S11.1.2.1/12.3 The Thrust in Fourth with the Hand in Fourth

The general view of the sabre point thrust is that it is generally performed to the inside high line with the hand pronated.  This is true whether the action is an attack, a counterattack, or a riposte.  But is that all there is?

We can make some basic assumptions about the point thrust in sabre:

(1)  The objective is to hit the opponent on the target either with an attack or riposte with the priority or as a counterattack.

(2)  The thrust is generally delivered with the hand in pronation (the Italian second hand position).  This allows the blade to bend in the same way each time.

(3)  The guard is positioned when the hand is in pronation to provide some protection against cuts to the head and outside arm.

But, in meeting these assumptions we position the inside arm exposed to cuts or thrusts when the point thrust is executed in a high inside line.  And that is at least a theoretical problem, and, depending on the opponent's skill, a real problem given that attempting to close the line with the hand in pronation is uncomfortable. 

Parise includes the solution in his 1884 Treatise on the Fencing of the Sword and Sabre. A point thrust riposte from a parry in fourth can be conducted with the hand in Italian fourth position (with supination of the hand).  In this position, the guard protects the arm; although the blade may bend in the opposite to normal direction, a riposte can be delivered with opposition to defeat a renewal of the attack.

Parise also provides in the 1904 edition of this same text (reference Holzman translation) the inquartata with a cut being executed with the hand in supination.  He does not indicate that the same action could be done with the point thrust, but the accompanying illustration could be of either a cut to the inside cheek or a point thrust to the head.  The value of blocking the opponent's attack with the guard of the fencer's sabre appears obvious and practical for both cut and thrust.

Settimo del Frate's description of Radaelian sabre does not include the point thrust with the hand in fourth.  Equivalent French War Ministry manuals from 1877 and 1908 and British War Office's manual from 1895, describing Fernando Masiello's system, include references to ripostes in contact with the blade from fourth, but they do not provide sufficient detail to allow identification of hand positions.

Fencing in the line of fourth using a direct thrusting riposte with the hand in Italian fourth hand position clearly existed.  Point thrusts as an attack with the hand in fourth hand position appears to be a logical way to execute an action with opposition, but we have not yet discovered evidence of it. The delivery of a point action in an inquartata with the hand in fourth hand position may be guessed at.  But this is clearly a rare, but interesting way to execute the point thrust.

Sources:

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.

Holzman, Christopher A.; The Art of the Dueling Sabre: A Reintroduction of Italian-School Fencing with the Dueling Sabre based on a Translation of Capt. Settimo del Frate’s Award-winning 1876 Treatise for Maestro Guiseppe Radaelli’s Military Fencing Master’s School in Milano; [fencing manual]; SKA Swordplay Books, Staten Island, New York, United States of America; 2011.

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.

United Kingdom. War Office; Infantry Sword Exercise; [fencing manual]; War Office, London, United Kingdom, reprinted by The Military and Naval Press, Uckfield, East Sussex, United Kingdom; 1905 reprinted no date.

Copyright 2020 by Walter G. Green III

The Thrust in Fourth with the Hand in Fourth by Walter G. Green III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.