The list of Governors is;
Judgment;Measure;
Fly in;
Fly Out;
.......The grounds or Principles of true fight with all manner of weapons.
16 First judgement, lyings, distance, direction, pace, space, place, time, indirection,
motion, action, general and continual motion, progression, regression, traversing,
and treading of ground, blows, thrusts, falses, doubles, slips, wards, breaking of
thrusts, closings, grips, & wrestlings, guardant fight, open fight, variable fight, and
close fight, and four governors....
(G.Silver Paradoxes of Defense pg 46, S.Hick modernization.)
......The 4 governors are those that follow
The first governor is judgment which is to know when your adversary can reach
you, and when not, and when you can do the like to him, and to know by the
goodness or badness of his lying, what he can do, and when and how he can
perform it.
The second governor is measure. Measure is the better to know how to make your
space true to defend yourself, or to offend your enemy.
The third and forth governors are a twofold mind when you press in on your
enemy, for as you have a mind to go forward, so must you have at that instant a
mind to fly backward upon any action that shall be offered or done by your
adversary.......
(G.Silver Brief Instructions pg 9, S.Hick modernization.)
_________________________________________________
Focusing in on the Governors, which is the latter of the two groups of principles,
it shares much with the former.
The Governors are the principles every fencer should have in their head and
attended to, in any moment of a duel or fight. Everything else we discuss in this
essay or just in fencing in general is based of these basics.
The list of Governors is;
Judgment; Where you can be hit, hit someone else, the terrain, arena and what
actions you or the opponent can do.
Measure; The distance between you and your opponent, the readiness, and the
lying/action to defend against an attack.
Fly in; Get into distance to strike, whether in time of the hand, body or foot.
Fly Out; Get out of distance to guard in time and avoid a strike.
Regardless of weapon, following these principles would prepare you for any
fight or scenario, regardless of advantage or disadvantage. It doesn't promise
100% safety, but it would give you the best chance.
Silver speaks much of the first two Governors in his treatises, and doesn't lack
any words for the latter either, however I feel Ledall infers the latter the best
in his work. Ledall in majority of his chases or encounters has you attack and
then immediate void out with the same leg, usually with a clearing strike
accompanied.
_____________________________________
Silver speaks of much fencing advice which thus leans heavily on the Grounds
and Governors.
..........Cap. 2 1. First when you come into the field to encounter with your enemy,
observe well the scope, evenness and unevenness of your ground, put yourself
in readiness with your weapon, before your enemy comes within distance, set
the sun in his face traverse if possible you can, still remembering your
governors.
2. Let all your lying be such as shall best like yourself, ever considering out what
fight your enemy charges you, but be sure to keep your distance, so that neither
head, arms, hands, body, nor legs be within his reach, but that he must first of
necessity put in his foot or feet, at which time you have the choice of 3 actions
by which you may endanger him & go free yourself.
The first is to strike or thrust at him, the instant when he has gained you the
place by his coming in. The second is to ward, & after to strike him or thrust
from it, remembering your governors. The third is to slip a little back & to strike
or thrust after him........
Considering the above quote, this covers all of the Governors.
Judgement covers the arena, and surroundings,
Measure covers your lying and guard depending on what your opponent is likely
to do, as well as preparedness to back-step.
Fly in, Fly out covers any forward or backwards action, whether attack or void.
You win the battles in the weeks, days, and moments before. Rarely do you
win in the moment. Putting yourself in the Place, stepping into a lying/guard
that is prepared for an enemy, structured footing and alert attention, your
distance far enough they have to step to attack, and prepared to Fly Out
with a step if needed.
This is the result of the Grounds and Governors.
__________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment