Book Swap Special: Blackwell Wraps it Up.

The last few pages of Blackwell's book are where he gives general tips. As is the general theme throughout the 18th century (and well beyond it) advising against passion is at the centre of this. Not in the sense that you should be stoical and blasé about everything that passes your way. No, not at all.

Rather, Blackwell takes the last few pages of his book to advise against losing your temper or being blinded by overpowering emotions. As Blake would write some decades later: "To be in a passion you good may do/But no good if a passion is in you."

The final three lessons have to do with disarming. Looking back, it's a sensible thing to end a lesson book on fencing with, since you need to be a little more than a novice before you can go around grabbing swords by the blade to get them out of your opponent's grasp.

Though, the matter of disarming your opponent works curiously well with keeping your emotions in check. Ultimately, Blackwell ends with the same lesson that's at the heart of so many martial arts: rule yourself so that your actions may be pure.

Book Swap Special: Darting Through Blackwell

The lessons in Blackwell's book are, actually, legitimately useful. It's not just a collection of 18th century nonsense as I had thought it might be. The difference in terminology continues to make things a little obscure, but the meat of the lessons is getting through to me.

Faints and darts are the main things taught in lessons six through 10. The dart isn't too badly described. Though, really, based on my prior knowledge of fencing, it's the act of running your foil up and against your opponent's at an angle so as to move their blade out of the way for some sort of attack or faint. In either case, it's a move that needs to be as fast as the name implies, which is why it only involves the arm and wrist. Really, it's a way to press your opponent into giving an opening, or to attacking so that you can give a parry and riposte.

Blackwell's mentioning that to look into their opponent's face and not at their wrist is, to some people, almost as bad as having their opponent's sword in them is a comical bit of truth. His warning against using the dart during the day time or in a close space is also reminiscent of my teacher from out West. The form of a dialogue suits this sort of instruction quite well indeed.

Book Swap Special: Blackwell for Beowulf

One of the guys I work with at my day job is seriously into martial arts. So, when he found out that I've had some fencing experience, he became very interested in my helping him out. Part of this help involves me piecing together a few mysteries of technique (and maybe theory) to be found in Henry Blackwell's The English Fencing-Master (or, the compleat tuterour of the small sword...In a dialogue between master and scholar. Adorned with several curious postures.).

However, before I could just grab a copy from Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), he brought the book in. Knowing about his interest in medieval epic poetry, I brought in one of my copies of Beowulf, and we traded texts.

Having read the first five lessons of Blackwell's book, it's safe to say that my rather casual fencing training wasn't for naught. The talk of Flankanade and Segoone is unfamiliar to me (not to mention the idea of thrusting with the nails down as in a Tierce), but the rest of it adds up.

Along with having a teacher who was more interested in the athletics side of the art (he trained a member of the 2012 Canadian Olympic fencing team, after all), it seems that he was also some 50 years too early for Blackwell to be of perfect relation. Riposte and "Holy Cross" (for the squaring of your upper body) have yet to come up.