Captain Alfred Hutton occupies an important position in the development of fencing in the classical period. He made a mark on the organization of fencing as a sport, serving as the first President of the Amateur Fencing Association of Great Britain. He was a strong advocate for the military use of the sword in a day when the sword was clearly becoming obsolete on the battlefield. And his writings still today are followed by fencers who fence with the so-called Hutton sabre.
Two volumes in particular Cold Steel: A Practical Treatise on the Sabre (1889) and The Swordsman (1898) (both available in reprint), lay out Hutton's approach to the use of the sabre. One area in which his method is clearly distinctive is in his selection of parries. The system he advocates is complex, even when compared to sources that use a French approach to sabre, and requires some study because of its use of a significantly different numbering system than that of the contemporary Italian numbering of parries. The result is 17 parries:
PRIME - the weapon arm brought across the body to the inside at shoulder height, the hand in pronation, the guard and front edge turned to the inside, the blade near vertical, point down. This parry defends the inside line against a descending cut from the inside.
HIGH PRIME - the weapon arm is across the body and extended to the inside front with the blade and guard up, hand in pronation, the point approximately 6 to 8 inches below the horizontal. This defends against a descending cut from high inside.
LOW PRIME - the weapon arm is across the body with the guard at waist height, hand in pronation, guard and blade turned to the inside front at approximately 45 degrees and near vertical point down. This defends against a rising cut from the low inside.
SECONDE - the weapon arm is carried to the outside with the guard at waist height, the hand in pronation, the guard and blade turned to the outside front and the blade near vertical point down. This defends against the rising cut from the low outside.
HIGH SECONDE - the hand in pronation is raised to shoulder height with the arm extended in the outside line, the front edge of the blade to the outside front, and the blade held vertically with the point down. This defends against a horizontal cut from the outside line.
TIERCE - the arm is bent with the forearm and hand at waist or lower chest height, the blade raised at an angle and blade and guard turned to the outside, the hand in pronation. This defends against a descending cut from the outside line.
HIGH TIERCE - the arm is raised from the position of tierce so that it is bent, the hand at head height, the guard and edge to the outside, and the blade inclined upward over the body so that the point is well above the inside line. This defends against the vertical descending cut.
LOW TIERCE - from the position of tierce the hnad is dropped to the level of the forward thigh. This defends against a horizontal cut from the outside.
QUARTE - the forearm is carried across the body at waist or lower chest height, the blade raised at an angle and blade and guard turned to the inside, the hand in supination. This defends against a descending cut from the inside.
HIGH QUARTE - the arm is raised from the position of quarte so that it is bent, the hand at head height, the guard and edge to the inside, and the blade inclined upward over the body so that the point is well above the outside line. This defends against the vertical descending cut.
HORIZONTAL QUARTE - the guard is dropped onto the forward thigh, the blade edge downward and the blade horizontal across the body. This defends against a rising vertical cut. Hutton attributes this parry to the Italian School, but it is not commonly pictured in Italian texts..
LOW QUARTE - from the position of quarte the hand is dropped to the level of the thigh with the blade inclining at approximately 45 degrees to the inside front. This defends against a horizontal cut from the inside.
SAINT GEORGE'S or HEAD PARRY - the upper arm is at shoulder height to the outside with the forearm near vertical and the hand slightly above the head in pronation, the guard and blade up, the blade pointing to the inside front and the point slightly lower than the guard. This defends against the descending vertical cut.
SIXTE - the arm is bent, held to the outside with the guard at lower chest level, point raised, the edge to the inside, hand in supination, protecting the outside high line with a back edge parry. This protects against a descending cut from the outside.
SEPTIME - the forearm is carried to the inside and lowered with the hand in supination in line with the rear hip, the guard and front edge of the blade to the inside front, the point slanted forward at about ankle height. This protects against a rising cut from low inside.
OCTAVE - the weapon arm is lowered forward, the hand in supination, the guard at waist level, the blade protecting the outside of the forward leg with a back edge parry, the point below the level of the knee. This protects against a rising cut from the outside.
HIGH OCTAVE - the upper arm is at shoulder height to the outside with the forearm near vertical and the hand slightly above the head in supination, the fingers are relaxed to all the blade to hang vertically, guard and edge to the outside front. This defends against the descending cut from high outside, particularly a coupe riposte to the fencer's right cheek. This parry is identical to the Italian seventh parry.
In 1889 Hutton specified that all parries are executed from the medium guard between tierce and quarte. At the same time he indicated that the most effective parries against attacks with the point were Quarte, Tierce, Seconde, Septime, and Prime.
In 1898 Hutton adds to the diagrams from 1889 to show the relationship flowing between Low Quarte, Quarte, and High Quarte, and the same for Low Tierce, Tierce, and High Tierce and for Seconde and High Seconde. In essence these parries from a steel curtain to defend the vertical inside and outside lines. Similarly Low Prime, Prime, and Saint George form a flowing defence against a transition of an attack from the inside line to the vertical cut. And by 1898 he no longer includes the High Prime, Octave, or Horizontal Quarte parries in his method.
Also in 1898 Hutton divides the parries into parries of primary importance and auxiliary parries. The primary parries are:
- Quarte with High and Low Quarte
- Tierce with High and Low Tierce
- Seconde
- Septime
The auxiliary parries are essentially parries of opportunity, parries taken against a riposte or counterriposte when the fencer is not in a position that would allow the use of one of the primary parries. These include:
- High Octave
- High Seconde
- Prime with High and Low Prime
- Saint George
Copyright 2019 by Walter G. Green III
Hutton's Sabre Parries by Walter G. Green III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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