Cooperative Drill: The Sword and Hand Parry Drill (22-July-06)

Description
The fencers start in guard, one step out of measure. The Defender will either gain the Attacker's sword to the inside or outside, or make an invitation to the inside or outside. The Attacker makes a Finta Scorsa, that is, a feint with advance. If the Defender has gained his sword, the feint will be by cavazione; otherwise, it will be a straight-line feint. The Defender parries the feint with his sword at which point the Attacker should avoid the parry with a cavazione and launch the attack (since he advanced with the feint, he should be in measure). The Defender, in the tempo of the Attacker's final thrust (i.e. the real attack), parries with his off hand with the appropriate hand parry while simultaneously striking the Attacker with a thrust.

Prerequisites
The lunge, the hand parries, parrying with the sword and the feint with advance.

Goal
The Defender should learn to cleanly parry with his hand while simultaneously countering with his sword.

Notes
This is a conceptually simple cooperative drill that should demonstrate the complications of using both hands in one tempo. The Defender should also gain an understanding of how much more secure it is to parry with the sword than with the hand.

Variations
This drill can also be adapted to rapier and dagger. For further complications, allow the Attacker to attempt to avoid the hand parry on the earnest attack with a cavazione around the Defender's hand. Alternatively, the Attacker could be allowed to use a hand parry against the Defender's counter, forcing the Defender to avoid the Attacker's hand with a cavazione.

List of Drills