance, O excellent fighter, O meritorious fighter."

It used to be popular dogma that the burden of armor turned a medieval knight into a sort of steel-cased turtle, lethally weighty, to be lifted onto horseback with a hoist and a sling. Swords were heavy weapons used as bludgeons - to beat armored foes into submission. The knight himself, if unhorsed, was only dangerous if he actually toppled onto his opponent. All this was supposedly swept away by the invention of gunpowder in the fourteenth century, which led to the abolition of armor by the sixteenth. Only then, as fencing weapons became lighter, fencing itself evolved . . . into something which demanded skill, rather than brute strength. Fencing became an art. Fencing manuals appeared. Fencing masters began to explore the uses of the thrust than the cut. Schools of swordplay sprang up all over Europe.

This is a misconception.

I can only write here what I am assured by one who knows: and that is, fortunately, Andy Moynihan, Director of SPATHA (the Society for Promotion of Authenticity in the Teaching of Historical Arms). Fencing history is his forte. He has access to sources I can only dream of. The following information is his, not mine, and I thank him for providing it:

It is a long-held misconception that swords and armor were weighty and clumsy. Most full suits of plate mail weighed no more than fifty or sixty pounds. (For comparison, a modern infantryman is expected to march carrying almost twice that amount in his pack. And no one would suggest hoisting a Marine into his army transport with a crane . . . not if you wanted to keep your nose intact, that is!) There are medieval accounts of knights being jeered at by their peers if they proved unable to leap into their saddles fully armored; there are medieval accounts of Henry V turning cartwheels and somersaults in armor. As for the swords, they weighed on average between two and three pounds. For reference, try this link; here you will find the website of the Wallace Collection in London, which boasts a display of Medieval arms and armor. Also Ewart Oakeshott, "A Knight and His Armor" and "A Knight and His Weapons". Also Embleton and Howe, "The Medieval Soldier" by Embleton and Howe; Clements, "Medieval Swordsmanship"; and Rector, "Medieval Combat". And here, courtesy of the New Dawn Duellists Society, one may read a bibliography of European fencing manuals dating back to circa 1280 A.D. Many of these manuals are either online or being prepared for posting . . . thanks to devoted Creative Anachronists and their ilk, God bless 'em every one. You can cruise the net and find them without much effort.

Thank you, Mr. Moynihan!

To skip forward to the sixteenth century: the long rapier was the dueling weapon of choice at this time. It was beautifully balanced, but too clumsy to use for defensive and offensive purposes combined; its excellence was for defensive cuts, and in keeping the opponent at a distance. Defense depended upon parrying with a long dagger held in the left hand, or else in using the left hand and arm themselves (protecting them with a cloak or gauntlet). Thrusts could be avoided by ducking (passata sotto) or sidestepping (in quartata). During a duel, two fencers armed with rapiers and daggers stood square to one another, circling to gain an advantage of lighting or terrain.

During the seventeenth century, Spanish fencers evolved a highly specialized school of rapier fencing, based on a complex series of movements related to geometric lines drawn in a circle, about which the fencers moved with mathematical precision. This is the fencing which appears in the "Duende" episode.

Elsewhere in Europe, changes in fashion at the court of Louis XIV put the long rapier out of vogue; style decreed that every gentlemen should wear a short, light sword (along with lace, silks and expensive brocades). This French court sword was the true ancestor of modern fencing weapons. The dagger was abandoned, swift and subtle swordplay became universal. Hits were made with the point alone, while the length of the blade was used for defence.

By the end of the eighteenth century, these light swords were being plied with such speed and at such close quarters that it was said that no fencing master ended his life with two good eyes . . . and fencing masks came again into general use, as did elaborate rules and conventions. The European fencing mask was designed by the celebrated French master, La Boessiere, about 1780.

"Conversation with the foils" was now quite unlike the rough and ready brawling of earlier centuries. The phrases of swordplay included the remise, counter-riposte, redoublement and other sequences of movements previously not possible to make without exposing oneself to serious risk of injury. The only valid hits were those which arrived on the right breast of the foe; a fencer who initiated an attack had the right (unless his foe parried) to complete his movement without interruption. Fencing became stylized - a formal encounter, with rules which a gentleman must follow.

The modern epee - or epee de combat - evolved from the foil during the nineteenth century - as a weapon used by fencers of the gentlemanly schools, against ruder opponents who failed to follow the rules of the foil.

As for the sabre, it was derived from the eastern scimitar, which in turn was brought to Europe by Hungarian cavalrymen; like the Japanese samurai swords, these were swords designed for use on horseback. The mark of these cavalry weapons is the curved blade, made to cut and slash with a razor edge. A heavy military sabre (and its counterpart, the naval cutlass) with a hanging guard and blade designed for wide, circular cuts, was used in fencing schools up to the beginning of the twentieth century. From these heavy sabres evolved the light fencing sabre used today.

Sabre Duels

There are two major schools of classical sabre fencing: Italian and Hungarian. Italian sabre (developed during the 1860's) was based on control of the weapon by the hand and forearm, with the elbow acting as a pivot, and with little wrist movement; while cutting, the wrist and forearm move in one plane with the blade, and parries are also formed by movements of the forearm pivoted from the elbow. "Its beautifully controlled, swift and complex movements, performed with a feather-light hand, build up lightning-quick phrases which are a joy to watch."

The Hungarian school, however, completely replaced the Italian school in match fencing during the first half of the twentieth century. The fundamental difference between Hungarian and Italian style is that, in the former, hits and blade movement are entirely controlled by finger play, with a flexible wrist and a minimum of arm movement. The stress is on mobility and speed of footwork rather than complex phrasing; a wide measure (a large distance between opponents) is usually maintained on guard, with the sabres rarely engaged.

There are six fencing positions at sabre: prime, seconde, tierce, quarte, quinte, and sixte. Position for the first four are the same as at foil or epee. However quinte and sixte are entirely different: they protect the head (which is not a foil or epee target) from an attacking cut. Quinte is the most commonly used of the two. Sixte is sometimes called "the masters' parry" because it was unsafe to use in combat - when used, it exposed every other part of the defender's body including the sword arm. "The position of tierce may be taken in two ways, high tierce of the Italian school and low tierce of the Hungarian school, the latter being the one universally adopted by all modern sabreurs." Tierce, quarte and sometimes seconde are normally the only on-guard positions used.

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Last Updated February 17, 1998 by Sylvia and Lisa