This entry took longer to post up here mostly because I'd thought to myself "I can just set up a flowchart to illustrate this!" Sadly, the software that I tried to use for this was a pain and I spent far too long banging my head against it, so I'm back to words. Maybe in a later post you'll see a picture of my illegible scribblings which if you squint are sort of like a flowchart, if you're being generous. Also, it has just been super hard to actually be able to focus on writing for the past few days. Change in season, probably.
Anyway, onward! We previously discussed how the methodology of Book Two is an exercise in placing your opponent into obedience while collapsing measure. Let's take a look of Fabris' first rule for proceeding with resolution with the single sword and try to map this out!
Each rule that Fabris describes is structured similarly - there's a section that's a description of the process described from an initial guard that you've adopted as you approach the opponent from out of measure, along with how to handle the opponent's general responses. The plates which follow reinforce that, but can also describe variations or edge cases which can derive from that initial situation.
Broadly speaking, Fabris works with three ranges of measure for the rules. There's just outside of measure, wide measure, and narrow measure. He wants you to walk with an "ordinary step" towards your opponent, bending your body and raising your sword as you do. For the first rule, he wants you to take his guard with the arm extended, with your sword on your opponent's weaker side. When your points are just beginning to cross, your blade should be "slightly above and stronger than his without requiring any further motion." You should keep your blade as close to possible to your opponent's while still avoiding any blade contact. This is where the action really begins.
Let's pause here and review a couple key points before we continue. First, when Fabris says an "ordinary step" he clarifies that what he means is that you should be "moving your feet at an ordinary
step, as if you were walking - only quicker and with smaller strides." The plates illustrate the fencers standing with their feet at the typical 90 degree angle though, so I'm assuming that as you assume your guard, you will do so with your entire body. That said, I've found that you should continue one foot in front of the other as you progress, rather than the front foot/back foot fencing advance step. Additionally, Fabris points out that your "step should not be widened until the point of your sword reaches the opponent." No lunging or taking a sudden deep passing step until you are in the moment of wounding your opponent, at which point you should suddenly drive your sword through them to the hilt, as per usual.
Second, the blade position is important. You want to have your sword in a straight line, over your opponent's sword on whichever side is the weakest - the rule doesn't specify that you need to start inside or outside at all! You simply need to start having found your opponent's blade.
Finally, the plates depict our example fencer from this starting position with their feet uncrossed - their sword foot is leading, and the off-side foot is behind. Ideally, I admit that it's easier to begin here as you work your way through the rule. This is fairly simple to achieve in a structured practice while you work through this step by step with a partner, but it's much harder to achieve with precise certainty in a bout. As long as you are controlled and have a solid grasp of your measure though, you should readily fall within the bounds of "close enough to make it work" and that's really all that we can ever ask for. With that, let's take a look at the step-by-step process here.
First, we have the most straightforward option available to us - if our opponent does nothing, we run our sword along theirs until we strike them. We want to get our hilt to the point that our sword crossed theirs, and then keep right on going. Fabris does point out that we want to stay on top of their sword if at all possible; this is simple enough if they remain in third or fourth. If they decide to set up in first or second, we can run along their blade to the inside or outside, wherever their blade is weaker.
As straightforward (and frankly, rare) as this option is, Fabris does hammer home an important point regarding our forward movement. We should run along our opponent's blade with a smooth and continuous forward motion. We shouldn't pull our arm back, nor should we fling our arm or body forward. We should just ensure that our blade is more strongly positioned such that we cannot be displaced.
If from the moment of crossing our opponent retreats, we should simply continue to advance smoothly forward. In effect, we continue to engage at this measure for somewhat longer. If they attempt to push our sword away or gain our blade, a small cavazione is all that is needed to ensure that we continue forward safely. Once that set of steps is done, we're essentially right back where we started, and can proceed safely from there.
If as we're stepping into narrow measure our opponent tries to push our blade out of line, we'll be turning into second. If we happen to be on the outside, we'll lower our body and turn into second while performing a small half cavazione, dropping our point underneath their blade without moving our hand and wound them. If we're on the inside, we'll still turn into second, effectively yielding around their push, letting their blade drop way out of our presence, and wound them.
If they try to cavazione in narrow measure? Honestly, Fabris doesn't even specify and that's probably because it's simply an awful idea - if they do though, I'd just turn my hand to pick them up on the other side, or even as they perform the cavazione and strike them.
