_Of several Guards, and the Manner of attacking them_.
Tho' all the Guards are Good when well defended, yet they are not
equally good; because we ought not to look upon any thing as good, that
does not procure us some Advantage, and an ill placed Guard, instead of
being favourable, requires a great deal of Skill to be of any Use at
all, being farther from a Posture of Defence, the midling Guard only
carrying with it such a Disposition of the Point and Wrist as is
sufficient to defend the Inside, the Outside, the Upper and Lower Parts
of the Body with the Sword: For as to the other Guards, whether Flat,
High, or Low, or holding the Sword with both Hands, they leave some
Part uncovered, either by reason of their Height, or their Line.
_To attack a strait Guard._
No Man of Skill or Reason will give a considerable Open without a
Design, and as the People who hold such a Guard as I am going to
describe, have their several Designs, you must be cautious of them, in
order not only to make them useless to them, but advantageous to
yourself.
Some Men hold their Swords strait or flat,[3] whether 'tis because they
are more used to Disengagements than Parades, or to take Advantage of
the Superiority of their Stature, or of the Length of their Sword, to
avoid the Attacks and Engagements to which the other Guards are more
exposed; for you can hardly engage or feint on this Guard, the Point
being too low; so that to attack him, you must bind the Sword, which you
must do after placing yourself within his Sword, binding his Blade under
yours, when he is out of Measure, to take, with more Ease, the Feeble of
his Sword, crossing it with yours, raising your Hand in _Seconde_, and
carrying the Point low, whilst gaining Measure, you form a little Circle
with the two Points, and raising them up again, you push _Seconde_
within, with the Body low.
Tho' it be almost impossible for the Enemy to disengage, when you have
bound his Sword as I have described, it may happen that if some of the
Circumstances were wanting, he might disengage and push, which ought not
to hinder you from making your Thrust; because your Sword may very well
hit him, passing under his, which cannot hurt you, because of the
Lowness of your Body.
The Binding is easy to be parryed, by reason of the natural Tendency to
follow the Sword, which is done by raising and bringing your Fort
nearer. These following have commonly more Success.
The first is made after having bound the Sword, instead of pushing
_Seconde_ within, you must, upon the Parade, disengage and push _Tierce_
over: If the Adversary is quick enough in his Parade to shun this double
Motion, you must have recourse to the third, binding the Sword in the
like Manner, and feinting above, return below.
Tho' the Sword is seldom bound on the Outside, upon some Occasions and
to some People it would not be amiss; it must be done with your Feeble
to the Enemy's, with the Precautions necessary in binding within, by a
little Circle without, the Hand in _Quarte_, and if he does not stir, or
if he disengages, you must push without, the Hand in _Quarte_. These
following are according to the Parade with the Fort or with the Feeble,
pushing _Seconde_ under, or _Quarte_ within.
As in all Thrusts the Hand must be easy and uniform, it must be more so
in this than in the others, because the Binding cannot be made without a
very close and smooth Motion.
Though several Masters teach to disengage in order to bind the Sword, I
would not have it done so for two Reasons: First, because the
disengaging gives Time to the Opponent, not only to thrust strait, but
also to disengage; and Secondly, because you cannot so easily bind the
Sword as when you are on the same Side.
In binding the Blade, you must close the Measure; because a Man who is
superior to you, in Height, by the Length of his Sword, or by his
Situation, won't let his Inferior into Measure; in one or the other
Case, being at a proper Distance, you bind more easily on the Feeble.
[Illustration: 12th Plate. Attack in the high Guard.]
[Illustration: Attack in the low Guard.]
_To attack the high Guard._
In this Guard, you must place yourself under, with the Hand in
_Seconde_, covering the upper Part, in order to oblige the Enemy to go
under; which being the most distant Place from his Sword, procures you
more Time to avoid him. He may, on this Occasion, do three things: Let
you engage him, go under, or force your Sword.
If he lets you engage him, 'tis either with a Design to parry, or to
take the Time; wherefore, before you push, you must make a Half-thrust
under: If he parrys, it will be in one of the three Ways that I have
shewn in the Parade of _Seconde_, Chap. 8, where you may see all their
Counters.
If upon the Half-thrust he takes the Time, you must parry and risposte
below, or push strait, opposing with the Hand; you may also volt on
this Occasion, but it is better to parry.
If he opposes with his Hand upon your Half-thrust, you must parry with
your Left-hand, and, pushing near his Left Shoulder, baulk his Hand.
And if he volts on your Half-thrust, you must parry and risposte in the
Flank.
If on the Engagement he thrust under, you must parry and thrust strait,
or take the Time, opposing with your Hand, and if instead of going
under, he only feints there in order to return above; you must either
parry the Feint and risposte under, or push on the time, as I have said
before.
