Dueling Tactics: How to scam a break during an épée duel

Based on the historical record, a duel with sharp épées was an unpleasant affair. Chances were that three feet of needle-pointed steel might transport you from the terrain to the Happy Hunting Grounds with considerable pain and suffering.

So who’re you to judge the little “trucs” that might get you a breather during your affair of honor…

It’s official: FencingClassics painting has been positively identified!

FencingClassics members were among the first to see this up-to-now unknown early work of German Romantic genre painter Carl Wilhelm Hübner surface from oblivion. Now it’s official: It’s indeed a Hübner. And a great re-discovery!.

by J. Christoph Amberger

Baltimore, MD— An unknown painting from the formative period of the German Romantic painter Carl Wilhelm Hübner was recently discovered in the art collection of a private fencing history archive in Baltimore, Maryland.

The oil painting measures 46.5 cm by 60.5 cm and depicts a pair of fencers in the costumes of the early 19th century.

Mensur; Germany, 1882

All those long and lonely summer nights…

(Click to enlarge!)

Fechtschule; Germany, 18th ct.

Plenty of action

Talk about a three-ring circus!

Schläger Mensur; Heidelberg, Germany, 19th ct.

A biedermeier meeting of the minds

Thanks to Mark Twain and Jerome K. Jerome, Anglo-Saxons on both sides of the Atlantic consider the Mensur — a pan-German ritual of passage practised wherever quality German is spoken Heidelberg Mensur — synonymous with Heidelberg.

Lance practice; Austro-Hungary, c. 1905

Clash of the titans…

Military Cut Fencing; Germany, 1925

Boys will be boys…

Bayonet Drill; France, c. 1910

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Hold still!

Beats frisbee golf any old day…

Foil; Germany, c. 1860

 

Copper Wire Handle

 

A pretty foil suited for little hands…

French Épée Gallery

Ready for bouting

Military fencing master

Marseillais Maitre

 Épée gear and fencers…