_Against several erroneous Opinions._
Though there are People of a bad Taste in every Art or Science, there
are more in that of Fencing than in others, as well by Reason of the
little Understanding of some Teachers, as of the little Practice of some
Learners, who are not acting upon a good Foundation, or long enough, to
have a good idea of it, argue so weakly on this Exercise, that I thought
it as much my Business to observe their Errors, as it is my Duty to
instruct those that I have the Honour to teach in the Theory of it: By
this Means, I may furnish the One with juster Sentiments, and the
Others with the Means of preserving their Honour and Lives.
I begin with those, who defer letting their Children learn 'till they
have attained a certain Age, Growth and Strength. If these three
Qualities would enable them to put this Art in Execution immediately, I
acknowledge that they ought not to begin 'till they possessed them; but
it is by long Experience and Practice only, that they can become
perfect; so that except they begin young, the Employments for which they
are designed, may not give them Time to arrive to it; besides, by
beginning in a tender Age, the Body is more easily brought to a good
Air, and an easy Disengagement; being more at Liberty, and less used to
Faults, which it would naturally fall into for want of being cultivated.
Others say that it is needless to learn when the Disposition is wanting,
which is an Error; for a Body that is well disposed by Nature, can
better dispense with the Want of Improvement, than those that she has
taken less care of; these requiring a constant Labour, to acquire what
the others have almost of themselves; and tho' they cannot arrive to a
perfect Agility, yet their Bodies will be better disposed to act, and
their Lives not so much in Danger.
Some assure you that the knowing how to Fence, makes a Man quarrelsome,
and thereby exposes him to dangerous Consequences, without considering
it is a natural Brutality, Honour, or Danger, which obliges him to
attack another, or defend himself, which he would do without having
learned, with this Difference; that though he have the same Brutality or
Courage, the Issue of the Battle is not the same; and if he have
Occasion to defend himself, would it not be better for him to be able to
do it, than to leave his Life to an uncertain and dangerous Hazard.
Others say that it is enough to learn one Exercise at a time; that a
Plurality of different Lessons fatigues the Mind and the Body: But as
one Science disposes the Mind for the others, they having a Sort of a
Correspondence one with another, so Exercises favour one another as well
in regard to the Posture of the Body, as to the Freedom of Motion;
besides, that learning them one after another, as each Particular would
take up as much Time as all in general, this Length of Time would be too
great for any one almost to succed in them.
Many People say that with Sword in Hand the Rules of the School are not
observed, and that 'tis sufficient to have a good Heart: It is certain
that People who are subject to this Error, are not capable of following
the Rules which are to be acquired only by putting a good Theory in
Practice; which by frequent Use, disposes the Eye and the Part of
Executing so well, that it is almost impossible to act otherwise: And as
to the Practice of Schools and of the Sword, 'tis the same; for no one
ought to do any thing with the Foil, but what he knows by Experience to
be without Risque, according to his Rules. In some Cases, it is true,
what is esteemed good in one, is not in the other. For Example: Thrusts
with the Foil are good only on the Body, and with the Sword they are
good every where; and that in an Assault with the Foil, the joining is
reckoned as nothing, whereas in Battle 'tis the Seal of the Victory; but
except in that, it should be alike in every Thing.
Others say that if they had to do with experienced Men, they would not
give them Time to put themselves in Guard; as if a Man who is expert
were not always on his Guard, being more knowing, and better disposed,
not only to place himself at once, by the Habit that all his Parts have
contrasted, but also to surprise, and to avoid being surprised, by the
Knowledge he has of Time and Measure: On the contrary, an unskilful
Person being ignorant of both, is easily catch'd; besides, that his
Parts being unaccustomed to place themselves regularly, or at once, must
always be in a continual Motion, vainly seeking their Place, by which
they give the Time, and would lose it if it were given to them.
Some, in Opposition to these, say that if they know how to keep
themselves in Guard 'tis sufficient. They are in the right if the Guard
be perfect, which is not to be acquired but by a Practice as long as is
necessary to make them perfectly dexterous, which is not their Meaning;
they thinking that it is only the placing of the Parts, which is
useless, without Freedom and Vigour to manage them. These are Qualities
which when accompanied with a certain regular Air, and a good Grace,
shew, as soon as a Man takes a Sword or Foil in his Hand, to what Pitch
of Dexterity he is arrived.
Some Men will tell you that they know enough to serve their Turn: Those
who use this Expression, as well as those I have spoken of before,
sufficiently shew that they have learnt but little or nothing. In Effect
it is no hard Matter to judge of the different Degrees of Ability; so
that when a Man finds himself inferiour, he cannot properly say that he
knows enough to serve his Turn; and a Man who is superiour, knows very
well that he is not perfect, and that if his good Disposition together
with his long Practice, has brought him very forward in the Art, others
may know as much as he, and that therefore he is not so perfect as an
unskilful Person may imagine.
I have heard several People say that they did not care to be dexterous,
nor to know the five Rules, provided they knew how to defend themselves,
and to push and parry well; and really they are in the right, supposing
they could do that without practising what the most able Men have
invented upon this Occasion.
There are People that say, that with Sword in Hand, against an able Man,
there is nothing to be done but push vigorously, to disorder him: I am
apt to believe that this may succeed against a Man who is not well
form'd, or has not the Courage and Resolution that is necessary; but if
he has enough to keep up his Spirit, this Attack will be advantageous to
him; because it cannot be done without giving him an Opportunity of
getting the better; and besides, I have Reason to believe that the
greatest Part of those who talk in this Manner, would hardly attempt an
able Man.
It may be said that People have then fought in this Manner with Success;
but as there is Difference in Persons, what succeeded with them against
unskilful People or Cowards, would have been dangerous against other
Men.
