Rapier Tip of the Month
February 2001
The rapier blade is divided into two parts:
- Prime (forte by modern French terminology), or base half of the blade.
- Secunde (foible by modern French terminology, or tip half of the blade.
The Prime is strong and inflexible, and has the advantage of leverage. The Secunde is flexible, imagined to be sharp, and contains the point at the point furthest from your body.
These factors give us several rules:
- The Prime is to be used for defending against attacks.
- The Secunde is to be used for making thrusts.
- To engage or lightly bind your opponent (the stringere) touch Secunde to Secunde.
- To defend, oppose your opponent's Secunde with your Prime.
- In corollary, if you attack such that your Prime opposes the opponent's Secunde, they will not be able to parry the thrust. This is effected by moving your blade into different lines of attack.
Since we want to oppose the Secunde with the Prime, and since the opponent's blade is moving towards us, we will need to adjust our distance, either forward or backward in order to meet Prime to Secunde. By timing your steps with the opponent's attack, and adjusting the distance continually, you will be able to defeat the attack with safety, and launch a riposte or counter-thrust with ease.
During the fight you should be constantly correcting the range, using small advances and retreats to maintain your chosen distance. My personal theory is that each hand movement should be accompanied by a simultaneous foot movement. You can slug out with your hands without ever moving your feet, but that's just fighting, not the exalted state of fencing.