"If any one came to me for advice, the course I should recommend, not
as a hard and fast rule, but in a general way, would be something of
this sort:--Act as much as possible on the defensive, keep out of
distance, in order to prevent your opponent from attacking you without
shifting his position, and in order to compel him to advance on your
point, the most dangerous thing he can do, and without a doubt the most
difficult art to acquire. If you make up your mind to stand your ground
whatever happens, and to attack always in exact measure, instead of
retiring and advancing with quick and irregular movements, and instead
of trying to surprise and overwhelm your adversary with combinations
for which he is unprepared, you are to my mind simply acting without
the least judgment, or rather you are making a perverse blunder.
"Then I should go on to say, always supposing that I was asked for my
opinion:--Make a practice of stepping back as you form the parry, if
only half a pace. There is everything to be gained by it, and there is
no objection to it that I can see, unless it be the strong objection
that your opponent will feel to being considerably embarrassed on every
possible occasion.
"The advantages, on the other hand, are manifold. By stepping back you
increase the effectiveness of the parry, because by withdrawing the
body you, in a sense, double the rapidity of the hand. If the attack
has been delivered with sufficient rapidity to beat the parry, by
retiring you parry twice, the first time with your blade, with which
you try to find your adversary's weapon, the second time by removing
the body to a greater distance, with the result that the point, which
would have hit you if you had stood your ground, does not reach your
chest.
"By employing this manoeuvre against simple attacks you counteract
rapidity of execution, and by employing it against composite attacks
or against feints you encounter the last movement forcibly. It is also
of service in screening one from attacks made by drawing back the arm,
for it often happens if you stand your ground, that your hand starts
too soon, and your sword encounters nothing but empty air. It has the
further advantage of increasing the fencer's confidence in himself.
"Do not imagine that it hinders the riposte. It renders it easier
and more certain. Nearly always, when a fencer has lunged right out,
and--as often happens--does not recover immediately, the two opponents
are so close together that it is very difficult to get in the riposte
without shortening the arm, and so giving an opportunity for a _remise_.
"The parry and riposte without breaking ground are certainly of value,
I do not dispute that, but against the fencers of all sorts, whom
you have to meet, and who offer all sorts and kinds of difficulty,
they should not be employed except occasionally, and only when they
are almost certain to succeed. To my mind it would be dangerous and
unreasonable to adopt them as the systematic basis of your play.