Prise de fer

Prise de fer is a movement used in fencing in which a fencer takes the opponent's blade into a line and holds it there in preparation to attack.

William Gaugler lists all four actions under Prise de Fer in his dictionary of fencing terminology,[1] while Roger Crosnier in his book Fencing with the Foil only mentions the croisé, the bind, and the envelopment as prise de fer actions.

[2] Any prise de fer action requires that the blades be engaged, and it works best against an opponent who uses and maintains a straight arm.

[5] The opposition is typically classified as an action in the French style of fencing, and it is similar to what the Italian school calls a glide.

"[8] Julio Martinez Castello refers to the glide as a "sliding thrust" that will dominate the opponent's blade by forcing it to the side.

There are also those that believe the croisé to be a bind, as Julio Martinez Castello wrote in his book The Theory and Practice of Fencing.

One school of thought is that the action is, in theory, done from any line,[19] but it works best when done from sixth because of the difficulty of holding onto the opponent's blade otherwise.

[20] Jean-Jacques Gillet writes that the envolpment can be done from all lines but works particularly well in the actions that move the blade to the outside of the body.

[22] Julio Martinez Castello teaches that the envelopment is essentially a combination of two binds since it completes two semicircles.

In addition, he writes that the action can be followed by any attack, but preferably a glide, because that combination would continue to sustain a constant control of the opponent's blade.

[27] Louis Rondelle explains the flanconade as starting in a high four, and then carries it downward until it terminates as a thrust under the opponent's arm.