Prime – Parry 1 Blade down and to the inside of the nipple, wrist pronated.

Sometimes known as
the “Looking at your watch” Parry. Blade points down and cutting edge faces away from the
fencer’s flank side.
Seconde – Parry 2 Blade down and to the outside, wrist pronated. Arm half-extended laterally, blade
pointing forward with downward incline, cutting edge facing towards fencer’s flank side.
Tierce – Parry 3 Blade up and to the outside, wrist pronated. Not often used in either Foil or Épée.
Standard en garde but rotated so cutting edge faces further in the flank direction, i.e. guard kept low,
sword upright with a slight forward tilt, cutting edge facing 45º to the flank side.
Quarte – Parry 4 Blade up and to the inside, wrist supinated.
This parry can be Lateral or Circular
The Lateral Parry is from Sixte to Quarte. The Circular Parry, also know as “Counter Quarte”, is a
D shaped parry, dropping the points and bringing it up on the inside bringing your point back
towards your En Guard line.
Similar to tierce on the chest side or prime flipped upside-down; guard low, cutting edge facing
away from flank, sword upright with slight chest-direction tilt.
Quinte – Parry 5 Blade up and to the inside, wrist pronated. Not often used in Foil or Épée Blade
held up almost horizontally with bent arm, cutting edge facing upward, blade has a slight tilt
meaning that the point is higher than the guard.
Sixte – Parry 6 Blade up and to the outside, wrist supinated.
This parry can be Lateral or Circular.
The Lateral Parry is from Quarte to Sixte. The Circular Parry, also know as “Counter Sixte”, is a D
shaped parry, dropping the points and bringing it up on the inside bringing your point back towards
your En Guard line.
Septime – Parry 7 Blade down and to the inside, wrist supinated. Point dropped, the wrist is in the
same place as in Quarte.
This parry is semi-circular, the point is dropped from Quarte to Septime (or the opposite).
Octave – Parry 8 Blade down and to the outside, wrist supinated. Point is dropped, the wrist is in
the same place as in Sixte.
This parry is semi-circular, the point is dropped from Sixte to Octave (or the opposite).