P. Garcet de Vauresmont authored a short fencing manual covering technique and other matters for foil, epee, and sabre, published in Paris in 1912. In that manual the standard parries for epee are discussed, and in two cases, sixte (sixth) and quinte (fifth), illustrated. And there lies a point of interest. De Vauresmont is not a widely cited name in period fencing manuals, but his manual contained a foreword by Professor Ruze, then Vice-President of the Academie d'Epee. That is one of two reasons that the illustration of an epee parry in quinte is interesting.
The first reason is that de Vauresmont illustrates only two of the six parries that he mentions. Of these, quinte, is problematic. De Vauresmont himself states that quinte is of no use in almost any fencing situation. Claude La Marche is more detailed in his critique, pointing out that quinte is a dangerous and bad parry because once committed to it, a follow-up parry to defeat a compound attack is difficult to execute. The 1908 French Ministry of War regulations describe quinte as not recommended, because it took the blade into the low line, but did not remove it from the line of the body. So why did de Vauresmont select this picture for inclusion, especially in light of the endorsement of his work by an officer of the Academie d'Epee of Paris? Or is this one more case of a publisher inserting a picture that the author did not intend?
The second reason the illustration is interesting is that it allows reconstruction of how a quinte parry was executed from the straight arm. De Vauresmont pictures the epee guard as essentially a straight arm guard. When we come to the parry of quinte, the picture can best be described as grainy, the blade position is difficult to determine, but it is clear that is executed from the straight arm. He describes the hand position of fifth as with the nails underneath, in other words, in the hand in pronation. This is consistent with La Marche's critique of the power delivered by the parry.
The 1877 French Ministry of War manual indicates that the action in foil is performed against an attack into the inside line by (1) turning the hand with the nails up, (2) crossing above the opponent's blade, and (3) beating the blade down into the low line. The blade, wrist, and forearm end up horizontal to the ground and perpendicular to the fencer's body. The riposte (4) is direct to the high line. This appears to be consistent with de Vauresmont's picture if the technique was executed from a straight arm guard.
Sometimes the small and not well-known text provides insights into technique that answer questions - sometimes they suggest more questions. But a thicker book, and a well-known reputation, does not mean that other texts are not worth reading. So try de Vauresment's parry quinte. Is it more powerful with the rotation into pronation or with a rotation into supination? Does it leave you vulnerable or does the strength of the action leave you vulnerable? Should it be part of your straight arm epee technique?
Sources:
de Vauresmont, P. Garcet;
L’Escrime: Fleuret, Epee, et Sabre; [fencing manual]; Editions Nilsson,
Paris; 1912. Reprinted by Hachette Livre
{BnF; no place; no date; under the misspelled author’s name of P. Garcet de
Vauremont.
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.
La Marche, Claude; The
Dueling Sword; translation by Brian House; [fencing manual]; Ernest
Flammarion, Paris, France; 1898; translated and reprinted by Paladin Press,
Boulder, Colorado, United States of America; 2009.
Copyright 2021 by Walter G. Green III
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