W.1. How Many Sections to the Foil Blade?

If we start at the pommel end of the foil blade and work toward the guard, the French blade and orthopaedic grip blades typically have a tang within the grip that is secured to the pommel and that ends at the guard.  In true Italian pattern blades the tang transitions into a flat ricasso inside the guard.  And that is all there is to a blade until it emerges as one long, tapering piece of steel from the guard.  The question becomes how many regions is the fencing end of the blade divided into?  The answer is not as obvious as you might think ...

There is common agreement that the blade has two regions (not including the point):

• Hutton (1891) describes two parts, the Forte, extending from the guard to the center of the blade, used for turning aside attacks, and the Feeble, the portion of the blade extending from the Forte to the point.
• The 1908 French regulations (the Amateur Fencers League of America translation) clearly states that the blade has two parts, the Forte which is the half of the blade nearest the guard, and the Foible which is the half nearest the point.  The forte is used for parries and takings of the blade, and the foible for beats and presses.
• Deladrier (1948) states that the blade is divided into two halves, the Forte, the stronger half from the guard to the middle, and the Foible, the weaker half from the middle to the point.

And there is agreement by some that the blade has two asymmetrical regions:

• Colmore Dunn (1899) divides the blade  into two parts, the one third closest to the guard as the Forte and the remaining two-thirds toward the point as the Foible.
• Grandiere (1906) uses the same one third Fort and two-thirds Faible division.  However he describes the use of the point to execute touches, the middle for engagement, and the Heel or Fort for parrying.

But there is also common agreement that the blade has three regions (not including the point):

• The 1877 French Ministry of War Manuel d'Escrime (Slee's translation) references the Heel, the strong part next to the guard, used for parries, the Middle, the middle part used for engagement, and the Point, the forward, weak part of the blade with which hits are made.
  
• Parise (1884, Holzman's translation) divides the blade into three equal parts, from the guard forward, the Forte, Medio, and Debole.
• Rondelle (1892), a French trained Master, also identifies three equal parts of the blade, from the guard, the Heel, used for parries, the Middle, used for engagement, and the Point, the part used to make touches. 
• Heintz (1895) identifies the first third of the blade from the point as the Feeble, used for thrusting.  The middle third is the Middle, used for engagement.  The third closes to the guard is the Fort, used for parrying.
• Manrique (1920) divides the blade into three equal subdivisions, the Forte nearest the handle, the Middle, and the Foible from the Middle to the point.
• Castello (1933), who describes foil technique in a French context, delineates three regions of the blade from the pint rearward: Weak, Middle, and Strong.   Beats are executed with the middle of the blade, and takings of the blade with the strong of the blade. 
• Vince (1937) identifies, from the guard forward, the Strong, Middle, used for beats and presses, and Weak.
• Nadi (1943) refers to the third nearest the guard as the Strong, the middle third as the Middle, and the supplest third nearest the point as the Weak.

The above is not an exhaustive coverage of all sources.  However, it suggests that the theory of the foil blade has three alternatives: (1) a blade with two equal parts, (2) a blade with a strong occupying one third of the length and the foible two thirds of the length, and (3) a blade with three equal divisions.  The understanding of the foil blade as having two regions appears to be a distinctly French understanding.  However, the three-region approach finds Italian and French School advocates.  There is some variability in the terminology, but the deciding factor in both terms and in divisions lies in the perception of apparent strength and the potential value for defense, engagement, and attack of each segment.

Note:  This post has been updated by post W.2 Additions to the Number of Sections of the Foil Blade (December 2021).

Sources:

Castello, Julio Martinez; The Theory and Practice of Fencing; [fencing manual]; Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, New York, United States of America; 1937.

Collmore Dunn, H. A.; Fencing; [fencing manual]; George Bell and Sons, London, United Kingdom; 1889.

Deladrier, Clovis; Modern Fencing; [fencing manual]; United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland, United States of America; 1948.

Manrique, Ricardo Enrique; Fencing Foil Class Work Illustrated; [fencing manual]; American Sports Publishing Company, New York, New York, United States of America, 1920.

