II.
“I remarked, yesterday, that the art of fencing would greatly benefit by simplification, and that it does not require such formidable and protracted study as some of the text-books by their elaborate display of intricate and interminable combinations would lead you to suppose.
“The elementary principles of sword-play are four in number. They are these:—
- Simple Attacks.
- Composite Attacks.
- Simple Parries.
- Composite Parries.
“Here is a table of the attacks and parries:—
Simple Attacks.
- The Straight Thrust.
- The Disengagement.
Composite Attacks.
- One, two.
- Beat straight thrust.
- Beat disengage.
- Feint disengage.
- Feint cut over.
- Cut over and disengage in tierce or quarte.
Simple Parries.
- Quarte.
- Tierce.
- Seconde.
- Low Quarte, or Quinte.
Counter Parries.
- Counter-Quarte.
- Counter-Tierce.
- Circle.