If he makes use of the same Thrust, pushing at the Time of your going
under, you must make believe to push there, returning quickly to the
Parade above, and risposte under.
And if he would draw you on in order to make this Rispost on you, you
must make a Half-thrust, keeping on your Parade below, to risposte
strait in _Quarte_.
If upon your Engagement he forces your Sword, you must yeild the
Feeble, opposing with the Fort and the Left-hand. _See the 5th_ Plate.
To keep the Enemy from forcing your Sword, you must cross his Blade with
your Fort to his Feeble.
_To attack the low Guard._
Those who hold a low Guard have a Design either to parry with the Sword
or with the Hand, to lower the Body or to volt; therefore as in the
other Guards you must make a false Time, or half Thrust, and if he
parrys with the Sword, thrust where you see Light, if he parry with the
Hand, you must feign a strait Thrust in order to bring his Left-hand to
the Parade, at the same time raising your Point with a little Circle,
pushing at the left Side with the Hand in _Seconde_, the Body low,
whereby you baulk his Left-hand, and for the greater Safety, you must
oppose his Thrust with your Hand, endeavouring in your Risposts, to
deceive his Sword and his Hand.
If he waits for your Thrust in order to lower the Body or to volt, you
must make a Half-thrust to draw him on, and take one of the Counters
which I have spoken of before.
If the low Guard is within your Sword, you must attack it making a
Semi-circle with the Point of the Sword down, lashing and crossing his,
the Hand in _Quarte_, and to push without Danger, you must oppose with
the Left-hand: This Thrust is good against a Man that pushes at the same
Time.
If the low Guard is without your Sword, you must lash in _Tierce_,
crossing the Sword and push without.
If the low Guard is neither within nor without, you must lash smartly in
_Tierce_ and in _Quarte_, that is to say on his Outside and Inside,
pushing _Quarte_ afterwards, opposing with the Left-hand: This Thrust
puzzles a Man who disengages quick, which in this Case is of no use.
You may also engage this Guard placing yourself within, the Wrist in
_Tierce_, and the Point low[4] closing the Enemy pretty near to oblige
him to push above, and if he pushes there, you must parry and risposte
above, or under, according as you have Light.
If instead of making a Thrust above, he makes a Feint there and pushes
within, or under, you must push _Quarte_, opposing with the Left-hand,
or else going to the Parade with the Sword to all Thrusts and Feints
without, leave to the Left-hand the Defense of the Inside, and of the
under Part.
And if instead of pushing, he waits for your Thrust to take the Time
upon it, you must press close upon him and push strait in _Quarte_, with
the Point low, opposing with the Left hand, in order to throw off his
Sword, or push at his Arm, of which you are in Reach, though he is not
in Measure of your Body.
These Sorts of Guards are not so much practised, with Sword in Hand, as
the middling Guard, People being more careful of parrying with the
Sword, and a Man is in much better Condition to parry from the middling
Guard than from any other.
_To attack the Guard where the Sword is held in both Hands._
Those who hold the Sword in both Hands, that is to say, the Handle in
the Right-hand, and the Blade about four Fingers Breadth in the Left,
will either engage, or beat on your Sword, with great Force, or stick to
a strong Parade, in order to uncover you the more, in Favour of their
Thrust.
But as they cannot keep this Situation without exposing their Body very
much, which is often dangerous, as also a very unseemly Posture, this
Guard is therefore, with good Reason, condemned by most, if not all,
experience'd Masters.
If you have to do with one that holds this Guard, you must keep your
Point a little low, and be always ready to change, in order to render
the Strength which the Left-hand gives to the Right, useless, in his
engaging or beating.
If he will not attack you, but waits for your Thrust in order to parry
and risposte, you must make a Half-thrust, and recover quickly to your
Parade, to avoid his Rispost; wherein, throwing back his Left-hand, and
abandoning himself extremely, he is not in a Condition to avoid your
Thrust after you have parryed his.
You may also make a Home-thrust on him, by a single or double Feint,
because these require two or three Parades; so that your Adversary being
unable to parry without throwing his Point a great way off, he cannot
bring it back in time if you disorder him by a Feint.
You may likewise catch him, by placing your Sword along his, with your
Point a little raised, and sliding on a Defence along his Sword, push at
his Left-hand or Arm, for he cannot, tho' he goes to his Parade, hinder
your Blade from sliding so as to hit him there, without running any
Risque, you being in Measure of his Hand and Arm, when he is out of
Reach of your Body.
You are to observe, that in all Guards with Sword in Hand, you must push
at the nearest and most uncovered Part; which in the Guards that I have
described is the Arm; therefore you must not abandon yourself to hit
the Body, but in risposting, or after having disordered, or engaged the
Enemy as aforesaid.