Note: This post specifically addresses English language fencing terminology.
What happens when two fencers decide to fence? What do we call the ensuing combat?
One answer can be found in Book 1 - The Technical Rules of the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Rules for Fencing. The International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports federation defines two forms of combat by paired individuals:
(1) "A friendly combat between two fencers is called an assault."
(2) "When the score of such an assault is kept to determine a result, it is called a bout."
This is a modern definition of assaults and bouts that has been in use for an extended period of time in the official international and United States rules for the sport. However, it is worth asking the question: where did this interpretation of the terminology come from?
As an aside it is worth noting that the index of both the USA Fencing Rules of Fencing and the index of the Federation Internationale d'Escrime's Technical Rules list rule t.2 - in the USA Fencing rulebook the listing includes "Assaults and Bouts" but there is no actual text for rule t.2. The Federation Internationale d'Escrime index lists t.2 with no indication of its intended topic. That is why we are using the wheelchair rules as the basis for this discussion. Apparently bouts and assaults are no longer to be distinguished or defined in the rules.
But have the Assault and the Bout always been defined the way noted above? The answer is no. When we look at the published sources, we see:
- Prevost's 1890 Fencing - refers to both the "assault" and "free play" as training activities.
- Colmore-Dunn's 1891 Dunn's Fencing Instructor - identifies two uses of the term "Assault," the first when spectators are present (page 87), and the second as "loose play" in the fencing club (page 91).
- Hutton's 1891 The Swordsman - includes rules for the "Assault" in which a jury assesses touches and fencers may be handicapped in the modern sense of being given a certain number of touches to make the contest more even (pages 123-124). He also uses the term for "loose play" in the club (page 61).
- Rondelle's 1892 Foil and Sabre - includes a set of rules for amateur competition that mention the term "bout" (page 176) but refers to the role of the jury in conducting the "assault" (page 177). An extensive discussion of assaults (pages 169-175) leaves one with the clear impression that touches count.
- Pavese's 1905 Foil and Sabre Fencing - in the "assault" there should always be a referee who, among other duties records the score in points (page 88).
- The French Ministry of War 1908 Fencing (translation distributed by the Amateur Fencer's League of America) - both "bout" and "assault" are used, but in the context that the assault is a complete fencing process of which the bout is part (pages 30-32).
- Castello's 1933 The Theory and Practice of Fencing - does not refer to assaults, and uses the term "bout" widely in the work.
- Maitre Felix Grave's 1934 Fencing Comprehensive - the combats in a pool are referred to as "fights" (page 90-95) and the President of the Jury is directed to "direct the assaults and announce the result of each fight ..." (page 95).
- The Amateur Fencing Association's 1937 Rules for Competitions - "bouts" are not specifically mentioned; the term "assault" is used for the number of combats in a pool in a competition and in terms of the responsibility of the President to manage the combat (pages 12 and 30-37).
- Hett's 1939 Fencing - discusses practice "assaults" to develop specific defensive skills (page 89) and "loose play" for general training (pages 96-99).
- Vince's 1940 Fencing - "assaults" are not mentioned; combat between two individuals is a "bout."
- The Amateur Fencers League of America 1940 Fencing Rules - "A bout is a contest between two individuals, and may or may not be part of a match." (page 28).
- Deladrier's 1948 Modern Fencing - "assaults" are not mentioned; combat between two individuals is a "bout."
- Lidstone's 1952 Fencing - a discussion of "loose play" clearly indicates that it is a form of training in which the manner of making the hit is the important factor (pages 160-162 and 168). The terms "assault," "bout," and "competition" are used interchangeably depending on context.
- The Amateur Fencers League of America 1957 Fencing Rules and Manual - "Friendly combat between two fencers is called 'loose play.' When a score is kept of such combat to determine a result, the contest is called a 'bout'." (page 2)
- The Amateur Fencers League of America 1965 Fencing Rules and Manual - "Friendly combat between two fencers is called an 'assault.' When the score of such an assault is kept to determine a result it is called a 'bout'." (page 14)
- The Amateur Fencers League of America 1968 Fencing Rules - "Friendly combat between two fencers is called an 'assault.' When the score of such an assault is kept to determine a result it is called a 'bout'." (page 14)
- The Amateur Fencers League of America 1974 Fencing Rules for Competitions - "Friendly competition between fencers is called 'free play' ['assault']; when the score is kept in a competition, it is called a 'bout' ['match']." (page 13)
What can we determine from these sources? It should be noted that this is not an exhaustive coverage of all possible English language sources and that a more comprehensive study may be needed to more accurately identify the dates of transitions between terms.