Finally, if they try to break measure and change guards? Fabris says that you can also break measure and start all over again... or you can keep progressing forward and follow their sword with the tip of yours and just keep on with the progression we've already outlined here.
That's it! That's the basic procedure for the first rule of proceeding with resolution with the sword alone! Next time we'll look at the plates attached to this rule, and possibly poke at a couple of the problems we might run into putting this into practice in a modern SCA context before we move on to the second rule of the sword alone - which has us beginning in "a third formed with the body positioned squarely toward the opponent, the chest wide open and the feet pointing forward" so that'll be fun to see!
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Book Two: Tempo and Measure
Let's keep talking about Fabris' Book Two and dive right in!
In my last post, I described Book Two as "an advanced exercise in management of both tempo and measure while requiring a high degree of internalization of the practical applications of Fabris' theory as demonstrated in the various plays he describes." I still think that's a pretty decent concise summary, but what does it mean?
At heart, I don't think that there's anything in Book Two which directly contradicts the rest of Fabris' manual. He points out that "it is very important to know how to wait for a tempo and an opportunity to attack: from this proceeds the knowledge of measures, tempi, contratempi, as well as the understanding of all the deceptions and artifices that can come from the opponent." However, Fabris notes that "I rather think that when you have the advantage, it is much better to proceed without waiting for anything else, reassured by the fact that the opponent cannot harm you from his current position." Essentially, once you have gained the advantage over your opponent - which is to say in a general sense that you have found their blade - you should be safe to immediately proceed to wounding them. (Granted, this can itself an accomplishment which requires multiple steps, but we'll get to that later on in this process.)
Fabris describes a few common errors which we've all seen, and probably commit on a regular basis. There are fencers who wait for their opponent to move and give a tempo even if they have found their opponent's sword and there are fencers who don't attempt to find their opponent's sword at all but rely solely on feints and invitations. For the latter, Fabris points out that "If you think about this strategy, you can see that it involves making a tempo in order to provoke a tempo from the opponent. Therefore, the first tempo is also the first danger. No matter how small, it will at the very least provide the opponent with an opportunity to gain some advantage..."
These two points are key to seeing what Fabris is thinking with Book Two. If you have the advantage of the opponent, you should proceed to wounding them without waiting. You should not wait for them to hand you a tempo, as you have already found their blade. You should not ignore finding their blade and try to proceed by allowing them to give you a tempo that you can try to move inside of. So where does this bring us?
"What we are looking for here is a way to attack the opponent immediately after unsheathing the sword, without stopping and without regard to the opponent’s guards, postures, tempi, parries, attacks, advances or retreats. In short, the opponent should be utterly powerless to stop your attack under all circumstances." Again, how does proceeding with resolution accomplish this? "The advantage comes from your ability to put the opponent into obedience and force him to do as you wish, whether he tries to defend or counterattack. If you know how to do this, everything else will be easy, because you will be able to foresee your opponent’s actions."
Oh.
At heart, once you have found your opponent's sword, you have ideally placed them under some degree of obedience - there are only a finite number of reasonable actions for them to take, and ideally you are able to counter them with a more efficient and therefore faster response. What Fabris is suggesting is that if you do this while smoothly closing with your opponent, their potential array of reactions will grow more and more limited until none remain to them, and they are wounded.
This is different from stepping closer to one's opponent in a more conventional fashion because there is no pausing. There's no waiting, no drawing them out and seeing how they react. This means that as you close measure and your opponent reacts, you must be already moving to counter them. "Carry your sword so close to the opponent’s blade that when the opponent’s sword moves, it will seem to be tied to yours: in other words, one sword’s movement should be quickly followed by the other’s. If your opponent’s sword gets away from you, the tempo will be lost, and if you were to chase it while going forward you may be wounded."
If you are moving towards your opponent at a steady walking pace, ideally one of two things will be happening to the measure - it will be collapsing if they remain still or if they decide to approach you in turn, or it will remain the same if they retreat. As you initially enter an extremely wide measure, you move into position such that you have found the blade of your opponent. At that point, they react - and you will continue to move forward and continue to make yourself safe according to all the principles that Fabris has already outlined in the rest of his book. They will continue to react, and you will continue to keep yourself safe, until you are close enough to strike them in a single movement.
