Offensive v's defensive in Historical Fencing
"[be] ready to
receive any Throw that he shall think fit to give; but wait not for it, it
being safer to attack than be attacked" - Thomas Page, The
Use of the Broadsword, 1746 page 46
"Avoid, if possible, making the first attack against any adversary, more especially a stranger, it being advantageous to act on the defensive" - Alfred Hutton, Cold Steel page 42
In historical fencing there is obviously a spectrum between systems that
favour offensive actions and systems that favour defensive actions. Much like
the discussion between the merits of the point and the edge it is not a case of
one approach being objectively wrong and the other objectively right but about subjective
personal preference. They are both just different flavours in the rich soup of
historical fencing.
However both approaches do
advocate fencing “securely” which means covering/protecting yourself while you
act. I've not seen any treatise that advocates attacking without any concern
for your defence whatsoever. It is certainly bad practice to pursue offensive actions
without training to cover yourself from your opponents defensive actions. This is the essence
of “guard” positions which are ubiquitous to all treatises.
The difference is not whether you guard yourself or not but about how
you use the guards. While a superficial read of treatises like Meyer might
suggest that you get stuck in without concern for your safety:
"note that when you wish to fight with someone, then see that you
are the first to be in place so that you can act in a timely manner in
your intended piece, then you shall forcefully continue against him with
cuts that he cannot send himself into a guard or piece. But rather you
shall show that you will rush over him with sudden stepping before he
realizes it." - Meyer, (1560) 10r
What he is actually advocating is not using “settled” defensive guarded
positions but rather using guards dynamically to cover yourself while being
aggressive:
“However this rhyme teaches you that it
is always better to not settle into a guard. It guards you not at all, to show
someone with your guard”- Meyer, (1560) 111
Or another example of this from Thomas Page:
"Advance briskly up to your Adversary
under the Cover of an Outside, and Throwing an Inside but not home, receive an
Outside, just sufficient to open your Adversary's Play” - Thomas Page, The
Use of the Broadsword, 1746 page 38
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