France.  Ministry of War; Fencing Manual; translation by Chris Slee; [fencing manual]; reprint by Long Edge Press, no place; 1877 reprinted 2017.

France.  Ministry of War; Fencing: Foil, Epee, Sabre, Theory, Method, Regulations; translation by the Amateur Fencers League of America; [fencing manual]; Alex Taylor and Company, New York, New York, reprinted by Rose City Books, Portland Oregon, United States of America; 1908, reprinted 1908, Rose City Book reprint no date.

Grandiere, Maurice; How To Fence; [fencing manual]; The Walter Scott Publishing Company, New York, New York, United States of America; 1906.

Heintz, George, Sr.; Theory of Fencing With the Foil, in Form of a Catechism; [fencing manual]; Freidenker Publishing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States of America; reprint by Forgotten Books, London, United Kingdom; 1904, reprint no date.

Hutton, Alfred; The Swordsman: A Manual of Fence for the Foil, Sabre, and Bayonet; [fencing manual]; H. Grevel & Company, London, United Kingdom; reprint by The Naval and Military Press, Uckfield, East Sussex, United Kingdom; 1891, reprint no date.

Nadi, Also; On Fencing; [fencing manual]; G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, New York, United States of America; 1943.

Parise, Masaniello; Treatise on the Fencing of the Sword and Sabre; in The Roman-Neapolitan School of Fencing: The Collected Works of Masaniello Parise, Maestro di Scherma; translation by Christopher A. Holzman; [collected works]; Christopher A. Holzman, Wichita, Kansas, United States of America; 1884 reprinted as a collected work 2015.

Rondelle, Louis; Foil and Sabre: A Grammar of Fencing in Detailed Lessons for Professor and Pupil; [fencing manual]; Estes and Lauriat, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America; 1892. 

Vince, Joseph; Fundamentals of Foil Fencing; [fencing manual]; Joseph Vince, New York, New York, United States of America; 1937.

Copyright 2019 by Walter G. Green III

How Many Sections to the Foil Blade? by Walter G. Green III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

G.1. Miss McDonald's Cross Formation

How to arrange one's students for drills and other instruction is a significant portion of a trainer's duties.  Classical period fencing manuals tend to address these formations in three contexts: (1) a purely military one for instruction of military personnel (see, for example Corbesier 1869 Principals of Squad Instruction for the Broadsword), (2) a civilian adaptation of military formation and commands (Manrique's 1920 Fencing Foil Class Work Illustrated is an example), or (3) the theatrical for stage or exhibitions (see Cass's 1930 The Book of Fencing).  But there are unusual exceptions …

The British Pathe film collection includes a 1937 film of Miss Eleanor McDonald, the "foremost professional fencing instructor," teaching a class (https://youtube.com/watch?v=qK0uvn-BrCs).  Leaving aside the issue of Miss McDonald's preeminence as a fencing instructor, she employs an interesting cross shaped formation for groups of four students. 

In this formation the fencers are positioned at right angles to each other, and engage in the drill with the fencer directly opposite.  The distance chosen is easy lunge distance.  The formation requires each pair's blade action to occur at right angles to and across the action of the other pair.  Theoretically this might allow a greater number of drilling pairs to be fitted into a limited space, but it would seem to make supervision and correction more difficult.  Correction of one fencer would seem to bring activity by all four to a standstill, and demonstrations could be difficult for all participants to see.  

The exercise McDonald has her fencers demonstrate appears to be intended for use in an exhibition, as opposed to being instructional.  The exercise is conducted by command:

(1)  the fencers start on guard,
(2)  the fencers engage,
(3)  fencer A beats the fencer B's blade, and drops their own blade out of line,
(4)  fencer B swings the blade back over the arm and lunges,
(5)  both fencers recover and engage, and repeat,
(6)  the fencers recover backwards to attention with the arm and blade raised straight up,
(7)  the fencers resume guard,
(8)  the fencers recover, and salute the three opposite sides,
(9)  the fencers step to guard,
(10)  the fencers recover forward, and salute,
(11)  and shake hands across the cross.

