In part 2 I showed that, when fencer B is stringered on the inside line, they counter this by disengaging and attacking to the outside line. However, in part 3 I showed that fencer A can easily counter this in 4 different ways, which we call the hierarchy of actions. From fencer A's point of view, it looks like this:
When fencer B is stringered, we can see from the flow chart above that, if fencer B doesn't disengage from the stringer, they will get stabbed; if they do disengage, they will get stabbed. They are damned if they do, damned if they don't, right?
Wrong. Capo Ferro says that, if Fencer B is a clever person, when they disengage from the inside to the outside line, they shouldn't attack fencer A. Instead, they should feint an attack, which means they extend their arm but don't lunge. Why?
It has to do with tempo. In part 1, I said that tempos are actions, they are also the length of actions, and they are opportunities to act. The disengage from the inside to outside line is in itself an action - a short action, but nevertheless an action - and actions give an opportunity to the other fencer to counter-act. Next, an attack with a lean or perhaps even a lunge is another action, and a fairly large one at that! The disengage plus the attack is a large tempo, and this gives plenty of time for an experienced fencer (who is expecting you to act in this way) to perform one of the four counters seen in part 3. Put simply: fencer B doesn't have the time available to disengage and attack before fencer A can counter-attack.
Capo Ferro's solution is therefore that Fencer B does not attack after the disengage but feints. This is a much shorter tempo, and while it still presents a tempo for fencer A to begin making one of the four counters, it gives fencer B time to i) see what action fencer A is making, and ii) perform their own counter-action.
This creates a second layer to the hierarchy of actions: the actions that fencer B should do in response to fencer A's actions. In the flow chart below, the blue boxes and arrow represent fencer A's decisions and actions, and the orange boxes and red arrows represent fencer B's decisions and actions.
We will not look at each of fencer B's actions in turn. Remember, this assumes that fencer B has just disengaged from the inside line to the outside line and performed a feint by extending their arm.
Parry-riposte against the counter-attack
If fencer A tries to counter-attack during/following the disengage, fencer B will parry the thrust in seconda, or alternatively by making a beat (a riverso fendente) to fencer A's blade, and then immediately perform a thrust in seconda. This is exactly the same as the parry-riposte performed by fencer A in part 3.
Disengage against the parry-riposte
If fencer A tries to parry and then riposte against the feinted attack, fencer B will disengage back to the inside line during the attempted parry, where they will then immediately thrust in quarta.
Parry-riposte against the void attack
If fencer A tries to attack under the sword during the disengage, fencer B must parry the attack and then perform their own attack. The parry needs to be made quite low, and the thrust can be made low over the opponent's sword.
Counter-disengage against the counter-disengage
If fencer A counter-disengages against fencer B's initial disengage, technically fencer B can perform a counter-thrust, or they can parry-riposte, but for teaching purposes I will ask that they perform their own counter-disengage. This simply means that they perform a second disengage during fencer A's counter-disengage. They can then perform a thrust in seconda.
Video
All of these counter actions can be seen in this video. Note that the video shows the actions from both an inside stringer, and an outside stringer. So far I have only covered the inside stringer and the counter actions stemming from that: https://www.swordschool.com/wiki/index.php/Hierarchy_of_Actions_drill
Conclusion
There you have it. In three blog posts, we have looked at the inside stringer, the counter to that stringer, the counters to the counter, and the counters to the counters to the counter. Confused? Lets simplify:
Your goal is to stringer the opponent so that you can gain both measure and a tempo to attack.
Your opponent has two main choices: they do nothing, in which case you can thrust them. Or, they can disengage to the outside.
When they disengage, you assume that they are going to attack you, so you perform four possible counters: a counter-thrust, a parry and riposte in two tempos, a void attack, or your will counter-disengage.
However, if your opponent is clever, instead of attacking you they have feinted, which draws out one of the above counters. Now your opponent has the opportunity to counter you, with the counter they do depending on what you did. More times than not, this will be a parry-riposte in two tempos.
We learn both because sometimes you will be the one who stringers, and other times you will be stringered by your opponent.
You can imagine, then, that two experienced fencers may disengage, feint, disengage, feint, multiple times trying to gain a tempo to attack.
If you practice going through all of these actions stemming from the inside stringer, you will learn how to do most of the core actions in Capo Ferro's rapier system.
Next
In the next few blog posts, I will look at the same hierarchy of actions but from the perspective of the outside stringer. This will repeat many of the actions you have already learned, but it will also open up some additional actions.
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