My fifth Lesson is of Feinting, or Fa•∣sifying.

How am I to make a Feint?

Before I shew you how to make Feint, you must know that there are se• rall kinds of Feints.

I pray you shew me them?*

There is then the Ordinary single, Fein• and the Ordinary double Feint; the single Fei• at the Head; and the double Feint at the be• the low Feint, single, and double; the single and double Feint upon Battery; Volt-coupe, sing and double; all which Feints I shall shew y• orderly, as I have here set them down how they must be played.

I pray you do so, and let your Expla••∣tion of them be as distinct, * and easie, as possible that so I may the better understand your meaning.

I shall, you are to make your Or∣dinary single Feint then, after this manner (I suppose that you are alwayes standing 〈◊〉 a Guard, before you offer to play any Lesso• when you are within your Adversaries Swor•dis•engage and make your Feint without, which is done by giving a beat with your right fo• upon the ground, just as you disengagePage  47and your Sword upon the outside of your Adversaries, and instantly after you have dis-engaged, if you perceive him answer your Feint, by offering to Parie, dis-engage again, and give him the Thrust within the Sword, some use to make their Feint without any beat with their Right Foot, but I am whol∣ly against it, unless you were playing a∣gainst those who are expert in this Art.

What is your Reason for that?

My Reason is this, * that if you should give a beat with your Foot, when you are playing against such as understand this Art well, they would immediatly know it to be a Feint, and therefore would not answer it. Now to make your Feint, without any Motion of your Foot to them, is most reason∣able, because the making of it, as quick as you can, without any beat of your Foot will cause them believe that it is really a Thrust, coming in upon that side on which you make your Feint, and so cause them answer it, and then you have your design. But the matter is farr different, when you are playing with Ignorants, or with such who are in a manner but just grounded in this Art, for if you should make a Feint to them without giving a beat with your Foot, upon the ground, they would not answer Page  48it, not because they should not, (for ob∣serve this as a General Rule, never to an∣swer a Feint, unless you do it upon some design,) but because they have not as yet come the length of discerning such quick play. For your Feint without a beat of your Foot with it, would appear to them as no Feint at all, because of the quickness of the Motion, whereas upon the contrary, if you gave a beat with your Feint, you would surprize them, and in a manner make them start, when you made your Feint, and so make them go to the Parade, which was your design. Sometimes also a beat with ones Foot, without any Moti∣on at all of the Sword, will make some Ignorants brangle, which is no small advan∣tage to their Adversary.

I am now fully convinced of the necessity of Beating with the Foot, except when I am playing as you say, with such as are in a manner Masters of this Art.

I am glad you are convinced that what I say is true, for that will encourage me to take the more pains to instruct you in the rest of this Art, but let us now speak of the double Feint.

Shew me first how I am to play the single Feint, being without distance.

You must approach with your Feint.*

And with what stepp am I to approach whither with the single or double?

With the single, for if you approached with the double, you would discover your Body too much in the time of your approach∣ing, and so be in hazard of being hitt by your Adversary, besides that the double stepp is ordinarly never made use of, neither in approaching, nor Retiring, But upon the occasions I before told you in page 37. where I treated of them.

I indeed thought otherwise, but shew me now how I must play the ordinary double Feint.