notes to self re: practice

[anotheranon]

This won't make sense to anyone who doesn't fence foil, but they're public for interested parties nonetheless:

• Nothing like the power of a good on-guard position - makes it hard for your opponent to get near you while offering a number of ways to attack.
  
• Always, always parry octave from a good guard. If you try and start this from the quarte position, you will draw your opponent's blade into your knee - not a valid target, but crap fencing and leaves your knee perpetually bruised up :P Parrying octave from a good guard will take your opponent right past your leg and give you room to riposte.
  
• The other A.'s parry quarte is too strong - you aren't ever going to get past it, so don't attack her high inside line; it is doomed to failure. Rather, feint there and attack her low outside.
  
• A. with his pistol grip does not disengage - his blade will bind yours forever if you get too close. Maintain distance so you can. Also, go back on a good guard after every motion or he will hit you.
  
• You are still trying to hit B.'s front shoulder, even though she's a lefty. Optimistic, aren't you?
  

Had some interesting revelations in fencing class. My knee is forever grateful :P

Comments

[thatwordgrrl.livejournal.com]

I was taught to hold my en garde in parry 6.

Works like a charm!

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Exactly what I was taught, but I've been sloppy about it lately. I know better now!

[wcg.livejournal.com]

All good advice, and most of it translates directly to SCA rapier too (where the knee *is* a valid target).

*Very* nice icon. But please don't dress like that to fence. OK?

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I figure in SCA rapier everything is a valid target. I'm curious - what sort of weapon do you (or did you) use? I've seen the Triplette schlager and double-wide epee blades in catalogs, but everyone at MASHS uses Darkwood Armory (http://www.darkwoodarmory.com)'s ~42" blades or a comparable Hanwei.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I have a 36 inch schlaeger and a musketeer (double-wide) blade. Either one can be mounted in my hilt, depending on who I'm facing. I've used those long 40 and 42 inch monsters, and rather quickly decided I prefer the maneuverablilty of a 36 inch blade. The only thing I can think of that they're good for is teaching that Di Grassi knew what he was talking about with techniques like "closing in crossing."

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

But is there any evidence that ~36", lighter-weight blades were used in the 16th/17th centuries for rapier-style combat? We've all seen the Three Musketeers movies that appear to use a lighter blade, but that wasn't until the 1630s or so (and they're fiction, as well)!

Maneuverability or not, are modern schlager/musketeer blades really effective in learning techniques designed for a heavier/different weapon?

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Definite evidence for 35 inch blades. Anything longer was illegal in England for personal use. So gentlemen on the street couldn't have been carrying blades any longer. As far as the blade thickness goes, we have some surviving blades from that time, and the schlaeger blades are modeled on them, using better steel.

The Musketeer blade is interesting. The French musketeers were apparently armed with epee-like blades that had very small guards. So the Triplette musketeer blade is very historically correct. (The thing about the Musketeers that gets left out is that they were armed with muskets. The sword was their secondary weapon, for close combat.)