Copyright 2019 by Walter G. Green III


Miss McDonald's Cross Formation by Walter G. Green III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

S.21.2.3. Back and Forward to Power the Cut

Maestro di Scherma Giuseppe Radaelli (in Captain Settimo del Frate's 1876 Instruction in Fencing with the Sabre and the Sword - Holzman's translation) and Professor Leopold J. M. P. Van Humbeek (in his 1905 Manual for Fencing with the Sabre - van Noort's translation) describe a set of body and leg movements made in conjunction with the moulinet (French), molinillo (Italian), or omhaalhouw (Dutch).  These challenge our interpretation of the moulinet and of attacking footwork, and, therefore, deserve examination.

Holzman's translation of del Frate reads (Chapter VIII):

"In order to power the sword, body movement is made by bending and straightening the legs alternately, while simultaneously tilting the trunk in the direction of the bending leg."

Van Noort's translation of Van Humbeek reads (Chapter II.15): 

"... upper body backward by extending the right leg and bending the left.  3.  Continuation of the circular arm movement in the same manner, cut to the head, in which the upper body is brought forward …"

Del Frate's volume appears to illustrate the sequence of leg and body movement he describes above in illustrations number 25, 26, and 28, all of which apply to removal of the opponent's blade from the line by expulsion.  Van Humbeek provides photographic illustration (figures and 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15) of a technique that involves a wider range of body movement and that can be characterized as:

(1)  Starting from a normal guard position. 

(2)  As the blade in the moulinet (executed from the elbow, not the hand or shoulder) travels in the early part of its circular movement toward the fencer's rear and away from the opponent, the fencer leans backward by fully straightening the front leg and further bending the rear leg.  The torso is far enough back to approach forming a straight line with the front leg.

(3)  As the blade starts to travel forward toward the opponent, the fencer shifts the body forward eventually ending with the sword arm fully stretched toward the target, non-weapon hand on the rear hip, torso leaning forward approximately 20 degrees from vertical, rear leg fully straightened, front leg bent with the knee directly over the toe of the front foot.

So what was this movement used for?  It seems to clash with van Humbeek's stress of balance in both the guard and the lunge.  The forward position clearly is not compatible with his photographic depiction of a correct lune. The weight distribution at the forward and rearward limits would clearly interfere with any footwork.  It could be combined with a regular or flying parry with a following moulinet riposte.  The rearward movement might deceive an attack or a remise … the first time.  After that an opponent would make appropriate adjustments of tactics to hit what becomes a very exposed target during the rearwards phase.  

The answer may lie in del Frate's phrase "in order to power the sword." Moulinets executed primarily with wrist and fingers are fast and heavy hits unless well controlled.  A cheek riposte executed with forearm, wrist, and fingers cost a competitor in a modern veterans event her hearing for a substantial amount of time in a bout.  The heavy cut to the head with a modern sabre thus clearly generates an impact that, if repeated chronically, could contribute to the same type of brain injury as a concussion.  Throwing the power generated by body weight movement into the impact of the heavier early classical sabre clearly can expel of disarm an opponent's weapon, and has the potential to be physically very dangerous. 

The second possibility is that by van Humbeek's time the backwards and forwards movement had become a training device, much as the moulinet survived for training for years after cuts had become the simple direct cut.  Although van Humbeek does not say that this is the case, his discussion of the movement is in the description of a technique identified in a section titled "Preparatory exercises" and ends with the statement that (Chapter II.18):

"It is said once more that these preparatory exercises form the basis of fencing with the sabre.  All movements of offense and defense are derived from these movements.  The more that you have mastered the last, the easier you learn the one mentioned first." 

Copyright 2019 by Walter G. Green III.

