_Of pushing_ Seconde.
In pushing under, the Hand must be turned in _Seconde_, as high as in
_Quart_, and more within than in _Tierce_; the Body should be more bent,
lower, and more forward than in thrusting _Tierce_, and the Left Hand
lower. _See the 6th_ Plate.
Seconde ought not be pushed, but on the following Occasions: First, when
an Engagement, _Feint_ or _Half-Thrust_, is made without, that the
Adversary at one of these Times parrys high. Secondly, when your
Adversary engages your Sword on the Outside, with his Hand raised high;
or on the Inside, with his Feeble only; and thirdly, upon a Thrust or
Pass, within or without.
The Recovery in Guard, should be in _Quart_ within the Arm, though most
Masters teach to recover on the Outside, which takes much more Time, and
though the _Seconde_ is independent on the Side, it is nearer to the
Inside than to the Outside; because the Adversary carries his Wrist to
the Outside, when he gives an Opportunity of making this Thrust;
therefore you ought to return to his Sword in the shortest Time, in
order to be sooner on your Guard. If you examine this Parade, you will
find it is the only Means of recovering with Safety.
What introduced the Manner of returning to the Sword on the Outside, was
the false Method formerly used in parrying the _Seconde_ by beating on
the Blade; in _Tierce_, with the Point downwards; so that the Adversary
not being able to return but above, there was a Necessity for returning
to the Sword on the Outside in order to defend; but the Parade and
Return being no longer the same, the Manner of returning to the Sword
must also be different.