I have met with People who were weak enough to believe that Knowledge in
Fencing takes away the Heart, saying, that seeing the Counters to every
Thrust they form, by Means of that Knowledge, an Idea of evident Danger,
which dissipating the Courage, and causing an Apprehension, hinders them
from their Enterprise; when an unskilful Person blindly undertakes every
thing. It is true that there is great Blindness in this Way of pushing,
as they say, and still more in their Understanding, to think that an
able Man dares not undertake or venture when the Appearance of Success
leads him to it; and that an ignorant Man shall venture when his Loss
is almost certain. Is it reasonable to suppose, that a Man of natural
Courage shou'd lose it, because he is assured that he is more expert
than his Enemy, over whom, or perhaps his Equals, he always had the
Better in Assaults, by the Help of his Knowledge and Dexterity? This,
far from intimidating him, seems to assure him of Success, which is due
to his habitual Practice. On the contrary, an awkard Man having seen, by
his Disadvantage in School Assaults, that he has no Room to hope in
Combat, the dexterous Man possessing the Qualities which procure
Success, and one who had never handled a Foil, will be as much puzzled,
as if he had experience'd the Disadvantage of it.
Others, with as little Reason, leave all to Chance, but the very Name is
sufficient to shew that it is not to be relye'd on.
Some again say to what Purpose shall we learn to Fence, the KING had
forbid Duels: It is true that this great Prince, as august for his Piety
as for his Victories, was willing thereby to preserve the Blood of his
bravest Subjects, who expose'd it every Day to be shed through a false
Notion of Honour.
But tho' he forbid Duels, he was so far from hindering the Practice of
the Sword, that he has established several Academies for the perfect Use
of it, not only for Defence, but also to qualify his Subjects to put the
Justice of his Measures in Execution: And it must at last be agreed to,
that a Man who wears a Sword, without knowing how to use it, runs as
great a Hazard, and is full as ridiculous, as a Man who carries Books
about him without knowing how to read.
Many Men are of Opinion that a Man may naturally know enough to attack
or defend himself, without the Assistance of Art: Man, tho' the only
reasonable Creature, finds himself deprived of what irrational Creatures
naturally possess; and he requires for his Improvement the Assistance
and Practice of others; the grand Art of War, and that of using the
Sword, which has been practised thro' so many Ages, still find new
Inventions; and it may be said, that as there is no Place, in whatever
Situation by Nature, but requires Art to secure it's Defence; so
likewise, whatever Disposition a Man possesses, he cannot be perfect
without the Assistance of Rules and Practice.
Some Men acknowledge that Skill is necessary in single Combat, but that
in a Crowd or Battle it is altogether useless: I own that on these
Occasions, it is less useful than in single Battle, by reason of the
different Accidents, as of Cannon, Musquets, and of other Arms; besides,
a Man may be attacked by several at once: But if a Man cannot avoid
being hit with a Ball, and sometimes with a Sword, he may, nevertheless,
by the Disposition and Agility of the Parts, more easily defend and
return a Thrust: Besides, being more able to hit with the Edge or Point,
he may put more Enemies to flight, or keep them at a greater Distance.
If the French Troops have always been victorious, Sword in Hand, a Part
of the Glory is owing to the Skill of several Officers; and I'll venture
to say, that if they had all been as expert as they should have been,
you might see, as well on Foot as on Horseback, in Battle as on a
Breach, Actions that would be not only uncommon but prodigious. It may
perhaps be said, that our Enemies have some expert Officers among them;
besides, that their Number is commonly less than in _France_, there is
as great a Difference between their Dexterity and that of the _French_,
as between their Masters and our's, from whom very few would have
learned if the War had no suspended our Academies.[5]
I think it proper to finish this Chapter by confuting an Error as
common, and more ridiculous, than the others; which is, of an infallible
Thrust, which a great many People think that Masters reserve for
dangerous Occasions, or to sell it at a dear Rate. This wonderful Thing,
is called the secret Thrust. I don't know whether this Error proceeded
from those who have not learned, or from the Chimera of some
self-conceited Masters, who have sold to ignorant Scholars, some Thrusts
as infallible, of their own Contrivance, as ridiculous and dangerous as
the Simplicity of the Scholar and the Knavery of the Master are great.
To discover the Error of this Opinion you must observe two Things:
First, that in Fencing there are no more than five Thrusts or Places,
which I have described in Page 27, shewing the Parade of each of them;
and secondly, that there is no Motion without it's Opposite; so that as
you cannot push without a Motion, there is no Thrust without it's
Counter, and even several; for besides the different Positions of the
Body, there is not only the Time to take, but also several Parades to
favour the Risposts, which plainly shews, that doing one of these Things
properly, this imaginary infallible Thrust, far from succeeding will
expose him that would make it.
All the Secrets in the Thrusts that are given by an able Man, far from
being an Effect of the Thrust, is only an Effect of the Occasion, and
the Swiftness; or rather of the judgment and Practice: By Means of these
Qualities all Thrusts are secret ones, or they wou'd be worth nothing.
All the Thrusts in Fencing are equally good, when they are made
according to Rule, with Swiftness, and on the Occasions proper to them;
wherefore they ought not to be neglected whilst the Time of learning
them offers; not but you may stick closer to some Thrusts than to
others, either because you may be better disposed for them, or because
you are more used to them.
I thought that after I had exposed the Errors of several Persons, I
might tell them, that it is contrary to the Rules of good Breeding, to
talk of Things they do not understand; that oftentimes People, by their
first Appearance, have been thought to possess the Qualities of knowing
Men, but have afterwards forfeited the good Opinion which they had at
first imposed on others.