Because the measure will be collapsing and the available tempi will be shrinking - sometimes extremely rapidly, especially if your opponent decides to advance as well - you will need to have a very clear understanding of the relative positions of your blades and your bodies, as well as what the most efficient counter to the possible movements of your opponent are. While you can simply go back to the rest of Fabris' manual and piece together what the plates say about the various movements your opponents can make at various measures, Fabris does a lot of that work for us by assembling his Rules. Each Rule that he describes is structured in a really interesting way, and I'm going to start pulling one of them apart in my next post.
In my last post, I described Book Two as "an advanced exercise in management of both tempo and measure while requiring a high degree of internalization of the practical applications of Fabris' theory as demonstrated in the various plays he describes." I still think that's a pretty decent concise summary, but what does it mean?
At heart, I don't think that there's anything in Book Two which directly contradicts the rest of Fabris' manual. He points out that "it is very important to know how to wait for a tempo and an opportunity to attack: from this proceeds the knowledge of measures, tempi, contratempi, as well as the understanding of all the deceptions and artifices that can come from the opponent." However, Fabris notes that "I rather think that when you have the advantage, it is much better to proceed without waiting for anything else, reassured by the fact that the opponent cannot harm you from his current position." Essentially, once you have gained the advantage over your opponent - which is to say in a general sense that you have found their blade - you should be safe to immediately proceed to wounding them. (Granted, this can itself an accomplishment which requires multiple steps, but we'll get to that later on in this process.)
Fabris describes a few common errors which we've all seen, and probably commit on a regular basis. There are fencers who wait for their opponent to move and give a tempo even if they have found their opponent's sword and there are fencers who don't attempt to find their opponent's sword at all but rely solely on feints and invitations. For the latter, Fabris points out that "If you think about this strategy, you can see that it involves making a tempo in order to provoke a tempo from the opponent. Therefore, the first tempo is also the first danger. No matter how small, it will at the very least provide the opponent with an opportunity to gain some advantage..."
These two points are key to seeing what Fabris is thinking with Book Two. If you have the advantage of the opponent, you should proceed to wounding them without waiting. You should not wait for them to hand you a tempo, as you have already found their blade. You should not ignore finding their blade and try to proceed by allowing them to give you a tempo that you can try to move inside of. So where does this bring us?
"What we are looking for here is a way to attack the opponent immediately after unsheathing the sword, without stopping and without regard to the opponent’s guards, postures, tempi, parries, attacks, advances or retreats. In short, the opponent should be utterly powerless to stop your attack under all circumstances." Again, how does proceeding with resolution accomplish this? "The advantage comes from your ability to put the opponent into obedience and force him to do as you wish, whether he tries to defend or counterattack. If you know how to do this, everything else will be easy, because you will be able to foresee your opponent’s actions."
Oh.
At heart, once you have found your opponent's sword, you have ideally placed them under some degree of obedience - there are only a finite number of reasonable actions for them to take, and ideally you are able to counter them with a more efficient and therefore faster response. What Fabris is suggesting is that if you do this while smoothly closing with your opponent, their potential array of reactions will grow more and more limited until none remain to them, and they are wounded.
This is different from stepping closer to one's opponent in a more conventional fashion because there is no pausing. There's no waiting, no drawing them out and seeing how they react. This means that as you close measure and your opponent reacts, you must be already moving to counter them. "Carry your sword so close to the opponent’s blade that when the opponent’s sword moves, it will seem to be tied to yours: in other words, one sword’s movement should be quickly followed by the other’s. If your opponent’s sword gets away from you, the tempo will be lost, and if you were to chase it while going forward you may be wounded."
If you are moving towards your opponent at a steady walking pace, ideally one of two things will be happening to the measure - it will be collapsing if they remain still or if they decide to approach you in turn, or it will remain the same if they retreat. As you initially enter an extremely wide measure, you move into position such that you have found the blade of your opponent. At that point, they react - and you will continue to move forward and continue to make yourself safe according to all the principles that Fabris has already outlined in the rest of his book. They will continue to react, and you will continue to keep yourself safe, until you are close enough to strike them in a single movement.
