En Garde
En Garde
Basic Level Single Sword term
Definition
A ready position from which a combatant can launch an offensive or defensive movement.
Explanation
Also: On Guard
(Intermediate) The basic position adopted until very recently by almost all modern fencers is essentially the classic attitude devised by the late seventeenth-century school of smallsword play; though, according to the old illustrations, the knees then were considerably less bent than they are (or should be) today. Also, the trunk then was inclined appreciably backwards, as might be expected in an age when the duelist was ever conscious of the need to keep his face and eyes away from his enemy’s blade, and when even in the fencing lesson, the mask had not come into general use. As late as the 1940s, some masters were still insisting that the weight should be kept firmly on the rear foot. Then, in the sixties, there was a tendency to incline the trunk forward from the hips, in order to promote speed and aggression. For some years there has been fairly general agreement, at least among the followers of Crosnier and the French school, that the chest and stomach should be half-turned towards the adversary, any disadvantage arising from this partial exposure of the target being more than compensated for by the far greater comfort of the posture. In contrast, the modern Italian school for long insisted that the line of the shoulders, instead of being at an angle of approximately forty five degrees to the piste, must be practically parallel to it, so that the target area is almost entirely effaced and the partner can see little or nothing of it; but this necessitates a very cramped, unnatural position, and in order to keep the leading knee pointing straight ahead, ready for a correct lunge, infinite strain and muscle fatigue is involved. Many variations of the on-guard position have been recommended over the years:
- The Italian guard (classical). The sword-arm straight, or almost straight, knees slightly bent, the blade in various positions. Capo Ferro advocated a basic guard in terza (tierce)
- The Spanish guard (classical). In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the Spaniards cultivated a very upright position, knees straight, left arm down by the side, sword-arm fully extended. It was in this posture that they gyrated solemnly round the ‘Mysterious Circle’ of Narvaez and Thibaust.
- The Spanish guard (eighteenth century). This was after the indigenous Spanish school had really been abandoned in favour of an approximation of the French school. The rear upper arm was maintained at shoulder level and at right angles to the line of attack; the rear forearm slanted forward towards the ground at an angle of about forty-five degrees, with the palm facing downwards. The sword arm was almost straight, the hand in pronation and the blade horizontal.
- The Italian guard (eighteenth century). The feet closer together than the French, the rear forearm angulated forward, palm downwards.
- The German guard (eighteenth century). According to Danet’s illustration, the weight far more on the front foot than in the rival schools. The sword-hand is pronated and head-high, with the point directed downwards. The rear arm is in a very similar position to that affected by the contemporary Spanish school; apparently the idea was that the unarmed hand might still, in a duel, be of some service in parrying or warding off a remise after a successful parry.