Solo Drill: Feint with Advance (in Italian Finta Camminando or Finta Scorsa) (02-September-06)

Description
The Feint with Advance is one of the basic techniques for all of the Italian systems for thrusting weapons, from early 1600s rapier to early 1900s dueling sword (and it is a staple technique in fencing today). The fencer will practice various combinations of feinting and footwork, perfecting this technique so that it is always available in drilling and freeplay.
Practice the feint without an advance. This is performed in three steps, but in one continuous motion with no pauses between any of the steps:

1. Extend the weapon-arm to threaten the target.
2. Make an appel (i.e. a stomp of the forward foot).
3. Perform a cavazione and lunge (with recovery).

When everything can be performed in the correct order and with the correct motions every time, change step 2 into an advance (again, without pausing between steps):

1. Extend the weapon-arm to threaten the target.
2. Make a full Advance (i.e. front foot advances, then rear foot moves forward by the same amount).
3. Perform a cavazione and lunge (with recovery).

Prerequisites
The lunge, the appel (a stomp of the forward foot), and the advance.

Goal
The fencer will perfect the mechanics of the Feint with Advance so that he can perform each motion perfectly and smoothly in the correct order.

Notes
The cavazione (e.g. disengagement) is in the drill for the purpose of practicing the entire movement of this action when it is used in a non-solo drill or in freeplay. That is, the cavazione would elude the opponent's attempted parry or seizure of your feint. Although hand position is not universal, in Italian rapier, attacks to the outside are usually performed with the hand turned toward or in seconda, while those to the inside are usually performed with the hand in quarta. Therefore, you should ensure that you turn your hand towards the correct positions when performing the feint and then the attack (which necessitates your deciding which to line your feint is directed and to which line your earnest attack is directed).

The appel is recommended by most masters (although certainly not by all) as a way of adding emphasis to the feint when it is not accompanied by an advance. However, Parise also recommends using it as a way of ensuring you do not launch your true attack until you have fully extended your feint. If you wish to be true to the rapier masters of the early 17th century (Fabris, Capoferro, et. al.), once you have mastered the feint without an advance as described above, perform it without the appel.

Note that to initially train the correct order of the movements of this action, you can practice without the cavazione (which is also the correct series of movements to use against an opponent who does not react to the feint).

Variations
There are endless variations on this drill which should be obvious. Increase the number of variations and the length of time spent on each of them as the fencer's technique and stamina increase.

List of Drills