CHAP. XXI.
Of several Guards, and the Manner of attacking them.
Tho' all the Guards are Good when well defended, yet they are not equally good; because we ought not to look upon any thing as good, that does not procure us some Advantage, and an ill placed Guard, instead of being favourable, requires a great deal of Skill to be of any Use at all, being farther from a Posture of Defence, the midling Guard only carrying with it such a Disposition of the Point and Wrist as is sufficient to defend the Inside, the Outside, the Upper and Lower Parts of the Body with the Sword: For as to the other Guards, whether Flat, High, or Low, or holding the
Sword with both Hands, they leave some Part uncovered, either by reason of their Height, or their Line.
To attack a strait Guard.
No Man of Skill or Reason will give a considerable Open without a Design, and as the People who hold such a Guard as I am going to describe, have their several Designs, you must be cautious of them, in order not only to make them useless to them, but advantageous to yourself.
Some Men hold their Swords strait or flat,[[3]] whether 'tis because they are more used to Disengagements than Parades, or to take Advantage of the Superiority of their Stature, or of the Length of their Sword, to avoid the Attacks and Engagements to which the other Guards are more exposed; for you can hardly engage or feint on this Guard, the Point being too low; so that to attack him, you must bind the Sword, which you must do after placing yourself within his Sword, binding his Blade under yours, when he is out of Measure, to take, with more Ease, the Feeble of his Sword, crossing
it with yours, raising your Hand in Seconde, and carrying the Point low, whilst gaining Measure, you form a little Circle with the two Points, and raising them up again, you push Seconde within, with the Body low.
Tho' it be almost impossible for the Enemy to disengage, when you have bound his Sword as I have described, it may happen that if some of the Circumstances were wanting, he might disengage and push, which ought not to hinder you from making your Thrust; because your Sword may very well hit him, passing under his, which cannot hurt you, because of the Lowness of your Body.
The Binding is easy to be parryed, by reason of the natural Tendency to follow the Sword, which is done by raising and bringing your Fort nearer. These following have commonly more Success.
The first is made after having bound the Sword, instead of pushing Seconde within, you must, upon the Parade, disengage and push Tierce over: If the Adversary is quick enough in his Parade to shun this double Motion, you must have recourse to the third, binding the Sword in the like Manner, and feinting above, return below.
Tho' the Sword is seldom bound on the Outside, upon some Occasions and to some People it would not be amiss; it must be done with your Feeble to the Enemy's, with the Precautions necessary in binding within, by a little Circle without, the Hand in Quarte, and if he does not stir, or if he disengages, you must push without, the Hand in Quarte. These following are according to the Parade with the Fort or with the Feeble, pushing Seconde under, or Quarte within.
As in all Thrusts the Hand must be easy and uniform, it must be more so in this than in the others, because the Binding cannot be made without a very close and smooth Motion.
Though several Masters teach to disengage in order to bind the Sword, I would not have it done so for two Reasons: First, because the disengaging gives Time to the Opponent, not only to thrust strait, but also to disengage; and Secondly, because you cannot so easily bind the Sword as when you are on the same Side.
In binding the Blade, you must close the Measure; because a Man who is superior to you, in Height, by the Length of his Sword, or by his Situation, won't let his Inferior into Measure; in one or the other Case, being at a proper Distance, you bind more easily on the Feeble.