El-Escritor.com
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FEATURE
ARTICLE
On Guard, America!
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Contents
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On Guard, America!
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by
Ron Harris
But
if thou wilt be constant then,
and
faithful of thy word,
I'll
make thee glorious by my pen
and
famous by my sword.
James Graham
The Marquis of Montrose
1612-1650
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The Three
Prescotteers -- Ron Harris, fencing coach Pat Waples, and Suzy
Harris, posed at Prescott, Arizona's prestigious Racquet Club.
Photo by Mihai Leta |
El Escritor with bone-handled, swept-hilt rapier, the reigning
queen of swords for 400 years and a Society for Creative
Anachronism favorite.
Photo by Susan Harris |
One of maturity's many rewards is the
rediscovery of youthful recreations. The phenomena of Cowboy
Action Shooting, the popularity of the Society for Creative
Anachronism and the many other Historical Re-enactments, are but
nostalgic reflections of saner times, echoes of our delightful
childhood fantasies.
Imagination's solitude
affords respite from overpopulation's crowding and simple
utensils from the past are analgesic alternatives to the
high-tech terrors of our time. Classical compositions replace
the noise that passes now for music, old movies stimulate our
historical imaginings and the replicated weaponry of the past
reminds us that once, honorable men fought with honor for
honorable reasons.
Thus we return to the arms
and accoutrements of history; first to the guns of the Old West,
then to the muzzleloaders of our colonial and fur trade eras and
now, delving deeper into the past, to the romance of the rapier
and the fabulous fun of fencing. |
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A Short
History of
Fencing
Fencing began not as
sport, but serious training for sword combat, rather like target
shooting. In fact, it was the development of firearms in the
16th century that negated the wearing of armor, leading to the
use of lighter, one-handed swords.
Sabres, cutlasses and that
queen of swords, the rapier, were wielded from the Renaissance
through the 19th century, evolving, over time, into the
smallsword and courtsword. Swords like sabres, used horseback,
employed both edge and point, while swords carried afoot
developed into lighter thrusting weapons, eventually with blades
of triangular cross section. The absence of armor and shields
dictated athletic finesse and survival on the battlefield or
field of honor depended upon the balletic postures, movements
and tactics learned in the salle d'escrime or escuela
de esgrima of an adept fencing master.
In the Renaissance,
swordfighting was elevated to a studied discipline. Guns were
neither common nor reliable and most criminals employed blades
in their crimes; self-defense was flight or swordfight and
anyone with any sense went heeled. Then as now, an armed society
was a polite society. |
El Escritor as Zorro el viejo. The smallsword
is a limited number recreation of the sword in
The Mask of Zorro.
Photo by Susan
Harris |
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In the 16th century the rapier transformed
swordfighting into something akin to today's fencing. With its
long, slender blade designed primarily for thrusting, (the
shortest route to the target), the rapier took time to catch on,
but the change from previous sword designs was as permanent as
the results of its use. (Between 1600 and 1780, in France alone,
more than 40,000 noblemen and countless commoners were sent to judgment
on rapier blades). The rapier is as efficient as it is elegant.
The smallsword is even
lighter and quicker than the rapier. By 1700 the French and
Italian schools of fencing dominated and while the French were
more academic and the Italians more physical, both schools
favored smallsword design and the linear fencing technique we
see today over the circular maneuvers of rapier fighters.
The earliest writing on
fencing as such was Spanish maestro Francisco Roman's treatise
of 1532, but fencing as we know it was born in London in 1763,
sired by Italian maestro Domenico Angelo. In The School of
Fencing, he insisted that fencing was not only combat
training, but sport and exercise, contributing to one's health,
poise and grace. With this philosophy and the creation of the
blunt, flexible fencing foil, our noble swordsport was born even
as swords were eclipsed by the shadow of the gun. |
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Electric Scoring eliminates most, but not all contested
touches. Note the wires connected to these epee fencers as
they rapidly advance and retreat.
Photo by Ron
Harris |
The
development of the fencing mask rendered practice and sport
fencing safer. By 1891, the Amateur Fencers League of America,
(now the United
States Fencing Association, USFA), was formed and in 1913
the Federation
Internationale d'Escrime, F.E.I., was founded to foster
fencing worldwide. Fencing was included in the Olympic modern
games in 1896 and the sport flourished throughout the 20th
century in club and university programs. With the advent of
electrical scoring the game moved faster and gained spectator
appeal, but swordplay - electronic or real - has an exciting
appeal that lures growing numbers to take up the sword.
Continued on Page 2 |
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