Classical Academy of Arms: 10.1.1.7.1.b. Half-Circle

What is a Half-Circle and why? Fencing has a number of things that are halves of other things: Half-Lunge, Half-Disengage, Half-Step, and I am sure that is not all. But Half-Circle is a very particular case that deserves some examination.

We are used to lists of French School parries that include First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth parries. But occasionally the series is broken, and we encounter … Fifth, Sixth, Half-Circle, and Eighth. The Italian School also has a half-circle of its own, the mezzochercio.

Half-Circle, and its other incarnations as Demi-Circle and Semi-Circle is a parry, of some antiquity found in sources prior to the classical period as early as Clarke's Boy's Own Book in 1829. Clarke notes that the parry of Semi-Circle is of specific use for defense against attacks of Low Fourth, Second, and the disengage thrust of Fourth Over Arm. The parry was executed by lowering the point and moving the blade to the inside approximately 6 inches as the blade is advanced forward and the hand is raised to mouth level. .

Clarke is important in another way. His illustrations show parries in the low line executed based on a target above the waist. The forearm remains in the same place as in a parry of Third, but the hand is bent downward with the blade extending below the waist. This same version of the parry appears in illustrations accompanying Griffiths (1868), The French Ministry of War (1877), Benedict (1883, a close copy of Griffiths), and Colmore Dunn (1891). Although this parry in Eighth and Half-Circle appears unusual to modern eyes, it makes sense for the protection of the target area when that target is limited to above the waist and allows a quick riposte in the high lines.

In 1863 "Stonehenge" and Wood make a brief mention of Demi-Circle in their book Archery, Fencing, and Broadsword. Demi-Circle is described as a sweep of the fencer's blade across the low line.

Griffiths describes the Half-Circle parry in 1868 in The Modern Fencer as being used, after a parry in third, against an attack in second or low fourth. The hand is raised to shoulder height in supination, the point low, the arm is bent across the body, and the elbow drawn inward.

Griffiths also describes the use of Half-Circle as a Counter of Half-Circle and possibly even a Double Counter of Half-Circle. In the Counter of Half-Circle, if the opponent avoids the parry of Half-Circle by disengaging over the blade as it crosses to the inside, the fencer makes a circular parry to meet the opponent's blade in the final position of the Half-Circle. The Double Counter of Half-Circle repeats the circular parry to defeat a second attempt to escape the parry.

The 1877 Fencing Manual published by the French Ministry of War (Slee translation) describes Half-Circle as a defense against attacks in the low line. The fencer turns the hand into supination and lowers the point so that it is below the opponent's wrist. The fencer executes a movement of the blade and wrist from outside to inside, the wrist remaining at the same level throughout.

If the opponent attempts to escape from Half-Circle, the fencer raises the point and passes above the opponent's blade to return to the parrying position. This is essentially the same as Griffiths's Counter of Half-Circle.

Benedict in his Manual of Boxing, Club Swining and Manly Sports in 1883 does not address Half-Circle. However, he does include a paragraph discussing in brief the Counter Half-Circle and the Double Counter Half-Circle parries with essentially the same text as Griffiths.

As late as 1920, Manrique in Fencing Foil Class Work Illustrated discusses Seventh or Half-Circle. The description identifies the purpose of the parry as defending against an attack in the low line, and could be consistent with the above descriptions of Half-Circle or with the modern execution of Seventh.

Collmore Dunn's 1891 edition of Dunn's Fencing Instructor and Hutton's The Swordsman includes the modern concept of Septime (Seventh) as a low line parry equivalent to Octave (Eighth). It is a distinctly different parry executed from Fourth against the attack in the low line with a semi-circular blade movement to the outside. This description is repeated by Rondelle 1892, in Prevost's section of Pollock and Grove in 1902, and the 1908 edition of the French Ministry of War's manual. Effectively Half-Circle in what may be its earlier configuration disappears in the 20 year window between 1890 to 1910.

So what can we extract from this data?

First, we do not know why all of the French system parries were initially numbered except Half-Circle. The fact that this is the case suggests that Half-Circle is different from the normal lateral, vertical, or circular parry.

Second, for Half-Circle (Semi-Circle or Demi-Circle) itself, it is a parry that sweeps across the low lines ("Stonehenge and Wood) dealing with attacks in Second, the disengage into Fourth Over Arm, and Low Fourth.

Third, how Half-Circle is executed is open to some question. Illustrations and text references suggest that it starts from Third or Sixth (French Ministry of War, Griffiths), or possibly from Fourth with a large circular movement. Descriptions refer to lowering the blade (French Ministry of War). However, a semi-circular movement, initially to the outside, from the high line taking the opponent's blade from behind to move it from Third or Sixth to the low lines would seem to be faster than dropping the point vertically and then moving laterally. It may be of some interest that this is a parrying movement that is often experienced with beginners when teaching the parry of Eight or Second from Third of Sixth; in error the student takes the semi-circular parry toward the inside, instead of toward the outside.

Fourth, this appears to be a contraction parry, one which moves the parried blade across the target area. Contraction parries have an increased risk of the opponent scoring by simply continuing the attempt to hit after first contact. None of the later First through Eighth parries are contractions whether as a direct parry, a semi-circular (high to low or reverse in the same vertical line, or a circular parry. However, if the parry is intended as a diagonal or lateral movement from Sixth toward Fourth,

Fifth, if we are correct, why does Half-Circle disappear? The movement pattern, if in fact it is a semi-circular transition into a sweep across the low line, actually appears to be close to the modern concept of the diagonal parry.

Sixth, if we accept Half-Circle as distinct technique, we have identified three distinct classical techniques in the Counter of Half-Circle and the Double Counter of Half Circle.

Sources:

Benedict, George H.; Manual of Boxing, Club Swinging and Manly Sports; [sports manual]; no publisher, no place, reprint by Read Books Ltd., no place; 1883, reprint 2013.

Clarke, William; The Boy’s Own Book; [sports manual]; Monroe and Francis, Boston, Massachusetts, reprinted by Applewood Books, Bedford, Massachusetts, United States of America; 1829, reprint no date.

Collmore Dunn, H. A.; Dunn's Fencing Instructor; [fencing manual]; Street and Smith Publishers, New York, New York, United States of America; 1891.

France. Ministry of War; Fencing Manual (Manuel d'Escrime); translation by Chris Slee; [fencing manual]; Ministere de la Guerre, Paris, France; translated edition published by Long Edge Press, no place; 1877, translation 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 translated 1908, Rose City Book reprint no date.

Griffiths, B. T.; The Modern Fencer with the Most Recent Means of Attack and Defence when Engaged with an Adversary; [fencing manual]; Frederick Warne and Co., London, United Kingdom; 1868.

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

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

Pollock, Walter H., F. C. Grove, and Camille Prevost; Fencing; 2^nd edition; [fencing manual]; Longman’s, Green, and Company, London, United Kingdom; 1890.

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.

"Stonehenge" (possibly John Henry Walsh) and J. G. Wood; Archery, Fencing, and Broadsword; [sports manual]; Routledge, Warne, and Routledge, London, United Kingdom; 1863.

Copyright 2020 by Walter G. Green III.