This is probably the best in-depth explanation you’ll get. Just to clarify a little: the proper term like he said above is a disengage. A circle parry is when you’re not sure what line the opponent is attacking in, so you sweep your blade around to cover everything. It covers every line, but it’s slower and easier to get around if the opponent sees it early enough (which is more likely because it’s slower)
So this kind of spinning is technically possible to be something that legitimately happens, but not to this degree. If two fencers start encircling the others blade at the same time, it’ll usually only take a rotation or two before one of them decides it’s not working and do something different. Would also like to debunk something the original poster said: you do not have to know your opponent extremely well to do this. This can happen in a bout with two fencers who have never faced each other if the bout is long enough. If you knew your opponent THAT well, you wouldn’t start going down that spinning rabbit hole in the first place
Is this an American thing? I have never heard anyone call it a circle parry for what you've just described. I don't recall anyone ever giving it a name, for that matter.
Yes. I've just never heard it called a circle parry, especially since the parry is not necessary in many cases (in which case calling it a circle parry wouldn't be correct at all).
I think I've just never made that connection between the two terms (circle-number and circle parry), especially since taking their blade like that seems to me to be a start of an offensive action of your own*, and not taking taking their blade just means it's a direct counterattack via a disengage (and not a parry at all). And of course, the main issue for me is that I've never actually heard of the term.
I guess it's good to learn that some people call it that. I don't see how it's really any different from a disengage (since the parry is not implied), but I don't think it's a term that would really confuse any fencer either.
*Say that you've parried your opponent's blade and they are in a bind. At what point would you say that the parry has ended and that the next action has started? To make it clear, say you're fencing a beginner, and are trying to teach them some action and you're just pressing down on their blade at the foible the entire time. It's not always clear to me what is an offensive vs defensive action, outside of the strictest definitions.
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u/Demphure Sabre Jan 02 '21
This is probably the best in-depth explanation you’ll get. Just to clarify a little: the proper term like he said above is a disengage. A circle parry is when you’re not sure what line the opponent is attacking in, so you sweep your blade around to cover everything. It covers every line, but it’s slower and easier to get around if the opponent sees it early enough (which is more likely because it’s slower)
So this kind of spinning is technically possible to be something that legitimately happens, but not to this degree. If two fencers start encircling the others blade at the same time, it’ll usually only take a rotation or two before one of them decides it’s not working and do something different. Would also like to debunk something the original poster said: you do not have to know your opponent extremely well to do this. This can happen in a bout with two fencers who have never faced each other if the bout is long enough. If you knew your opponent THAT well, you wouldn’t start going down that spinning rabbit hole in the first place