Parry (fencing)
From Free net encyclopedia
- This article is about the fencing manoeuvre. For other uses, see Parry (disambiguation)
In fencing, the parry is the name given to a specific defensive manoeuvre intended to deflect or block an attempted hit, although in modern sport fencing, distinct parries are sometimes replaced with imprecise blocking movements.
Tactical significance
The most obvious function of a parry is to prevent an attempt to make a hit from succeeding. There are, however, some complicating factors.
Parries are generally taken with the intention of launching an immediate counter-offensive (making a riposte or a counter-riposte). The problem is that your opponent may choose to disregard this and follow his initial (failed) attempt to hit with an immediate renewal.
In weapons governed by priority rules (foil and sabre), a successful parry grants the fencer a "right of way": if a riposte (or a counter-riposte) and a renewal land more or less simultaneously, only the riposte (or the counter-riposte) will count. Consequently, some fencers spend a lot of time "looking for" the opponent's blade, since "finding" it would grant them tactical initiative.
In épée, where priority rules do not apply, fencers may either modify their technique in such a way as to make immediate renewals difficult, or take several parries in succession without attempting to riposte in the hope of exhausting the momentum of the opponent's offensive.
Execution
For a parry to count as successful in foil and sabre, the fencer must establish some degree of control over the opponent's blade. In foil, any blade contact which appears to be initiated by the defender will generally be counted as a parry. In sabre, the parry must usually be conducted with approximately the bottom half of the blade. In sabre, if the attacker's blade contacts the defender's blade in the bottom one third, or hits the guard, his attack is considered parried. In the past, if a parry was considered to not effectively block the attack, it would be called malparry, by the referee (then called directors), but the current practice is to simply ignore it, or only use it in extended explanations.
Because of the absence of priority rules, in épée the concept of a malparry is purely functional: the parry is not effectively made, the opponent might power through and hit you.
Classification
In keeping with the tradition of the French school of fencing, parries are usually numbered 1 through to 8, according to the final position of the palm (in supination or in pronation) and the geometry of contact with the opponent's blade (above or below the guard, inside or outside the blade). The numbers originally referred to the sequence of movements in a kata-style exercise.Template:Citation needed In English-speaking countries French numerals are often used (prime, seconde, tierce etc.). Like most classifications, this one is somewhat artificial and does not always reflect the reality of the sport. In particular, full pronation and full supination of the palm are comparatively rare in modern competitive fencing.
Parries can be further classified according to the type of blade motion (lateral, circular, semicircular, diagonal) and the nature of the interaction with the opponent's blade (beat, pushing, binding, ceding, opposition, detachment).
The details are as follows:
- 1 (Prime) - palm in pronation (facing down), point low (blade contact below guard), opponent's blade on the inside (to the left for a right-handed fencer);
- 2 (Seconde) - palm in pronation, point low, opponent's blade on the outside (to the right for a right-handed fencer);
- 3 (Tierce) - palm in pronation, point high (blade contact above guard), opponent's blade on the outside;
- 4 (Quarte) - palm in supination (facing up), point high, opponent's blade on the inside;
- 5 (Quinte) - in foil and épée: palm in pronation, point high, opponent's blade on the inside; in sabre: hand in pronation, blade approaching horizontal (blocks a vertical cut to head);
- 6 (Sixte) - palm in supination, point high, opponent's blade on the outside;
- 7 (Septime) - palm in supination, point low, opponent's blade on the inside;
- 8 (Octave) - palm in supination, point low, opponent's blade on the outside.
Ziemowit Wojciechowski also refers to
- 9 (Neuvieme)- in foil and épée: hand in supination, blade approaching horizontal (deflects the opponent's point upwards or blocks a vertical "flick" to shoulder or back). Aldo Nadi numbered it 5 (presumably because of the similarity to the sabre 5). Others call it "high 6" or "high (binding) 7".
- pushing parry - The defender finds the opponent's incoming blade and pushes it aside with his own, progressing towards a covered position.
- beat parry - The defender knocks the opponent's incoming blade aside by swinging the point in an arc. There is no attempt to establish cover.
- binding parry - The defender finds the opponent's incoming blade and, maintaining control over it, guides or "takes" it into a different line (or returns it to the original one after taking it round in a circle), finishing in a covered position. This is very similar to an attack by prise de fer.
- blocking parry - The fencers positions his blade so as to stop the progress of the opponet's blade towards the target. Such parries are used against cuts in sabre and against "flicks" in foil and épée. It is very important to establish proper cover, since anything short of that will result in an insufficient parry.
- ceding parry - This is a defense against an attack by prise de fer or a direct riposte preceded by a binding parry. The fencer allows his blade to be taken but, just as his opponet's blade comes in for the "final approach", shifts the point of blade contact towards his own forte and establishes cover.
- opposition parry - This is another defense against a prise de fer or a riposte following a binding parry. The fencer does not allow his blade to be taken. Instead, he immediately responds to the opponent's attempt to do so by shifting the point of blade contact towards his own forte and establishing cover.
- parry by detachment - Yet another defense against a prise de fer or a riposte following a binding parry. Upon an opponent's attempt to take his blade, he immediately breaks blade contact circles around the opponet's blade and catches it "from behind".nl:Parade (schermen)