Capoferro: Plate 7

Summary

Plate 7 contains the first of Capoferro's plays; in essence laying the tactical foundations of the system. The primary play is the parry and riposte in a single tempo, done as the opponent attacks by disengage. This is then countered by a feint of disengage, which draws the attack onto a prepared parry-riposte. We tend to start by spelling out each action: the stringering is left uncountered, so the stringerer strikes; so next time the one stringered attacks by disengage; that is then countered by the parry and riposte in one motion; that is then countered by the feint.

Source Text and Drawing

By way of clarification of the following figures, I say that D having the figure marked C stringered on the inside, the same C disengages in order to give a thrust to the chest of figure D. D strikes him with a thrust in the left eye with a fixed foot or an increase of pace as the figure shows. But yet I say that if C had been a shrewd person, when he disengaged he would have disengaged by way of a feint, with his body somewhat held back, and D approaching confidently in order to attack C, C would have parried the enemy's sword to the outside with the false or the true edge, giving him a mandritto to the face or an imbroccata to the chest, and in such a conclusion would retire into a low quarta.