Because the measure will be collapsing and the available tempi will be shrinking - sometimes extremely rapidly, especially if your opponent decides to advance as well - you will need to have a very clear understanding of the relative positions of your blades and your bodies, as well as what the most efficient counter to the possible movements of your opponent are. While you can simply go back to the rest of Fabris' manual and piece together what the plates say about the various movements your opponents can make at various measures, Fabris does a lot of that work for us by assembling his Rules. Each Rule that he describes is structured in a really interesting way, and I'm going to start pulling one of them apart in my next post.
Monday, October 7, 2019
Some Short Initial Book Two Thoughts!
This entry doesn't really have a point, per se, but I wanted to get some rambling thoughts out there. I've been trying in fits and starts to write up a paper on Fabris' Book Two. It isn't like there's a shortage of material in there to work with, and the secondary sources which are just past period are likewise pretty helpful.
Rather than just trying to outline a paper and build out flowcharts for the various rules that Fabris presents (so... many... flowcharts...) I thought it'd be a bit more productive for me to just start throwing some initial thoughts on the material from a pretty high view, and try to use that as a basis for going forward. (With more blog entries in, hopefully, increasing detail.)
So, onward. Book Two!
The key concept that Fabris describes in Book Two is what he calls "proceeding with resolution." If I were to put it very simply, I'd describe it as "walking calmly towards your opponent without stopping, and murdering them while you pass them." It's usually a bit more frenetic than that, but the moments where you can just do this smoothly and almost slowly are wonderful.
Of course, it's a lot more complicated than that.
At it's heart, I think the best meaningful summary is that proceeding with resolution is an advanced exercise in management of both tempo and measure while requiring a high degree of internalization of the practical applications of Fabris' theory as demonstrated in the various plays he describes. Which is a bit more helpful than my pretty flip description of it above, but probably not by much. So let's break it down even more.
First, let's see what Fabris himself says about proceeding with resolution: "I do not want to take anything away from the techniques of which I have spoken thus far. They are all important and good to know. However, in this part of the book I will set them aside. What we are looking for here is a way to attack the opponent immediately after unsheathing the sword, without stopping and without regard to the opponent’s guards, postures, tempi, parries, attacks, advances or retreats. In short, the opponent should be utterly powerless to stop your attack under all circumstances. This mode of operation, with all its requirements, will make you safer by far than if you waited in your guard."
Sounds good, right? It is good. It's also hard but very rewarding. I'm going to hit post on this pretty short entry here, and over the next couple of days put together an initial introduction to how the concepts in book two work on a broad level, and then maybe map out the first rule of the sword alone, and keep the posting momentum going now that I've found it again!
Rather than just trying to outline a paper and build out flowcharts for the various rules that Fabris presents (so... many... flowcharts...) I thought it'd be a bit more productive for me to just start throwing some initial thoughts on the material from a pretty high view, and try to use that as a basis for going forward. (With more blog entries in, hopefully, increasing detail.)
So, onward. Book Two!
The key concept that Fabris describes in Book Two is what he calls "proceeding with resolution." If I were to put it very simply, I'd describe it as "walking calmly towards your opponent without stopping, and murdering them while you pass them." It's usually a bit more frenetic than that, but the moments where you can just do this smoothly and almost slowly are wonderful.
Of course, it's a lot more complicated than that.
At it's heart, I think the best meaningful summary is that proceeding with resolution is an advanced exercise in management of both tempo and measure while requiring a high degree of internalization of the practical applications of Fabris' theory as demonstrated in the various plays he describes. Which is a bit more helpful than my pretty flip description of it above, but probably not by much. So let's break it down even more.
First, let's see what Fabris himself says about proceeding with resolution: "I do not want to take anything away from the techniques of which I have spoken thus far. They are all important and good to know. However, in this part of the book I will set them aside. What we are looking for here is a way to attack the opponent immediately after unsheathing the sword, without stopping and without regard to the opponent’s guards, postures, tempi, parries, attacks, advances or retreats. In short, the opponent should be utterly powerless to stop your attack under all circumstances. This mode of operation, with all its requirements, will make you safer by far than if you waited in your guard."
Sounds good, right? It is good. It's also hard but very rewarding. I'm going to hit post on this pretty short entry here, and over the next couple of days put together an initial introduction to how the concepts in book two work on a broad level, and then maybe map out the first rule of the sword alone, and keep the posting momentum going now that I've found it again!
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