One of our essential training elements is
the “bout,” a contest between two fencers, each of whom attempts to touch the
opponent without being touched by the opponent.
Bouting is “flashy” and exciting and can
be a lot of “fun,” too. It puts your
skills and spirit to the test. In some part of us it represents the obligatory
show-down between the hero and the villain, the “moment of truth,” the climax
of our favorite swashbuckling novels, films and TV shows.
It is, in this sense, the pinnacle of our
practice, like a musician stepping up to play a solo.
Here are the things you must do in order
to participate in bouting.
1) You must demonstrate that you will be a courteous opponent. Your conduct must be impeccable at all time,
under all circumstances. You must be composed and gallant, allowing no
expressions of emotion to sully the bout, whether positive or negative, neither
elation or disappointment.
2) You must demonstrate that you will be a safe opponent. Injuries are not an inherent part of fencing.
They are always a result of fencer error. You must be able to avoid such
errors. You must control yourself, executing actions in a safe manner, at the
correct distance without excessive force.
3) You must demonstrate that you will be a competent opponent. You must have
some hope of being able to defend yourself, so that you will be a worthy
opponent for your adversary. You don’t
get to play in the band if you don’t know how to play your instrument! You MUST master these techniques, at an
absolute MINIMUM:
1.
Straight attack, disengage attack executed on a
perfect lunge
2.
Parries of 6te, 4te, 7me and 8ve
3.
Direct ripostes and disengage ripostes from each
of the 4 parries
4.
Parries of 6te and 4te in the lunge
5.
Direct counter-ripostes and indirect
counter-ripostes from 6te and 4te, while in the lunge.
There’s more, of course.
MUCH more: compound attacks,
counter-attacks, contre-temps, parry combinations, preparations of the attack,
prises du fer, yielding parries, the remise, reprise, redoublement…
But these 5 kinds of actions are enough to
enable you to BEGIN bouting. You won’t be terribly interesting. You won’t be
dashing or brilliant. But at least you won’t be completely lost, standing there
with that deer-in-the-headlights look, hopelessly unable to get out of your own
way.
We typically don’t keep score in bouting,
because it inhibits the student. But periodically we do hold a “recital” in
which, for more advanced students, we do keep score, and we present awards for
the best performance.
There are significant irreconcilable
difference between classical fencing and the sport called “fencing,” of which
technique is only the least important.
The sport is simply about winning a
contest. And apparently, it doesn’t matter how you win. You can fence poorly, you can
behave obnoxiously. You can score by accident or you can score by cheating.
They don’t care. It’s only the final tally that matters. We disdain this approach
because we believe that it rewards the worst in people: mediocrity dishonesty,
and narcissism. In the sport venue, it doesn’t matter at all what kind of person you
are, only whether you “win.” Winning is the “be all” and “end all” of what they
do.
Classical fencing is the exact opposite.
You must fence properly and you must
conduct yourself courteously. If you fail to do either of these things, you
will be disqualified.
You cannot score by accident or by
cheating because we enforce the rules strictly, impartially and without
exception. But, more than that, the classical fencer has no desire to "win" by fluke or by cheating, would renounce any doubtful touch, refusing any unfair advantage. A victory, to be celebrated, must be unblemished. It's not enough for your performance to be better than you opponent's; it must be the best performance of which you are capable.
We reward only the best in people:
excellence, honesty and gallantry.
In classical fencing, it doesn’t matter at
all whether you win or lose, only what kind of person you are. In a contest between two people, one of them
is going to win and one of them is going to lose, but BOTH of them can display
excellence, honesty and gallantry, win OR lose, and we accept nothing less.
In
classical fencing, winning is not the end, itself.
It’s only the means to an end.
That end, our goal, is to cultivate in
every individual a strong healthy body, an acute and agile mind, a gallant and
gracious manner, and a joyful and dauntless spirit. The classical fencer must be gracious and
dignified in defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.
We hope that by populating our planet with
more such individuals, we will create a little bit better world.
- aac
