The
Rapier (Continued)
Parries,
Wards, and Guards
Ok,
let's get into the Parries, Wards, and Guards business. What's
the difference between all of these? Not much. It really depends
on who you talk to, the masters they have studied, and the
time period you are talking about. Here's my interpretation
of what they are.
Parries
are blocking positions of the sword. Your body is basically
split up into four quadrents. An attack into one of these
quadrents is blocked by a specific parry. Parries are usually
numbered. The number of the parry depends upon the quadrent
attacked and if your hand is pronated (palm down) or supinated
(palm up). Don't forget that a parry should be immediately
followed by a riposte or counter attack. If it isn't, your
opponent may launch a redoublement or second attack and you'll
be parrying up the wazoo. We will be more specific about parries
a little later in this section.
Guards or Wards are pretty much the same thing in my mind.
They are positions or postures you get into to get a desired
result from your opponent or to block an attack. An example
would be if your opponent likes to launch attacks to the inside.
Then maybe you would assume an inside position to take that
away from him. Or, say you have an opponent that is apprehensive
about attacking you. Maybe you start out in a low ward, with
your sword at a lower position pointing downward, to invite
an attack. This can also throw off his perception of distance.
Overall though, as you will notice later on in this section,
that some of the Guard or Ward positions are the same as Parry
positions.
Enough
chit chat, on with the goods!
Parries
As
I stated above, the body is broken down into four quadrents.
These quadrents are basically simple. Upper inside, lower
inside, upper outside, and lower outside. Outside being the
outside of the weapon or, if righthanded, to the right of
the weapon, and inside being on the inside of the weapon or,
if righthanded, to the left of the weapon. Got that? :) Good,
let's carry on.
*Remember,
parries are made with the strong part of the blade, the forte,
against your opponents weak part of the blade, the foible.
Most
parries with the rapier are made with the true edge of the
blade. The idea was to quickly rotate your wrist so your knuckles
go into the attack. Also keeping in mind that you want to
try to keep your point pointed at your opponent so you can
quickly reposte or counter attack. So, on attacks from the
outide you would pronate your hand, palm down, and attacks
on the inside you would supinate your hand, palm up. The false
edge can also be used to parry but, in most instances it is
a weaker parry. But sometimes you gotta use what you gotta
use :) Come to think of it, I only recomend one parry with
the false edge. You'll find out which in a minute :)
I
will give the parries their English number equivolents. Start
in your on guard position with your sword in the "middle
guard" we talked about on page two.
Parry
in 1: This
parry blocks attacks coming into your upper inside quadrent.
The parry is said to have developed from actually unsheathing
the weapon. Do you like movies with swordplay in them? Of
course you do! There is a perfect example of this in "The
Pirates of the Carribean". In the closing fight scene
between Capt. Jack Sparrow and Capt. Barbosa. Barbosa pulls
the sword from the sheath and parries Jack's inside cut attempt
at the same time. A pretty good no. 1 for the movies. Check
it out!
So
how do you do it?. The thrust or cut is coming to your upper
inside quadrent. in one motion turn your wrist over in pronation
as you are pointing the tip of the sword down and moving the
sword into the quadrent. On the norm your hand should be about
shoulder high, arm should still have a bend in it. The sword
should not be too far over the quadrent, just enough to parry
the thrust or cut without touching you. Your palm should actually
be facing you, knuckles to the attack. You can raise this
parry slightly to protect your head as well but, be sure not
to cover your eyes.
Parry
in 2: This
parry blocks part of the upper outside quadrent. Picture an
attack coming in this quadrent. From your on guard position
overpronate your hand while moving it out and up to about
shoulder hieght pointing the tip of the sword down. Do not
lock your elbow. Do not move your hand any further out than
you absolutely need to to protect the area. As with all parries
you need to keep the action small in order to reposte quickly.
Parry
in 3: This
parry blocks part of the upper outside quadrent, including
the hand, the forearm, and the cheek. From your on guard position
pronate your hand. The true edge of the sword will now be
turned outside, from up to 30 degrees outside the plane. You
can also do this with a more "point on" approach
for a little faster reposte.
Parry
in 4: The
4th position protects your high inside line. This includes
the chest, belly, hand, forearm, and cheek. The guard is placed
in front of the body and in front of the left side of the
torso. Keep your shoulders relaxed, the upper part of the
arm stays in the fencing line. Now twist your wrist so the
hand is in suppination. See how the forearm and hand go to
the left. BAM parry in 4. You always want to keep your point
toward the opponent. You can also do this parry with a more
"point on" approach and slide in that reposte. Reguardless,
as with all parries, don't make to big of a motion, do not
take the point too far offline, if at all, and always reposte.
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