W.2. Additions to the Number of Sections of the Blade

In post W.1. (June 2019) we discussed how the blade was subdivided in classical fencing into sections that had significance for the fencer's technique in both offense and defense.  As is common in research, further work on this topic and access to new sources has increased what we know, and therefore this serves as an addition to the previous work.

Our previous examination of divisions included 2 equal divisions, 2 unequal divisions, and 3 divisions.   This post addresses 4 or more divisions although we will note one variant to the 3 division approach.

• Luigi Barbasetti (1932) divides the blade into three sections: the Point, foible, and forte.  Few of the texts consulted specifically mentioned the point as a distinct part of the blade, and Barbasetti does not indicate the length of the point, which would seem to be just the very outer portion of the blade, the nail head and the immediate supporting blade.

The German school of thrust fencing describes the blade as having 4 sections:

• Johann Wilhelm Roux (1808) identifies the four equal sections as (from the guard toward he point) as Full Strong, Half Strong, Half Weak, and Full Weak.
• Friedrich Augustus Wilhelm Ludwig Roux (1849) makes a minor change in the names of the sections (although this may be simply a difference between two translations) to Total Strong, Half Strength, Half Weak, and Total Weak.

These two sources fall before the classical period but their content was applied well into the classical period.

We have encountered one description of a division of the blade into 5 sections:

• Giordano Rossi, in his 1885 update to Radaellian School, divides the blade into 5 equal  sections (from the guard to the point) as Double Strong, Strong, Middle, Weak, and Double Weak. 

Finally, we have 8 sections: 

• Giuseppe Rosaroll Scorza and Pietro Grissetti's 1803 volume, a very well-regarded text which informed classical period fencing in Italy, includes an 8 section division of the blade.  This starts with an initial division of the blade into two halves, separated at the center.  From the guard the progression is defined by degree points at Double Strong (1), Strong (2), Less Strong (3), Center (4), Less Weak (5), Weak (6), Double Weak (7), and Point (8).  The difference between the degree points of the fencer and the opponent predicts the relative strength of each blade, although stopping to do the calculation in a bout might not be the best use of your time. 

Sources:

Barbasetti, Luigi; The Art of the Foil; [fencing manual]; E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc., New York, New York, United States of America; 1932.

Roux, Johann Wilhelm; Manual for the Art of Fencing According to Mathematical and Physical Principles; translation by Tobias Zimmerman; [fencing manual]; Academic Bookstore’s Publishing, Jena, Gotha, Germany; 1808.

Roux, Friedrich August Wilhelm Ludwig; Die Kreussler'sche Stossfechtschule for Use by Academies and Military Schools Based on a Mathematical Basis; translation by Christopher Treichel; [fencing manual]; Druck and Verlag von Friedrich Mauke, Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany; 1849; reprinted by Christopher Treichel; 2016.

Rossi, Giordano; Theoretical-Practical Manual for Sword and Sabre Fencing; translation by Sebastian Seager; [fencing manual];  Milan, Italy, translated edition by the Melbourne Fencing Society, Carnegie, Victoria, Australia; 1885, translation 2021. 

Scorza, Giuseppe Rosaroll, and Pietro Grisetti; The Science of Fencing; translation by Christopher Holzman; [fencing manual]; Milano, Italy; 1803; reprinted by Christopher Holzman, Wichita, Kansas, United States of America; 2018.

Copyright 2021 by Walter G. Green III

Additions to the Number of Sections of the Blade by Walter G. Green III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.