The Art of Fencing; Or, The Use of the Small Sword
Listen FreeFree AI audiobook with natural voice. No signup required.
About This Book
The Art of Or, the Use of the Small Sword is a manual written by Monsieur L'Abbat. The author was a Fencing Master in the late seventeenth century, and this book constitutes the first comprehensive study of the art of fencing ever written.
Chapters (120)
- FENCING,
- or, the USE of the
- Small SWORD.
- Monsieur L'ABBAT;
- DEDICATION.
- PREFACE.
- THE
- ART of FENCING;
- OR THE
- USE of the SMALL-SWORD.
- CHAP. I.
- Of chusing and mounting a Blade.
- CHAP. II.
- Of Guard.
- 1st. Plate
- The middling Guard.
- The straight Guard or flat Sword.
- 2d Plate.
- A Lunge in Quart.
- A Thrust in Quart.
- CHAP. III.
- Of Pushing Quart.
- Of recovering in Guard.
- CHAP. IV.
- Of the Parade of Quart.
- 3rd Plate.
- Parade of Quart.
- Parade of Quart opposing with the Hand.
- 4th. Plate.
- A Lunge in Tierce.
- Tierce Parryed.
- CHAP. V.
- Of pushing Tierce without, or on the Outside of the Sword.
- Parade of Tierce.
- 5th. Plate.
- Parade of Tierce yeilding the Feeble.
- The same parade & opposition of the Hand.
- CHAP. VI.
- Of pushing Seconde.
- CHAP. VII.
- The Parades of Seconde.
- CHAP. VIII.
- Of Quart under the Wrist.
- 7th. Plate.
- Thrust under the Wrist.
- It's Parade.
- CHAP. IX.
- Of Flanconnade.
- 8th. Plate.
- Flannconade.
- The Opposition of the Hand to the lowering the body.
- CHAP. X.
- Of Parades.
- The ripostes.
- CHAP. XI.
- Of the demarches, or manner of advancing and retiring.
- CHAP. XII.
- Of Disengagements.
- CHAP. XIII.
- Of Feints.
- CHAP. XIV.
- Of cutting over the Point of the Sword.
- CHAP. XV.
- Of the Reprise, or redoubled Thrust.
- The Reprises on the Outside.
- CHAP. XVI.
- Of passing Quarte within the Sword.
- 9th. Plate.
- A Pass in Quart.
- The Lowering the Body on the Pass.
- 10th. Plate.
- The Turning the Body on a Pass in Tierce.
- Pass in Seconde Volting the Body.
- To Pass in Tierce.
- To Pass in Seconde.
- CHAP. XVII.
- Of volting the Body.
- CHAP. XVIII.
- Of Joining or seizing the Sword.
- 11th. Plate.
- The Seizing and presenting the Sword.
- Parrying and Disarming.
- CHAP. XIX.
- Of engaging in Quarte in a midling Guard.
- CHAP. XX.
- Of engaging in Tierce in the Midling Guard.
- When you are engaged within the Sword.
- CHAP. XXI.
- Of several Guards, and the Manner of attacking them.
- To attack a strait Guard.
- 12th. Plate.
- Attack in the high Guard.
- Attack in the low Guard.
- To attack the high Guard.
- To attack the low Guard.
- To attack the Guard where the Sword is held in both Hands.
- CHAP. XXII.
- Of Left-handed Men.
- CHAP. XXIII.
- Of the Parade of the Hand.
- Of the Opposition of the Hand.
- CHAP. XXIV.
- Of the beat of the Foot, in closing the measure, or in the same place.
- CHAP. XXV.
- Of the Good Effects of a nice Discernment of the Eye.
- CHAP. XXVI.
- Of Time.
- CHAP. XXVII.
- Of Swiftness.
- CHAP. XXVIII.
- Of Measure.
- CHAP. XXIX.
- Of the Necessity of some Qualities in a Master.
- CHAP. XXX.
- Rules for pushing and parrying at the Wall, and for making an Assault.
- CHAP. XXXI.
- Against several erroneous Opinions.
- FINIS.
- Thrusts of Emulation for Prizes, Wagers &c.
- FOOTNOTES:
How to Listen
- 1. Click "Listen Free" above
- 2. The book opens in CastReader's browser reader
- 3. Click the play button — AI narration starts with word highlighting
- 4. Use "Send to Phone" to continue listening on your phone
FAQ
Is this audiobook really free?
Yes. "The Art of Fencing; Or, The Use of the Small Sword" is a public domain work from Project Gutenberg. CastReader converts it to audio using AI text-to-speech for free. No account or payment needed.
What does the AI voice sound like?
CastReader uses Kokoro TTS, a natural-sounding AI voice. It handles punctuation, names, and dialogue naturally. Most listeners forget it's AI after a few minutes.
Can I listen on my phone?
Yes. Open the book, then use "Send to Phone" to stream audio to your phone via Telegram. No app download needed.