Forward and Back to Power the Cut by Walter G. Green III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

S.10. Barbasetti's Categories of Sabre Parries

Maestro di Scherma Luigi Barbasetti authored two fencing manuals in English, one on Foil and one on the Sabre and the Epee.  The Art of the Sabre and The Epee was published in 1936, but represents a translation of the German text, itself a translation of the Italian original text, prepared as a didactic fencing textbook for the Austro-Hungarian Normal Military Fencing School of Wiener-Neustadt sometime after Barbasetti was appointed director of that school in 1895 (and presumably prior to World War I).  Barbasetti stated that the Sabre and Epee were united in one book specifically because they were the dueling weapons.

For Barbasetti the parry in sabre falls into one of three categories.  It is not actually that simple, because Barbasetti describes subclasses, resulting in seven distinct types of parries:

(1)  Simple Parries

(2)  Yielding Parries

(2.a)  Genuine Yielding Parries

(2.b)  Yielding Parries in Response to Beats

(3)  Counter-Parries

(3.a)  Half-Counter Parries

(3.b)  Counter-Parries Executed While in the Lunge

The Simple Parries are a familiar set of 9 parries, executed as a change from an invitation, engagement, or parry to close another line:

• Prime
• Seconde
• Tierce
• Quarte
• Quinte
• Sixte
• Low Tierce
• Low Quarte
• Septime

Barbasetti describes the primary selection of simple parries as Prime, Seconde, and Quinte, forming one of the two traditional sabre defensive boxes.  He notes that the other parries should be practiced so that they can be used occasionally.

Yielding Parries use the opponent's force to position the parry and are divided into two categories based on the nature of the opponent's blade action and the fencer's response.

Genuine Yielding Parries maintain contact with the opponent's blade while yielding to the pressure of the graze (or glide) and thereby deflecting the blade.  These are:

• Prime in response to the opponent's pressure in tierce.
• Low Quarte in response to the opponent's pressure in seconde.

Yielding Parries in Response to Beats use the impetus of the beat to initiate the movement into the parrying position: 

• Yield into Low Quarte in response to a beat in the inner line and attempted cut to the chest against the fencer's invitation in prime. 
• Yield into Low Tierce in response to a beat in the inner line and attempted cut to the flank against the fencer's invitation in seconde.
• Yield into Septime in response to a beat in the inner line against the fencer's invitation in tierce.
• Yield into Prime in response to a beat in tierce and attempted cut to the inside cheek against the fencer's invitation in quarte.

Counter-Parries are circular parries executed by abandoning an engagement or parry to move the point in a circle returning to the original line:

• Counter-Parries of Tierce and Quarte pass the blade under the opponent's blade.
• Counter-Parries of Prime, Seconde, and Quinte pass the blade over the opponent's blade.
• There is no counter-parry of Sixte.  Barbasetti does not explicitly say so, but the mechanics involved rule out a counter-parry of Septime.

Half-Counter Parries derive from the circular movement patterns of the full counter-parries.  They include:

• Half-Counter from Seconde to parry in Quarte.
• Half-Counter from Seconde to parry in Sixte.
• Half-Counter from Quarte to parry in Sixte.
• Half-Counter from Tierce to parry in Prime.
• Half-Counter from Tierce to parry in Quinte. 
• Half-Counter from Quinte to parry in Prime.

Counter-Parries Executed While in the Lunge include two parries that are intended to be used against an opponent's riposte before the fencer recovers from the lunge:

• Counter-Prime following a parried head cut and an attempt by the opponent to riposte to the abdomen.
• Counter-Quinte following a parried head cut and an attempt by the opponent to riposte to the head.

Understanding how Fencing Masters describe and categorize the actions they teach may seem to be a "so-what" for the average fencer or the coach who simply focuses on how do you do enough to win.  However, understanding these taxonomies are important to understanding the doctrine of a School or an individual Master as well as the general state of the art.  For example, the inclusion of yielding parries in a sabre classification scheme shows how sabre technique retained a shared lineage with foil technique, something not commonly taught to sabre fencers today. 

Copyright 2019 by Walter G. Green III

Barbasetti's Categories of Sabre Parries by Walter G. Green III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.