Foilists: How many parries?

[gtmac]

The best offense, is a good yada yada yada.

How many of the 8 standard foil parries do you know or use?

[leapyear]

I generally use five of the parries. But I know nine, with the ninth being that awkward attempt to protect your back with a kind of reverse-prime (looks like a six pulled back with the elbow in the air- Tim Roth used it a lot in the movie Rob Roy. Looks really cool).

I make a lot of use of the much underappreciated and oft-neglected parry seven. Tends to surprise people.

[Frater_Frag]

I use all of them, however, some of them are used more often than other!

After all, quarte and sixte are the most useful ones. But if I have to fence against a leftie, the prime is very useful, othervise, that one tends to be neglected. Of course, septime can also be effective against a leftie, allthough the lower lines are often forgotten when it comes down to foil.

[keropie]

Well, this is actually my first vote for poll being flawed ever

But, I would say that the hypothetical 'list' of parries is very flawed, as while there are 8 recognized lines in the French and Italian schools (though different lines), there are vastly more parries. Lateral 6 and circular 6 are very different in their application and avoidance, and should clearly be separate parries. Additionally we'd have semi-circular, diagonal, and shearing six (the most questionable of these as it's not really listed in any of the original schools that I'm aware of), and we now have five different parries for the line of six. We could even question how different timings might affect these, as well as depth of parry (i.e., we have flying parries, intercepting parries, yielding parries, ceding parries, opposition parries, beat parries, etc.).

For the record, I generally use seven of the primary lines (don't use fifth much in the French school), but I don't see too many people who use both the pronated and supinated parry in the same quadrant (i.e., most people use 6 as opposed to 3, and either use 2 or 8, but not both, and so on). My primary six parry is shearing, then circular, I like diagonal third and semicircular third and lifted third, lateral and circular fourth, circular and diagonal first, semicircular and diagonal second, diagonal and circular seventh, lateral and semicircular eighth. So yeah, more the eight .

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

I know 9 (the 9th being sort of a reverse prime, used when they disengage around your prime). I usually dont use 4, or 7, I just use circle 8 and circle 6.

[gtmac]

Well, this is actually my first vote for poll being flawed ever

But, I would say that the hypothetical 'list' of parries is very flawed, as while there are 8 recognized lines in the French and Italian schools (though different lines), there are vastly more parries. Lateral 6 and circular 6 are very different in their application and avoidance, and should clearly be separate parries. Additionally we'd have semi-circular, diagonal, and shearing six (the most questionable of these as it's not really listed in any of the original schools that I'm aware of), and we now have five different parries for the line of six. We could even question how different timings might affect these, as well as depth of parry (i.e., we have flying parries, intercepting parries, yielding parries, ceding parries, opposition parries, beat parries, etc.).

Hence the word standard.

[Adler]

Theoreticaly i know at least 18 parries but in reality i use 4 on a regular basis.

[The Poopsmith]

I believe 9 is a "lifting" parry. In the good old days when you could flick to the back more, what people often called 6 coupe is actually 9.

[dramamine]

It all depends what weapon you fence too... Parry 7 has a lot of practical application in foil, and possibly epee, but I hardly ever see it in sabre.

7 is very useful in foil IMO, especially with people actually doing disengages with the new timing in place.

EDIT: Lol, I didn't even really read the title of the thread. Foilists only... haha

OK well I use 4, 6, 7, 8, prime occasionally on righties, a fair bit on lefties, 2 when I panic, and three very occasionally for the people who still flick to the shoulder, and a low 3 for lefties sometimes.

[D'Art]

erm, I use about 40 parries, depending on the circumstances, most of whic are variations on the standard ones. where does that put me?

[Adler]

. where does that put me?

On the Defensive by the sounds of it

Do you do them all at once?

[jeff]

This poll is flawed! (I've never responded with that one before, either) You can know a bunch of parries and never you 'em... For myself, and sticking to the standard definitions: I never use 3 or 5 in foil, and rarely prime or seconde.

[VERITAS]

I use all eight. 16, if you separate French vs Italian.

Of the standard eight, I use quinte the least.

Nine is ridiculously impractical for foil. Great fun for saber, however.

[keropie]

Hence the word standard.

Sure, but you can't argue that lateral 6 and circular 6 are both standard, and I can't see any argument that they're the same parry. Both actions start in different places, and parry against different actions. The same for diagonal 6 and semicircular 6, though MAYBE diagonal would be 'non-standard.' That's still at least three different parries for the line of 6, so there's definitely more than eight parries that have equally legitimate claims to 'standardness.'

[gtmac]

Sure, but you can't argue that lateral 6 and circular 6 are both standard, and I can't see any argument that they're the same parry. Both actions start in different places, and parry against different actions. The same for diagonal 6 and semicircular 6, though MAYBE diagonal would be 'non-standard.' That's still at least three different parries for the line of 6, so there's definitely more than eight parries that have equally legitimate claims to 'standardness.'

Call it basic then.

[FencingKitten]

I'm a foilist only by the most strict idea of the word, that is to say, I can wield a foil without looking *completely* retarded, only mostly so. I know all 8 basic parries, that is to say prime, seconde, tierce, quarte, quinze, six, seven, and eight, and I can do most of them with and without circles, as appropriate.

I have a newfound sabre-love for 1 and 2 (longish story), but in foil I generally use 2, 4, and 6.

[Be_Like__Water]

There are actually 9 parries if you count "high 6", aka, "9"

[D'Art]

Do you do them all at once?

depends how desperate I am not to get hit

[rory]

What I use and why I most often use them.

Used regularly:
Prime (stepping in, against a deep attack)
Seconde (beat while retiring)
Quarte (whenever necessary)
Sixte (as with quarte)
Septime (pick-up-and-flick to back)
Octave (step in with opposition)

Used to use tierce a lot as defense from the flick.

Almost never use nieuvieme (for which, incidentally, I use Ziemek W's definition - hand above head height, point forward), but have once or twice - again for flick defense.

[rudd]

Hi

I think Rory nicely summed up the usage of parries in modern foil. However nieuvieme can be very useful. If you have a look at someone like Sanzo it's his parry of choice usually utilised with a coupe reposte.

I use 4 a 6 most often, usually straight but sometimes the circilar version. The others to leesser degrees.