(1) Up to the general cessation of fencing for World War II "assault" clearly has the meaning of a bout between two fencers, without a differentiation as to whether touches were counted, points were award for style, or a winner announced.
(2) "Loose play" appears early in the classical period, disappears from the record in the late 1950s and the middle of the 1960s. "Free play," as an equivalent of "loose play," appears briefly in the 1970s.
(3) The "assault" as purely a friendly form of combat and the "bout" as the assault with a score kept emerges well after the end of the classical period.
Why do we have such variation? One factor is that until recently the formal rules for fencing were written in French by the Federation Internationale d'Escrime and then translated into English by the Amateur Fencing Association of the United Kingdom. Then these rules were adopted (or not adopted) by the Amateur Fencers League of America. In the process there have been, at times, changes in the meaning of the text.
Romantic views of classical fencing have also influenced how the terms are used in modern classical fencing. The ideal of an assault at arms in which touches are not counted, graceful precise fencing is rewarded by the applause of the spectators, and everyone adjourns at appropriate times for champagne and strawberries is a modern ideal that was honored primarily by its absence from period events. Accounts of Senac's and Monstery's individual matches and accounts and videos of exhibition matches after World War I show that the participants, newspaper fencing correspondents, the president and jury, and those who bet on the outcomes were fully aware of the number of touches scored by each participant.
Sources:
Amateur Fencers League of America;
Fencing Rules and Manual; editor
Miguel A. de Capriles; [rules book]; Amateur Fencers League of America, New
York, New York, United States of America; 1957.
Amateur Fencers League of America; Fencing Rules and Manual; editor Jose R. de Capriles; [rules book]; Amateur Fencers League of America, West New York, New Jersey, United States of America; 1965.
Amateur Fencers League of America; Fencing Rules; [rules book]; Amateur Fencers League of America, West New York, New Jersey, United States of America; 1968.
Amateur Fencers League of America; Fencing Rules; translation by Joseph Byrnes; [rules book]; Amateur Fencers League of America, Westfield, New Jersey; 1974.
Castello, Julio Martinez; The Theory and Practice of Fencing; [fencing manual]; Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, New York, United States of America; 1937.
Colmore Dunn, H. A.; Dunn's Fencing Instructor; [fencing manual]; Street and Smith Publishers, New York, New York, United States of America; 1891.
Deladrier, Clovis; Modern Fencing; [fencing manual]; United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland, United States of America; 1948
Federation Internationale d'Escrime; Technical Rules; [Internet page] at https://static.fie.org/uploads/25/127073-technical%20rules%20ang.pdf ; January 2021.
Grave, Felix; Fencing Comprehensive; [fencing manual]; Hutchinson and Company,
London, United Kingdom; 1934.
Hett, Geoffrey V.; Fencing;
[fencing manual]; Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., London, United Kingdom;
1939.
Hutton, Alfred; The Swordsman; [fencing manual]; H. Grevel and Company, London, United Kingdom; 1891.
International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation; IWAS
Wheelchair Fencing: Rules for Competition; [Internet page] at https://wheelchairfencing.iwasf.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/1-IWF-Technical-Rules-Jan-2020.pdf; January 2020.
Lidstone, R. A.; Fencing; [fencing manual]; H., F. & G. Witherby, London, United Kingdom; 1952.
Monstery, Thomas Hoyer; Self-Defense for Gentlemen and Ladies;
edited by Ben Miller; [combatives manual]; Blue Snake Books, Berkeley,
California, United States of America; 2015.
Pavese, Generoso; Foil and Sabre Fencing; [fencing manual]; Press of King Brothers, Baltimore, Maryland; 1905.
Pollock, Walter, H., F. C. Grove,
and Camille Prevost; Fencing; 2nd
edition; in the Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes; [fencing
manual]; Longman’s, Green, and Company, London, United Kingdom; 1890.
Rondelle, Louis; Foil and Sabre; [fencing manual]; Estes and Lauriat, Boston, Massachusetts, 1892.
The Amateur Fencing Association; Rules for Competition; translation by C.
L. de Beaumont; [rules book]; The Amateur Fencing Association, London, United
Kingdom; 1937.
USA Fencing, Fencing Rules; [Internet page] at https://cdn2.sportngin.com/attachments/document/f840-2248253/2020-08_USA_Fencing_Rules.pdf#_ga=2.77349973.1986710130.1623850594-1576243361.1610675389; accessed 15 June 2021.
Vince, Joseph; Fencing; [fencing manual]; A. S. Barnes and Company, New York, New York, United States of America; 1940.
Copyright 2021 by Walter G. Green III
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