How to do Basic Sword-Fighting Parries

When hitting first fails, hitting last will do. A good parry will completely defend you and expend your opponent’s energy, leaving you free to hit back at will. This guide is written from a fencing perspective (specifically, saber), but can apply to anyone with a stick. Foil and epee parries are much more subtle than the parries described here. Consult a professional teacher to learn them.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• A stick (minimum)

1. There 3 basic parries for the upper body; parry 4, parry 5 and parry 6 (these are named for a larger set of parries in fencing). For the purposes of this guide, if your opponent goes for your legs, just back up. The attack will put them off balance, leaving you free to hit them in the head.
2. Let’s assume you’re right-handed (reverse if left-handed). Parry 6 protects your right flank, parry 4 moves across, like a windshield wiper, to protect your body, and parry 5 protects your head.
3. Parry 6 is your default position. Bring your arm down to your hip, extend it slightly, and keep your forearm parallel to the ground. Hold your weapon straight up and curve your wrist out, away from you. Now, if your opponent tries to hit your right flank, they’ll only hit your weapon.
4. This will force your opponent to attack your body or your head. To execute parry 4, sweep your forearm across your body, keeping your elbow perfectly still. Switching between parries 6 and 4 should look like a windshield wiper. Your wrist should be straight at the end of parry 4. Don’t let your elbow move; it’s faster if your elbow stays perfectly still and only your forearm moves.
5. To execute parry 5, raise your elbow and hold your weapon straight, covering your head. Your wrist should be cocked, like you were making shadow puppets.
6. Once you’ve made contact, hold your opponent’s weapon. The goal is less to punch your opponent’s weapon off-track as to completely defend yourself. If your opponent wants to hit your head, and you do a parry 5, they simply can’t hit your head. Making contact with the opponent’s weapon is an incidental benefit to completely defending yourself.
7. Once your opponent has finished their attack, they will be off-balance. Hit them back.

Tips & Warnings

• You should NEVER fence with sharp objects without proper protective gear. Fencing is a combat sport; unless you're messing around with wrapping paper tubes (good times), someone will get hurt.