From the Encyclopédie of Diderot & d’Alembert, 1765.
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Diderot: Modern Arms & Blades, 1765
From the Encyclopédie of Diderot & d’Alembert, 1765.
Posted in Artwork, History, Weapons
Tagged 18th Century, Blade, Button, coquille, Cross-section, Diderot, encyclopedia, foil, French, grip, hilt, Knucklebow, pommel, Ricasso, Rococo, Scabbard, Small Sword, smallsword, sword, Tang
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Monsieur L’Abbat on Sword Length
Parade de Quarte Oposant La Main, L’Abbat, The Art of Fencing, or the Use of the Small Sword, 1734.
If you are considering acquiring a smallsword, then the choice of blade and the overall weapon length merit careful consideration. Smallsword enthusiasts typically use practice épée blades, though they differ significantly from historic examples. Modern épée blades most often used for smallsword analogs are typically number 0 or number 2. These blade lengths typically measure 30″ and 32″ respectively. Recently, number 2 blades for practice smallswords have increased in popularity, especially in England. In addition, the style and length of grips vary from sword to sword, as does the overall measurement of the hilt. Bearing these modern factors in mind, one can more easily select a weapon conforming the advice of Monsieur L’Abbat from 1734:
Of chusing and mounting a Blade.
Courage and Skill being often of little Use without a good Weapon, I think it necessary, before I lay down Rules for using it, to shew how to chuse a good Blade, and how it ought to be mounted.
The Length of the Blade ought to be proportionable to the Stature of the Person who is to use it: The longest Sword, from Point to Pommel, should reach perpendicularly from the Ground to the Navel, and the shortest, to the Waste; being large in Proportion to its Length, and not extremely large, nor very small, as some People wear them; the over large Blades being unweildy, unless very hollow, which makes them weak, and the narrow ones being not sufficient to cover the Body enough.
In Order to chuse a good Blade, three Things are to be observed: First, that the Blade have no Flaw in it, especially across, it being more dangerous so than Length-way. Secondly, That it be well tempered, which you’ll know by bending it against a Wall or other Place; if it bend only towards the Point, ’tis faulty, but if it bend in a semicircular Manner, and the Blade spring back to its Straitness, ’tis a good Sign; If it remains bent it is a Fault, tho’ not so great as if it did not bend at all; for a Blade that bends being of a soft Temper, seldom breaks; but a stiff One being hard tempered is easily broke.
Excerpted from: The Art of Fencing; Or, The Use of the Small Sword by maître d’armes Labat. 1763. Andrew Mahon, Translator.
Full Text
(note: Due to digital image quality of Labat’s plates, this post was originally published with a plate from Angelo. After locating an acceptable image from Labat, the Angelo plate was replaced. It can be seen here.)
Posted in Artwork, History, Quote, Weapons
Tagged 1734, 18th Century, 2015, Angelo, Blade, French, L'Abbat, Labat, Length, Small Sword, smallsword
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Care and Maintenance: Fencing Uniform
One of the wonderful things about fencing is there is so much to learn and experience. An essential element of fencing that is all too frequently overlooked with the uninitiated is the care and maintenance of one’s fencing uniform — including appropriate cleaning. Although the idea of washing laundry may seem very elementary, there are some tips that are better learned before mistakes are made that affect the appearance or safety of your protective equipment, and which may simply make the process easier. This post is offered in the spirit of helpful suggestions, especially for the newcomer.
To begin with, be sure to read and follow the care instructions from your equipment manufacturers. Your uniform provides critical protection so take care to not jeopardize it. What follows is what I do with my equipment — follow at your own risk.
Damp Uniforms and Steel
An important item to remember is that a uniform, even worn for a short period, when closed up in a fencing bag with a steel weapon, creates an ideal situation to promote corrosion of your weapon and rust stains on your fencing whites. Perspiration contains salts which will react with ferrous material and can leave orange stripes across your gleaming white jacket. To avoid this, make the effort to separate your uniform from your weapons as soon as possible after you leave the salle. A blade protector made from PVC is inexpensive (or easily made) and it can help reduce exposure to salts and moisture while offering some protection from bending a blade around a mask in the confines of your bag.
To Wash, or Not to Wash
Although there are some hardcore fencers out there who own multiple jackets, enabling one to use a jacket while another is in the laundry, this is simply not practical for most. Neither is washing a jacket twice a week which would also shorten its lifespan. However, a single jacket is a workable situation.
