T.7. What Is Fencing (to 1900)?

The most basic question that we can ask about fencing is "what is fencing?"  How this question is answered by the authors of fencing texts is important, not only as a definition, but also as a basic doctrinal statement about what it is that we do with the point (foil and epee) and counter-point (sabre) weapons.  Logically we should expect the question to be asked and the answer given at the start of any text in order to frame the following discussion of techniques and tactics.   However, a perusal of a number of fencing texts (either English language or translations - this sample is a convenience one) from the period up to 1900 shows that that is not the case.  Those that do include:

• Roux, F. A. W. L. (1849): "teaches us to use the sharp weapon skillfully.  This means to parry cuts and thrusts., disarm the same or through proper attacks, that is those which prevent him from attacking us while we thrust or cut to wound or subjugate, such that he may not harm us with his weapon.
• Chapman (1861): "scheme upon which the recognized method of attack and defence is founded."
• Merlo y Casademunt (1862): "that which contains the necessary rules for handling of all known cutting and thrusting weapons; this being its only and principal objective; that the individual who uses them acquires the necessary resources to offend and defend."
• De Bazancourt (1862): identifies three styles of fencing, as a gymnastic exercise, as an exact science, and for self-protection.
• Chalaupka (1875): "the study of the appropriate use of thrusting or cutting weapons used in individual combat." 
• Parise (1884): "Fencing, generally speaking, consists of tempo, velocity, and measure; that is, it is necessary to choose the correct moment for the execution of an action, uniting the choice of tempo to the proper velocity and striking at that measure which will be enough to touch the opponent."
• Schneider (1887): "the teaching of the functional use of the thrust- and cut-weapon in single combat; it gives us the means to attack our opponent with artful skill, as well as the necessary skill to reject their attack.
• Sanz (1888): "the art which teaches us to injure the adversary, avoiding that he injures us."
• Grove (see Pollock) (1890): "the art of giving without receiving"
• Rondelle (1892):  defines fencing as a "science," but does not reveal what that science is.
• La Marche (1898) does not directly pose the answer but described fencing in the terms of: "the conception, the execution, the speed and a sense of the appropriate ..." with execution being of an idea, a plan.

From these definitions or explanations is it possible to develop a common basic doctrinal statement of the intent of fencing in the early classical period?  The following list of themes is the first step:

• a science or art - (science) De Bazancourt, Rondelle - (art) Sanz, Grove
• use of white weapons (the cutting or thrusting weapons) - Roux, Merlo y Casademunt, Chalaupka, Schneider
• defense (parrying cuts or thrusts) - Roux, Chapman, Merlo y Casademunt, Schneider
• disarming - Roux
• offense (proper attacks) - Roux, Chapman, Merlo y Casademunt, Schneider
• hitting without being injured - Roux, Sanz, Grove
• a standard scheme or rules or appropriate use - Chapman, Merlo y Casademunt, Chalaupka, La Marche
• individual combat -  Chalaupka
• correct moment of execution - Parise
• teaching or study - Schneider, Roux, Chalaupka

So, if we craft a doctrinal statement incorporating these themes that describes classical fencing before 1900, we arrive at something like the following:

"Fencing is the science of the use of white weapons in individual combat incorporating offense and defense at the correct moment according to their appropriate use to hit an opponent while minimizing the chances of being hit.  Likewise, it is the teaching and study of the science." 

Sources:

Chalaupka, Franz; A Guide for teaching Saber-Fencing; translation by Richard Barberie; [fencing manual]; Karl Prochaska, Vienna, Austria-Hungary; 1875; translation reprinted by Richard Barberie as Fanz Chalaupka's Sabre Fencing; no place; 2021.

Chapman, George; Foil Practice, with a Review of the Art of Fencing;" [fencing Manual]; W. Clowes and Sons, London, United Kingdom; 1861.

De Bazancourt, Cesar; Secrets of the Sword; [fencing manual]; translation by C. F. Clay; Laureate Press, Bangor, Maine, United States of America; first published in French in 1862, translated 1900, Laureate Press publication 1998.

La Marche, Claude; The Dueling Sword; translation by Brian House; [fencing manual]; Ernest Flammarion; Paris, France; reprinted by Paladin Press, Boulder, Colorado, United States of America; 1898 reprinted 2009.

Merelo y Casedemunt, Jose; Manual of Fencing: Compilation of the Most Principal Techniques that Constitute the True Fencing of the Spanish Saber and of the Foil; translation by John Jakelsky; [fencing manual]; Typography Establishment of R. Labajos, Madrid, Spain; translated and reprinted by John Jakelsky, Xativa, Valencia, Spain; 1878, reprinted 2019.

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.

Pollock, Walter H., F. C. Grove, and Camille Prevost; Fencing; 2^nd 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: A Grammar of Fencing in Detailed Lessons for Professor and Pupil; [fencing manual]; Estes and Lauriat, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America; 1892.

Roux, Friedrich August Wilhelm Ludwig; Die Kreussler'sche Stossfechtschule for Use by Academies and Military Schools Based on a Mathematical Basis; translation by Christopher Treichel; [fencing manual]; Druck and Verlag von Friedrich Mauke, Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany; translated and reprinted by Christopher Treichel; 1849, reprinted 2016. 

Sanz, Adelardo [translation by John Jakelsky]; Saber Fencing and Considerations About the Duel; [fencing manual]; first published in Spanish by Imprenta de Fortanet, Madrid, Spain; 1886; translated edition published by John Jakelsky, Xativa, Valencia, Spain; 2020.

Schneider, Friedrich; Friedrich Schneider's Infantry Saber; translation by Jeremy Steflik; [fencing manual]; Nydegger and Baimgart, Berne, Switzerland; reprint by Jeremy Steflik, East Haddam, Connecticut, United States of America; 1887, reprint 2018.

Copyright 2022 by Walter G. Green III

What Is Fencing (to 1900)? by Walter G. Green III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.