12.3.1. The Stop Thrust in Foil

The stop thrust appears to be a simple action - you stick your arm out when the opponent attacks and hope for the best (he or she misses).  However, when we review the record of comments on the stop thrust, the situation becomes more complicated with a number of subtle variations, and some differences in what the action is called.

The French Ministry of War's 1877 manual (Slee's translation) describes the Stop Strike as an attack executed on a passing attack (the context suggests this is the advancing attack described by later sources) which uses multiple feints.  The thrust is executed on the opponent's advance.

Parise (1884, Holzman's translation) suggests the use of the Arrest at the moment an opponent initiates a feint or counterdisengage. His examples include the use of opposition to close the line of the thrust.  If the action is to be performed in tempo, the opponent must use an action with at least two motions.  It is possible, and artistic, to hit in the last feint if the opponent employs a double feint at lunge distance, but Parise recommends the use of inquartata or passata sotto to remove the body from the line and avoid the double hit.

Heintz (1890) describes the stop thrust as being executed against an opponent who is closing the distance with an advance or series of advances.  It should be done immediately at the moment the opponent lifts the front foot for the step.  It may also be employed on any body movement preparatory to an attack, including a backward shift of the body to gain power in the lunge or a gathering forward step of the rear foot.

Pollock, Grove, and Prevost (1890) define the stop thrust as a simple attack executed at the moment the opponent raises the front foot when attacking with an advance.  They believe the stop is an excellent answer to the attack with the advance or the opponent who rushes with a series of steps to collapse the distance, and suggest that a properly executed stop thrust is almost impossible to parry.

Rondelle (1892) states that the stop thrust is executed by simple extension or lunge to check the execution of the attack.  To this end it should be delivered on the start of the advance, the start of the attack from a standstill, or on all wide feints up to the last feint. 

Grandiere (1906) describes two counterattacks, both of which may be identified as stop actions:

• Stop Thrust (Coup d'Arret) - a quick feint (the author terms this a feint, but also describes it as arriving) executed against an unprotected part of the body prior to the completion of the attack when the opponent is advancing or lunging.  Grandiere makes it clear that frequent use of this tactic is considered an abuse in foil and is bad form.
• Counter Attack - an attack delivered on the opponent's attack with the objective of forcing the opponent to abandon the original attack and remain on the defensive.  Grandiere's examples include the use of the froissement and the bind against the attack.

The 1908 edition of the French Ministry of War's manual (Amateur Fencers League of America translation) describes three counter attacks, all of which meet the core requirements of a stop thrust:

• Coup de Temps - the stop thrust employed against a composed (compound) attack so that it gains one or more tempos.
• Coup d'Arret - the stop thrust executed on an opponent's advance, whether or not the opponent follows the advance with an attack.
• Tension - an apropos extension of the arm against a simple attack  with does not establish sufficient cover.  Note that this opportunistic action is condemned with some force by Rondelle as being essentially a panicked reaction by a poorly trained fencer, not an actual fencing action. 

Manrique (1920) characterizes the stop as a rapid attack executed on the opponents advance in an attack starting with an advance, especially one with a wide feint or feints.

Castello (1933) indicates that the stop thrust is done against the opponent who attacks with a bent arm or with the point out of line.  Opposition is used to prevent the opponent's action from landing at all.  Castello recommends the stop thrust be employed in two ways.  Against an attack to the high outside line, the stop thrust is directed to the low line, with the blade closing the low outside against any replacement or attempt to parry low outside.  If the attack is to the inside line, the stop thrust is made in the high line, again closing the line. 

Grave (1934) describes the application of the stop thrust as an attack delivered with or without a lunge on the opponent's attack made with several feints with a bent arm or the point out of line.

Vince (1937) complicates the discussion with a different description of counterattacks:

• Time Thrust - a counteraction which arrives appreciably ahead of the attack.  This appears to be equivalent of the 1908 stop thrust by Coup de Temps.
• Stop Thrust - an ideal counterattack which prevents the opponents attack from landing.  He offers two cases for this.  The first, by landing on the preparation, prevents the actual development of the attack. This is consistent with the earlier discussions of being executed when the front foot is lifted in the advance of an attack by advance lunge and is thus a stop thrust as understood by the other authors.  The second option requires that the stop closes the line and lands with opposition.  

Deladrier (1948) states that the stop thrust is a straight thrust which may be executed with or without a lunge against the opponent's attack to arrive before the attack lands.  The timing of execution should be when the opponent starts to raise the front foot for the advance, or at the very start of the attack if there is no advance.  Deladrier clearly states that the stop thrust is executed on the attack, not on preparation.  The stop thrust is used when the opponent: (1) makes several feints, (2) leaves his line open during the advance of an advancing attack, or (3) or abandons blade contact in the attack. The conditions for employment of the stop thrust may be created by retreating on the lunge to provoke the opponent to make a subsequent attack with an initial advance and then lunge.

When we examine these descriptions of the stop thrust there are a number of common characteristics which identify the classical stop hit:

1. The thrust itself is direct.  It may be delivered with or without a closing of the final line or opposition to the opponent's blade.
2. The stop thrust may be delivered with or without a lunge.
3. The thrust is executed on the start of the forward step of an advance lunge attack or on the start of the lunge if there is no advance.  The intent is to prevent the successful development of the attack.  
4. If the opponent's attack consists of multiple feints or is incorrectly executed with a bent arm, the stop is intended to either land with a tempo advantage (the completion of the thrust during a feint, prior to the start of the final tempo of the attack) or prior to the start of the attack (the bent arm or the blade out of line offering that opportunity with a competent President and Jury).
5. The action clearly requires keen observation to detect the start and timing of movement and the ability to translate observation into an immediate thrust.
6. The action also has a psychological component that demands the ability to recognize the moment for action in the general flow of the phrase. 

Copyright 2018 by Walter G. Green III

The Stop Thrust in Foil by Walter G. Green III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.