The Lighter Treatment
Jacket, Plastron, and Glove: After a relatively less rigorous fencing session, I spray my fencing jacket and plastron with the deodorizer sold in the U.S. as Febreeze, making sure to lightly spray the interior and underarm areas. Febreeze contains alcohol and a deodorizer derived from corn. It works wonderfully. The jacket is placed on one hanger, and the plastron and glove are placed on another hanger equipped with a spring clip to grip the cuff of the glove. Both are hung where there is very good air circulation to facilitate quick drying. Mine are hung in a room with a ceiling fan operating on low-speed. If one does not ensure good ventilation, especially if humidity is high, you will likely have the unpleasant discovery of soured equipment.
Mask: After a fencing session, it is important to make sure your mask is adequately dried as well. Some people may choose to occasionally spray the interior with a disinfected such as Lysol, but I generally avoid this. I have a place where I am able to set my mask mesh-side down and expose the interior of the mask to good airflow in order to dry quickly. Some people hang their mask by placing the tongue over the edge of a drawer until dry.
A Thorough Cleaning
Frequently, a fencing session at the salle results in soaked fencing whites and necessitates a thorough wash.
Washable Gloves: Many washable fencing gloves used heavily dyed fabric on the palms or back of the hand. If washed with a white jacket, one runs the risk of the color bleeding into the jacket. One can generally avoid blue or pink splotches on your jacket if the glove is removed immediately at the end of the wash cycle. However, I wash my glove separately.
Jacket: I make sure the Velcro collar closure is closed as though the jacket was being worn to avoid the hook side of the Velcro from snagging on fabric elsewhere. In addition to laundry detergent, I use two other products that are of great help: Borax and a hydrogen peroxide based bleaching agent such as Oxiclean. Borax is an excellent laundry deodorizer that also softens the hard water we have in our area, thereby boosting the effectiveness of the detergent. The hydrogen peroxide in Oxiclean helps whiten the jacket without any concerns that comes with chlorine bleaches. The latter are very corrosive and can cause rust/oxidation to quickly develop on the jacket’s metal D-rings and can cause individual fibers in the fabric to become embrittled and wear, resulting in thin material or even holes.
I wash my jacket and plastron with cold water and use the longest wash cycle which starts with a 15-minute soak and ends with an extended spin. As soon as the wash cycle is complete, both jacket and plastron are hung up to dry as described above. Air-drying eliminates the massive amount of wear that comes from tumble drying. Also, my jacket contains a cotton blend. Some jackets, especially those marketed to first-time fencers, are mostly constructed of a cotton canvas which is very susceptible to significant shrinking if washed or dried with heat.
Mask: A decision I am very happy with is purchasing a mask with a removable liner. The padded liner is held in place with Velcro and easily taken out to be washed. I wash mine by hand with a mild detergent (such as Woolite), making sure to squeeze the solution throughout the padding then thoroughly rinse. The liner is then hung to dry in a well ventilated area.
Not all masks are as easily cleaned, and even those with a removable liner will eventually get the bib soiled. Fencers have a plethora of ways in which they clean masks. Fencing forums even have descriptions of using the top rack of a dishwasher for masks, but this seems a rather drastic step to me and I doubt the extreme heat is good for adhesives or other materials. Others use a five-gallon bucket for a complete dunking and rigorous hand agitation. When I need to wash my mask, I go a less-intense and more conservative route with a gentle hand-washing.
A careful hand washing enables one to limit the amount of water exposure to the metal components (such as the mesh or rivets) and reduces drying time. I carefully dip the bib in a wash tub with mild detergent, set the mask on a towel, then use a cloth and/or soft brush to scrub the bib before rinsing. If needed, a hydrogen peroxide based bleaching agent such as Oxiclean can be brushed on the bib and allowed to sit (an old, sterilized toothbrush works well). This helps whiten and remove any stains. After rinsing, I blot everything with a dry towel and set in a well ventilated area to dry.
Vintage Masks: Some vintage masks have a padded leather sabre band wrapped across the crown of the mask (modern masks have rubber bumper/pad in lieu of leather). If I had a vintage mask with leather band, I would only wipe the fabric bib with a cloth dampened with a mild soap solution to carefully keep the leather separated from the water.
