"You dare to call me a filthy mongrel? Why you ugly, malodorous, drunken dog-faced heathen! Prepare to die!" without hesitation, he reaches to his left side, drawing forth a long, slim bladed weapon with a complex guard and swept quillons. He reaches behind his back with his left hand and draws a long dagger. He brings his sword hand forward, blade at chest height, his dagger is also forward, though slightly below, but also pointed at chest level, legs shoulder width apart. In terror, his opponent turns to flee.

Participants in the Arte of Defense in the SCA use many different styles in the way they attack and fight opponents. These are the basic components of a sword, as well as the combinations of weaponry a rapier fighter may choose to employ.

Any weapon we use, be it a foil, epee, or schlager, is referred to as a Rapier. The Rapier historically was a light, doubleedged sword with a sharp point. All blades are made up of several components. Some blades have additional parts that are unnecessary, but that add an interesting dimension to the game. This will be explained further.

The blade itself can be broken down to three parts, the tip, foible and forte. Let's start at the top of the blade, the Tip. In period, this was sharp, used to make thrusts and tip cuts. Ours are of course blunted and capped in rubber. Moving down the blade, we get to the Foible. The Foible is the part of the blade from about the tip to just over a third of the way down the length of the blade. This is the point from which draw and push cuts are made. The remaining two-thirds of the blade, the strongest part, is the Forte. The Forte is the part of the blade used primarily for parrying.

The standard Guard is made up of a bell, hilt and pommel. Some guards, however, include Quillons and knuckle bows.

The Bell is a simple, round guard that protects a fencer's hand. Size and overall shape varies. With schlagers, this section can be open metal in intricate patterns. The hilt is simply where a person holds the rapier. The pommel is a counterweight for the blade, providing the balance of the weapon. Quillons are the crosspiece found on some hilts. East Kingdom rules allow for only a twelve inch quillon, but it can be strait, curved up or down, or in the Toledo style, half up, half down. These add another tool for the parrying of other blades. Finally, the knuckle bow is an additional guard for the hand of the fencer.

Each fencer prefers rapiers of varying weights and configurations. With time and experimentation, individual fencers learn what works best.

In modern strip fencing, you are limited to one weapon. You also cannot switch which hand holds the weapon in the context of a bout. But in the SCA, we are attempting recreation of period styles - which means the use of both hands and multiple weapon combinations.

Single rapier, the basic form, is not just a sword and a bare hand. The off hand is gloved in chain mail - making it impervious to cuts. Thrusts still disable the hand, and if another weapon is taken in hand, the gauntlet is lost. But this allows a fencer to use the off hand to block an opposing blade, so long as they do not grab the opposing weapon. We can't grapple, of course, but this helps keep things interesting. Case of Rapier refers to later period, when a pair of dueling swords were kept in a single case. Rather than offer one blade to your opponent, however, you take up a blade in either hand. This can make for some very exciting combat, as both hands are armed with long blades, equally capable of killing or disabling an opponent. Point control with two swords is not a simple task, and it can be very easy to use your own weapon against yourself. This form looks very pretty, and when mastered can be especially lethal in melee (two or more fencers working as a team against multiple opponents) combat.

Somewhat similar is the use of a dagger. Most fencers use a weapon called a flexi-dagger, a blade about 1/2 as long as a foil or epee, and extremely flexible. In the 16th century the long, slim bladed dagger was a tool easily carried and concealed by just about anyone. All by itself it made a potent and often times lethal weapon. But used in concert with a sword, it became something more. The dagger can be used for both attack and defense. To defend, the dagger is excellent for sweeping away the blade of an opponent. For attack, one must get fairly close to their opponent, and in-fighting is a style in-and-of itself. Cutting and thrusting with a dagger is allowed. Head and neck shots are allowed when agreed upon by both combatants. Of course I'm simplifying this, but then I think I could write a whole paper on this alone.

The next two forms are strictly defensive. Rigid and non-rigid parry. Rigid parry implements include tankards, scabbards, small shields called bucklers, and virtually any solid object that can be held easily in the hand. All of these objects work much the same as the chain-mail gauntlet, but offer a better defense of the body. Most rapier combatants begin with either buckler or scabbard, as most other objects are subject to the Marshall's approval. Bucklers can be no more than twenty inches in diameter. These weapons can only be used to defend against blades, as the name implies, for parrying.

Non-rigid parry implements include cloaks, hats, coiled whips, and other objects of a non-rigid nature, subject to Marshall approval. Most fencers using this style employ cloaks. The cloak can be used to sweep away an opponent's blade, and can be flourished to add a dimension of style and distraction. It cannot be used against the body of a fencer, or to disarm a combatant. Cloak is perhaps the most difficult form to master, as it is almost as easy to foul your own weapon as it is your opponents'.

Technically, schlager is a completely separate form, employing all of the above. Schlager cannot be used with or against foil or epee. Schlager is only now coming into use in tournament play in the east, although it is the only fencing weapon allowed in the Midrealm. Schlagers are much closer to the rapier used in the combat we are recreating.

So those are the components of the basic fencing weapon, and the additional weapons forms used in East Kingdom Rapier Combat. The arte of defense can be a great deal of fun, though it is not for everyone. This Guide, along with Parts I and II, is only the beginning. For more information, see your local Marshall of Fence. So the next time someone calls you a dirty dog, your rapier wit will truly cut close to the bone.

So the next time someone hurls an insult at you, you'll be ready to give them a sharp, pointed response.