S10.1.2. Varieties of Second in Sabre

Fencing guards and parries in the classical period (1880-1939) were more numerous and varied in interpretation on the theme than in modern fencing.  Nowhere was this truer than the variety of guards employed in Sabre, the cut and thrust weapon.   Because the purpose of a guard is to provide a starting point for both offensive and defensive action, guards are paired with parries which operationalize the guard to block an attack into the line which the guard theoretically closes.

One of the guards universally described in period texts is Second, protecting the outside line flank (the portion of the target under the fencer’s arm on the right side for the right handed fencer and on the left side for the left handed fencer) and the underside of the arm.  These are low line targets as they are exposed below the guard of the Sabre.

The selection of Second guards in contemporary texts falls into three categories:

1.  Guards with the arm only partly extended at waist level and the blade parallel to the ground.

2.  Guards with the arm extended in the high line and the blade slanting downward.

3.  Guards with the arm extended only partly and the blade vertical.

We can describe these based on blade angle from the horizontal, the blade orientation relative to covering the target, the hand position, and the arm extension.  These descriptions are from the text and illustrations in a sample of fencing manuals by noted Fencing Masters available in English.

Among the guards and parries with the blade parallel to the ground and the arm only partly extended at waist level are the following:

… Parry of Flank (Louis Rondelle 1892) - the hand and elbow are at belt level with the hand a little to the outside of the target, the hand in pronation, the blade cutting edge to the outside inclined downward and inward toward the opponent's knee.

… Horizontal Second (Antonio Domingos Pinto Martins 1895) - the weapon forearm is level parallel to the ground at the fencer's waist, the hand in pronation, the point several inches below the level of the guard with the blade turned front edge to the outside.

… Second (Julio Martinez Castello) - the weapon forearm is partly extended forward parallel to the ground at lower chest level, the hand in pronation slightly to the outside of the target, the blade turned front edge to the outside and parallel to the fencing line, the point several inches below the level of the guard.

… Second (Clovis Deladrier in 1948) - the weapon arm is level parallel to the ground at the fencer's waist, the hand in pronation, the point several inches below the level of the guard with the blade turned front edge to the outside, and the arm is at the outside limit of the target.

The following guards are taken with the arm extended in high line and the blade slanting downward:

… Second Engagement and Second Parry (L. J. M. P. Van Humbeek 1895) - the arm extended slightly to the outside with the hand at shoulder height, the pronated hand and guard oriented 45 degrees above the horizontal to the outside, the blade slanted downward toward the opponent's thigh, and the cutting edge diagonally upward to the outside. 

… Second (Salvatore Pecoraro and Carlo Pessina 1912) - the weapon arm is fully extended, hand at shoulder height, the pronated hand and guard oriented 45 degrees above the horizontal to the outside, the blade slanted downward toward the opponent's flank, and the cutting edge diagonally upward to the outside. 

… Second (Leon Bertrand 1927) - the weapon arm is fully extended, hand at shoulder height, the pronated hand and guard oriented 45 degrees above the horizontal to the outside, the blade slanted downward toward the opponent's hip, and the cutting edge diagonally upward to the outside. 

… Second (Luigi Barbasetti 1935) - the weapon arm is fully extended, hand at shoulder height, the pronated hand and guard oriented 45 degrees above the horizontal to the outside, the blade slanted downward toward the opponent's hip, and the cutting edge diagonally upward to the outside.

… Second (Joseph Vince 1938) - the weapon arm is fully extended, with the hand in pronation slightly to the outside of the outside shoulder at chest height, the cutting edge to the outside, and the point of the blade directed toward the opponent forward knee.

… Right Flank (Clovis Deladrier in 1948) - the weapon arm is three quarters extended and at the outside limit of the target, the hand is at the level of the outside shoulder, the hand in pronation with the wrist bent down so as to direct the point to the lowest part of the opponent's groin, the cutting edge to the outside.

Only one source describes a guard with the arm extended only partly and the blade vertical:

… Vertical Seconde (Antonio Domingos Pinto Martins 1895) - the arm is in the high line, bent, the hand is in front of the outside shoulder, the blade is held vertically with the cutting edge to the outside.  

With the exception of Maestro Pinto Martins's Vertical Second, all the guards described are either a flat blade with a partial extension at the waist level or a downward slanted blade with a full extension of the arm at shoulder level.

When we consider the schools in which these Fencing Masters taught, the arm extended in the high line is clearly Italian in application.  Pecoraro, Pessina, Barbasetti are Italian trained and Bertrand held the Diploma of the Accademia Nazionale di Scherma of Naples; Van Humbeek's association with the Italian School is not mentioned in his text and the source of his training is uncertain.  

R. A. Lidstone describes the waist level guard as a Short Second Guard and attributes it to the Italian school, and Castello identified his sabre methods as Italian in origin.  However, Rondelle and Deladrier were Maitres d'Armes trained in the French school.  The source of the waist level guard thus requires more research.  

Copyright 2018 by Walter G. Green III


Varieties of Second in Sabre by Walter G. Green III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.