An Important Note About Sunlight
Although hanging up your fencing uniform in the sun to dry or simply air out may seem like a good idea, be judicious about this. The ultra violet in direct sunlight can have a very deleterious effect on some fibers and pigments. Fibers can be susceptible to breaking down with very little exposure. Some mask manufacturers expressly state to avoid placing masks in direct sunlight. if you are going to hang your uniform up outside, do so only where there is indirect sunlight for the duration, and limit the time exposed.
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Hopefully this information will be of some assistance to you, or perhaps you know a newcomer whom could benefit from sharing. If you have other helpful suggestions, please feel free to share in the comments below.
In the future we will look at the basic care and maintenance of steel weapons.
2015 American Smallsword Symposium
For your consideration, the American Smallsword Symposium is scheduled for April 25-26, 2015 in Timonium, Maryland. More information can be found via the following links:
You may also wish to join the Facebook group by searching for American Smallsword Symposium. A link to the Facebook group’s post with an event flier can be found here.
The Thrust of Botte Coupée
In their 17th-and 18th-century texts, the old French masters used to discuss a thrust known as the botte coupée. This was not another way of referring to the coupé, that is, the simple attack better known as the cut-over. Instead, the botte coupée was a distinct thrust, made under the blade of an opponent in the quarte guard. (Hence, a botte, which generally indicated a thrust, and coupée, here indicating “cutting under.”)
In The True Principles of the Single Sword (1676), Philibert de la Touche described the botte coupée as “a final thrust by which, after having feinted to the head in the inside line of quarte, and after the enemy has parried quarte, a person hits the enemy under the blade in quarte.”
Similarly, this is how P.J.F. Girard described the botte quarte coupée in A New Treatise on the Perfection in the Practice of Arms (1756):
To properly thrust a botte quarte coupée: After coming on guard and within measure, if the enemy has his wrist a little high, your hand must start first while turning to quarte and, lifting the wrist a little, fully extend the arm. Then, in order to lengthen yourself, bend the right knee and extend the left thigh, flattening the left foot. Lower your head and body a little with your head along the length of the arm, throwing the left arm rearwards while fully extending it.
La Touche was skeptical of the botte coupée, describing it as “useless” because a fencer who uses it has no opposition to protect him.
[T]he enemy only has to extend his sword to hit you in the same tempo, especially as the final blow in quarte requires you to hold the body upright, does not deviate the enemy’s sword at all, and has no wrist movement to the outside or inside.
Other French authors also wrote about the botte coupée. In particular, Danet recommended the quarte coupée hors les armes (outside quarte coupée) as one of the nine thrusts in his L’Art des Armes (1766). Danet seems to solve the problem of opposition by suggesting that the attacker essentially trap the sword arm in place with the flat of the blade.
To thrust the outside quarte coupée, when you are on guard in tierce over my arm, lower your point, moving it by an outside demi-circle and aiming the horizontal blade under the armpit. Keep the strong precisely under my elbow and the wrist in middle position, using the same opposition as low quarte and always ensuring the hand moves before the right foot, as it alone touches. This botte is parried in four ways, specifically, demi-circle, seconde, quinte, and octave.
By the 19th century, the botte coupée seems to have all but disappeared. Writing in the mid-1800s, Gomard allowed for a version of the botte coupée but, consistent with his numbering system, called it the disengagement to inverted septime:
We thus name the disengagement from the inside-high line to the inside-low, thrust with a hand lowered in medium pronation and carried as far left as possible, in leading the point towards the adversary’s right flank. In this thrust’s lunge, the body should lean forward in order to facilitate the lowering of the hand and the distinct, leftward opposition.
Due to its forced opposition, this thrust is considerably difficult to parry. If you use a septime parry, you meet a resistance that renders an effective parry nearly impossible; if you use the demi-circle of seconde with an arm half-extended, the blade escapes the parry, so to speak, by its exaggerated angulation. To be effective, the demi-circle of seconde should be executed very close to the body in order to seize the blade as closely as possible to the point.
. . . .
Past masters called this thrust the outside-low quarte coupée, without explaining the starting point. If this botte could be made by disengaging from outside high to outside low, it would effectively be, according to the bottes’ former denomination, a low-quarte outside, which we moderns have named octave. But, because this botte can only occur by disengaging from inside high to inside low and because it is impossible to pass from high to low while passing from inside to outside (as we saw in the section on the disengagement), this botte, given its starting point, can only belong to the inside line and can only be considered as septime. Not having very precise notions of the lines and judging bottes by where the point hits rather than the line, the past masters regarded this botte as being outside, because it was directed to that part of the body.
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