Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/81

FENCING 71 Feints. In fenciug there are a great variety of feints, which it is not easy to describe intelligibly without figures. A feint is an intentional movement made to deceive an adversary. All thrusts, therefore, may, strictly speaking, come under the definition of feints, as the fencer s object, in all his attacks, is to deceive his antagonist. For the sake of convenience, however, straight thrusts and simple disengagements have been arranged under a separate head. In executing the feint called one tu*o, inside of the arm, supposing the adversary s body to be cohered in quarte, the parade of tierce is deceived; commencing from the outside, that of quarte is deceived ; from the position of the circle the octave, and from that of the octave the circle is deceived. This feint, if made inside the arm, is parried by the parade of quarte, or by the counter in tierce, made upon an opponent s second disengagement; upon the outside of the arm, by tierce, prime, or the counter in quarte ; and from the position of the octave, by octave or quinte. The feint one two is likewise made as a return after the parade of quarte or tierce, or sometimes after that of circle or octave. The cut and disengage is a species of one two, in making which from the position of quarte an adversary s parade of tierce is deceived, and from the position of tierce his parade of quarte. Cut and disengage, if made inside of the arm, is parried by quarte, or the counter in tierce ; if outside, by tierce or counter in quarte. Feint seconde is another feint very nearly resembling one two, and is generally made as a return after the parades of tierce, prime, or quiute. In this feint the octave or quinte is deceived ; and it is parried by tierce, prime, or quarte, the two former being the readiest where quinte is the parade deceived, but if the feint has been answered with octave, the thrust must then be parried with quarte. The feint one two three is made on either side of the blade, upon precisely the same principles as one two, the only difference between them consisting in making one disengagement more in the latter than in the former movement. The cut and one two is a species of one two three. These feints, if made over the arm, are parried with the simple parade of tierce ; if on the inside, with simple quarte. The other feints are doubling, which, mutatis nmtandis, is executed upon pre cisely the same principles ; one two and deceive the circle, executed from the inside position of quarte; one two and deceive the counter, which may be made from either side of the blade, but most frequently commences from the position of tierce ; feint fl.anconnade, which can be commenced only from the engagement of quarte ; feint seconde and deceive quarte, which is always commenced from the outside engagement, whether made as an attack or a return ; feint seconde and deceive tierce, which differs from the preceding only in the List disengagement ; one two and deceive quarte from the position of the circle, when the first disengagement is made over the adversary s wrist towards the body under the arm, and the second over the wrist to wards the inside of the body ; and doubling on both sides of the. arm, which is too complicated a feint to be frequently used in actual fencing, because it is difficult to follow the adversary s sword with certainty through many different parades, and there is much danger of "time thrusts " upon feints which consist of so many disengagements. Time thrusts are so called because the success of these movements depends entirely upon their being executed at the exact moment of time employed by the adversary in planning or in executing his attack ; and, when made cor rectly, they are by far the most scientific movements in fencing. There are two sort of time thrusts, in the execu tion of one of which it is necessary that the blades should cross each other, but for the completion of the other it is not absolutely necessary that the blades should even meet. Those time thrusts in the execution of which the blades cross are more scientific, and expose the fencer less to ex changed hits. There are two time thrusts in opposition one the time over the arm, and the other the time in octave. The former is applicable to all thrusts, however simple or complex the feint may be, provided the longe is made upon the outside ; whereas all longes directed to the inside of the body, or under the arm, are exposed to the time in octave ; and thus almost every thrust made in fencing affords an opportunity for one or other of these two move ments. Those time thrusts in which the opposition is not essential are made upon incorrect movements of the adver sary, when he exposes himself by the widen ess of his attacks, or by quitting the blade in a dangerous position, or by making too many disengagements in his feints, or by giving a variety of openings which the judgment of the fencer must determine how he is to take advantage of. This thrust is practised almost entirely upon irregular attacks, and requires great caution to be observed. It has been already stated that time thrusts in opposition, when correctly made upon good attacks, are perhaps the finest movements in fencing ; but young fencers should nevertheless attempt them very seldom, from the danger of misjudging the attack, and thus exposing themselves to the certainty of being hit. And the time out of opposition is attended with still greater hazard, as its success depends rather upon the wideness and irregularity of an adversary s movements than on the security of one s own situation afforded by the oppo sition in the former species of time thrust. When fencing was comparatively little known, it was thought necessary that there should be some intermediate practice for the pupil between the lesson of the master and his making the assault ; for which purpose, it appears, he was taught to longe, at a proper distance, at the wall. This was called by the French tirer au mur, and was considered as useful for planting the learner well upon his legs, accus toming him to measure distance correctly, and causing his motions, in making his extension and longe, to follow one another in the proper succession. But as the art became better understood, observation induced masters to place pupils together for their mutual advantage, the one to attack by simple disengagements, the other to parry by quarte and tierce alternately ; and this practice, from its origin, was long called tirer au mur. It is now, however, generally known as qvarte and tierce, and, in its improved state, is not merely intended as an exercise for the scholar, but also as a graceful display of the principal motions of fencing; for which reason it should be invariably practised before commencing the assault, and in fencing before com pany it is never dispensed with, Quarte and tierce appears very simple in its execution, yet it is exceedingly useful to fencers in all stages of their progress, and difficult to acquire with such correctness that all its movements shall take place in their proper succession, and be made with the grace and precision characteristic of a good fencer. The counters is also a practice of importance to young fencera. In the language of the fencing-room, making the assault and playwy loose are synonymous, signifying the practice of attack and defence, or, in other words, a just application of the lessons received, which, in fact, onght to be done as correctly as if with sword in hand. In the assault, the mere movements should be almost mechanical ; for the mind being wholly employed in discovering and counteract ing the designs of the adversary, as well as in concealing its own, the hand should, on the proper opportunity being given, instantly execute that which the mind conceives without any consideration of the manner in which the par ticular motion is to be made. The rules to be observed are few and distinct. The first thing which the attention of a young fencer should naturally be directed to is the most secure manner in