Loose Practice.
In practising with broadswords the blades should be as light as possible, and I believe an eminent firm has brought out a special sword for the purpose. The following rules and suggestions may be of use in independent practice.
1. Helmets, jackets, gauntlets, body pads, and leg pads should invariably be worn.
2. No hits or points to be attempted until the swords have been crossed. The parties should engage out of distance, i.e. after crossing the blades, step back about eight inches and come to the “Engage” just out of distance.
3. All cuts and thrusts must be delivered lightly and with the true edge or point. Heavy sweeping cuts should not, under any pretence whatever, or however thickly the parties may be padded, be allowed.
4. Only one cut or thrust should be made on the same lunge.
5. In case the opponents both attack at once, the hit counts to the one in the third position, or on the lunge. If both parties lunge simultaneously, and both bring the hit home at the same instant, no hit is to be scored to either.
6. If one party is disarmed, a hit is scored to his opponent.
7. Care should be taken to protect the inside of the right knee with an extra pad, as this is a particularly tender spot, and a hard hit there may cause serious injury.
When the beginner has established some command over the cutlass he should learn the cavalry sword-exercise, for a description of which the reader is referred to Colonel Bowdler Bell’s Manual.