CHAP. XIII.
Of Feints.
Feints are much used in Fencing, whether it be by reason of their Number, their Ease, or the Success that attends them, gaining more Time and Light than
is to be got in plain Thrusts, there being no Thrust to be given so well as after a Feint.
The Number of Feints is so great, by reason of the many Guards and Parades, that I should find it as difficult to describe them, as the Reader would to comprehend them without Experience; so that I shall confine myself to those from which the rest derive, which are, strait Feint, Feint, and double Feint.
By strait feint, is meant a Motion or Feint to Thrust on the Side on which your Sword is, which is to be done on the Inside, the Wrist in Quart, a little higher than the Point which must be near the Adversary's Sword, that you may be covered, whilst you endeavour to get an Opening. This Motion should be attended with a little Beat of the Right-foot, keeping back the Body. If, at the Time you feint, your Adversary does not stir, you must push Quart: if he parrys with his Feeble, you must immediately disengage to Tierce; and if he parrys high you must cut in Quart under the Wrist.
The Feint, to which I give no other Name, it being the most used, and to dis
tinguish it from the others, is done by feinting from Quart to Tierce, with a little Beat of the Foot, keeping the Body back: the Wrist must be raised in Quart, and the Button a little lower than the Pommel, near the adversary's blade; by which means you are covered, and can make your thrust swifter. If the Adversary does not stir at the feint, you must go on strait with the Tierce: if he parrys with his Feeble, you must Disengage and thrust Quart, and if he parrys with his Fort, you must push Seconde.
Several masters teach to make this feint from the inside to the outside, with the Wrist turned in Tierce; and indeed they are seemingly in the right; a feint being a likeness of the beginning of a Thrust; and that likeness cannot be better shown than in the Figure of the Thrust: but the smart motion of the Point, causes the Adversary to stir, the Figure of the Hand no way contributing thereto. You are to consider which is the most proper, not only to make the Adversary answer you, but
also to make the Motion quicker. Monsieur De Latouche says, that from Quart to Quart there is no Motion; but we have two instances to the contrary. First, that a Man of experience has his Wrist and the bend of his Arm free, so as to thrust strait in Quart, tho' in the same Figure; and secondly, if there be a Motion preceding the Thrust, as in a Disengagement, or a Cut under; this Motion is sufficient to help the swiftness of the Feint, and of the Thrust: in short, the Motion from Quart to Quart, being quicker than feinting from Quart to Tierce, and returning in Quart; it ought to have the preference, swiftness being the Line of Fencing. The only Feints that should be made in Tierce, are those that are marked from below above to return below, and from above below to return above.
The double feint is in two Motions, so that in order to push within the Sword, you must be without; and making a little Motion in Quart within, with a little Beat of the Foot, you feint again without closing the Measure, keeping back the Body in order to be out of the Adversary's Reach: if he parrys with his Fort, you must cut under in Seconde, and if he parrys with his Feeble, disengage to Quart within.
As there are in this Thrust three motions of the Sword, viz. the two Feints and the Thrust; the Foot must make as many, in order to answer the Motions of the Hand.
Some Masters teach to make the double Feint without stirring the Foot; and others teach to advance on the first Motion. In the first Case, being in the Adversary's Measure, you lose too much Time, which is very dangerous: And advancing on the first motion, is almost as dangerous as keeping the Foot firm, by putting yourself within the Adversary's Reach; besides the Manner is not so graceful as that which I recommend, in which you are not within his Reach 'till the second Motion; and this is attended with another Advantage; for by bearing with the Right-foot, the Body must of necessity be kept back, and consequently, farther from the Sword of the Adversary, and in a better Condition to act.
There are two other Ways of making these Thrusts: The one by an Interval between the first and second Motions, joining or uniting the other two; and the latter between the second and third Motions, joining the two first. Though both these Methods are good, I prefer the latter, which puts you in a better Condition, not only to avoid your Adversary's Thrust, but also to chuse your own; the Interval giving you a favourable Opportunity of doing both.
There has been so much said of the Feints which I have described, with their Opposites, that I shall say no more of them, nor will I speak of an infinite Number of other Feints, strait, single, and double, within, without, and under, in disengaging, or cutting over the Point, or under the Wrist, in risposting, or redoubling Thrusts; all which, depend on the three which I have described; in which, as in all Thrusts, the Body must be kept back, and the Fort of the Sword before you; by which Means, you are more out of Danger, and the Wrist is better prepared. Some Men mark Feints with the Head and Body, which is a very disagreeable Sight, and dangerous with Regard to Time.
A Feint is the Likeness of the Beginning of a Thrust: It is made to put the Adversary off his Guard, and to gain an Opening. In order to take Advantage of the Time and Light which you get by your Feint, you must take care to avoid an Inconveniency into which many People fall, by uncovering themselves in endeavouring to uncover the Adversary.