On Thursday, February 10, 2005, at 06:30 PM, Justin Greywolf wrote:
"With only this passage, I can see where this understanding comes from. I
have seen no where in Capo Ferro where he advises that there SHOULD be blad=
e
contact either, so why do people assume there is?
"
Justin-
I didn't _assume_ anything. Also, I did not say that there "should" be blad=
e contact in Capo Ferro, although I _deduce_ that it may be necessary at ti=
mes, based upon his own text. Since I'm not out to start a debate over this=
technique, I'll try to briefly sum up my devil's advocate interpretation o=
f this passage:
1) The fact that this statement is prefaced with a description of "things d=
one out of reason" by those who "make the play difficult," it is implied th=
at this may be advice which is specific to facing this kind of fencer in pa=
rticular. Otherwise, why would he lead into the advice with a description o=
f those who seek the narrow measure so poorly?
2) The fact that he qualifies this description with the phrase "when I cann=
ot do otherwise" implies that one would do otherwise under other circumstan=
ces. So again, we are looking at a specific conditional statement rather th=
an general advice.
3) In saying "...it is only necessary that I stringer the debole of my enem=
y's sword in a straight line etc" he is describing what is "only necessary,=
" in other words the bare minimum. This implies that there are other things=
one may do under these circumstances, but the rest is optional, since othe=
r things are apparently not necessary when dealing with this sort of fencer=
in seeking the narrow measure.
4) The word "toccare" has other meanings besides "touching;" it could also =
be translated as "hitting" or "knocking."
Thus, this passage can be interpretted in a number of ways. It does not con=
tain any clear indication of whether blade contact in stringere is somethin=
g that should or should not be done as a general rule.
My point is that this passage is subject to interpretation. Therefore it is=
misleading to say that Capo Ferro did not touch the blade; it would be per=
fectly fair to say "I don't think Capo Ferro used blade contact in stringer=
e" or "I think Capo Ferro may have contacted the blade in stringere under s=
ome circumstances," as these are both statements of belief rather than asse=
rtions of historical fact.
Since none of us have ever seen Capo Ferro fence or teach, we cannot have 1=
00% certainty about what he did or did not do. If we don't have any reason =
to doubt his words, we may reasonably suppose he was telling the truth in h=
is treatise when he makes a clear statement. Any statement which is in the =
least bit vague must therefore be interpretted before it is put into practi=
ce, rapier in hand.
I know that Maestro Hayes has put a great deal of thought into his interpre=
tation of Capo Ferro (and I'm looking forward to talking about with him in =
the near future!) I responded to his post initially to ask for clarificatio=
n of his statement "Giganti, Capoferro, and Fabris don't take engagement in=
the
modern sense; they seek to cover the likely line of assault offered by the
adversary's blade by "covering" it stronger near weaker, but without
contact." This caught my attention because I've read translations of Capo F=
erro a few times now and I was wondering whether Maestro Hayes was referrin=
g to a passage I'd missed, or if he was offering his interpretation of the =
passage below...I'm always interested in rapier fence, but my academic back=
ground has inspired in me a strong dislike of generalizations about histori=
cal facts.
If you'd like to discuss this further, let's get together and talk about it=
at 4W later this month over a tall, frosty glass of something or other! I =
prefer that discussion format myself...
Antone Blair
"110) Many in seeking the narrow measure disengage and counterdisengage,
perform
feints and counterfeints, stringer a palmo*1 and more of the sword, and ste=
p
from
every side, and twist their bodies and stretch them, and retreat in many
whimsical
fashions, which are things done outside of true reason, and found to deceiv=
e
the
foolish, and make the play difficult; nonetheless stringering of the sword,
when I
cannot do otherwise, seeking measure in my guard, it is only necessary that
I stringer
the debole of my enemy's sword in a straight line, with the forte of mine,
and this
straddling it without touching, but only in striking to hit the debole of
the enemy's
sword with my forte, on the inside or the outside according to the
circumstances of
the striking."
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