"When a man knows nothing about fencing, either because he has never
touched a sword, or because he has only knocked about with his friends
in a rough way and very occasionally, his first thought when he has to
fight is to call on a professor, and endeavour to obtain some ideas
which will enable him to defend himself on the field of battle. I
will describe one of these lessons which the professor is expected to
give, and I shall try to point out the only sort of advice that is of
universal application in such cases.
"The novice explains that he has to go out the next morning, and
requests the professor to be good enough to give him a hint or two.
'Do you know anything about fencing?' enquires the professor.
'No, practically nothing.'
'You know that one holds the sword by the hilt and tries to hit the
other man with the point, and that is about all, I suppose,' continues
the professor, who will have his little joke. And he takes down a pair
of swords provided with buttons, hands one to his pupil, and the lesson
begins.
"One wonders how often this same lesson has been repeated. It never
varies, and it never ought to vary. Its whole value lies in its
simplicity.
"The ignorant fencer can do nothing without a cool head and steady
nerve, which are the more effective, when they are opposed, as they
often are, to bluster and over-confidence.
"First and foremost the professor must make his pupil understand the
absolute necessity of standing firmly on his feet with an easy balance
that allows perfect freedom of movement. The position, whatever it may
be, that your extempore pupil falls into naturally, is the position you
must accept. It is important to give him confidence in it and to modify
it only so far as is absolutely necessary to enable him to move about
easily. Your business is to make the best of this position, and if
possible turn even its defects to account.
"The body should be inclined forwards rather than backwards. In this
somewhat crouching attitude the upper part of the body, that is to say
the chest, by its advanced position with the sword arm held in front,
acts as a kind of natural rampart or shield to cover the lower part,
where a wound is almost certain to prove mortal.
"Keep in view from the very first the importance of inspiring
confidence in the unpractised fencer. For confidence alone implies some
sort of self-possession and reacts immediately on nerve and muscle. He
soon begins to feel somewhat more at ease. Some slight modifications
are all that is required to correct the glaring faults that are most
obviously dangerous.
"I am not afraid of putting the truth of my statement to a practical
test. If you will now, all of you, take one of those swords which I
see hanging on the wall and place yourselves on guard, not in what you
imagine to be a fencing attitude, but as you would stand if you were
seriously threatened, you will find that the attitudes you assume will
all be very much alike, apart from such slight variations as are due to
differences of physique."