Of Guard and Ward

 Greetings,

The following came out of a discussion with one of my students, Adam Kaye, who has made a translation of Lovino's treatise into English, by the way. The discussion concerns the differences and similarities between guards and wards. The discussion will examine the concept of the ward and the concept of the guard, then compare and contrast the two. This leads to a discussion finding out where they mean the same thing and where they mean two different things. Within this discussion, there will be an historical consideration of these terms, in the sense of the treatises, as well as actual use of the terms as they have been used throughout the history of the sword, sometimes to mean the same thing, sometimes to mean different things.

Actual versus Potential

The difference as it is taken in the modern sense between the guard and the ward concerning their defensive positions. In simplest terms one, the guard is an actual defensive position while the ward is a potential defensive position. The guard by its nature closes a Line so it provides the fencer with an actual defensive position. The ward does not typically do this, so the fencer must make an action for defence so is a potential defensive position. Of course, there are exceptions to this, as always, which will be discussed below.

Historical Considerations

Historically, we must examine the concepts of "ward" and "guard" to understand how they were used in the periods in which they were used. Earlier on, they were used pretty much indiscriminately, the were used as synonyms, used to mean and describe the same thing. This was much the case for most of the medieval and Renaissance period. 

“lying calm and settled in some form with arms, either in order to offend or defend, that settlement, and that position, and that composition of the body in that guise, in that form, I call “guard”." (Viggiani, A. (1575) Lo Schermo, Translated by W. Jherek Swanger 2002)

  
It was only in the later Renaissance period that the ward, began to turn more toward the guard, where the weapon was used to close areas of the combatant off. This was most presently demonstrated by Fabris' concept of contra-postura in which the fencer adopted a position which was closed to the opponent.

“According to Fabris, a counterguard (or counterposture) is a subtle adjustment of any of the main guards made to ensure that the line between the opponent’s tip and one’s body is completely covered by the forte of the sword.  Counterpostures are to be formed outside the measure in order to ensure good defense once the “danger zone” is entered.” (Leoni, T. (2002) “A Brief Glossary of Italian Rapier Concepts”, The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts, http://www.thearma.org/rapierglossary.htm)

While this was a process made against an opponent and the later forms of rapier positions began to take into account the position of the opponent and began to close off areas to the opponent's attack. This was only the beginnings of what we could call a "true" guard. The guard which is familiar today would have to wait until the advent of the smallsword.

The guards of the smallsword and later modern sport fencing weapons were designed to close off a Line. These were guards in the truest sense. Any attack down the Line of the guard that was closed could be ignored and this forced the opponent to attack a Line that was open. Here we see the conception of what is understood by a guard in the modern sense. But the discussion does not end there.

One is the Other

There are instances where a ward is a guard, where a Line is closed to the opponent because of the position of the weapon or the body, or the combination of the weapon and the body, this article does not claim that this is absent. Indeed these instances are recognised and are notable. One of the prime instances that this occurs, is when a person deliberately adopts a contra-postura to the opponent's position. Other instances occur when the individual is in a such a position in which the weapon is in such an position that the opponent's weapon must be closed out of the Line such as in the hanging guard. These positions are made easier by the addition of an off-hand device which can serve to assist in the closing of a Line. In these cases there are more wards that are like guards. 

Most guards are also wards; they are also positions from which attacks and defences are easily launched. They simply have the added advantage of having one Line which is closed to the opponent so that Line the fencer does not have to worry about during the initial part of the encounter. The guard is a position from which it is also comfortable to launch attacks from, and also defend the other Lines which are not defended by the position of the guard in that position. It is a guard in the sense of one Line, but a ward in the sense of the other Lines which are not already covered.

What is the Purpose?

The necessary thing is that the purpose needs to be examined, the purpose behind the two different types of stances which are present in fencing. The ward starts the fencer relatively open, but expects the fencer to act against all the actions of the opponent, making choices to attack or defend. The guard closes a Line automatically defending a position against the opponent and driving their attacks toward another direction. This, primarily, prepares the fencer to respond to attacks in that other direction. The guard is intended to limit the opponent's options, and also the required actions of the fencer.

Once you can understand the purpose of a thing, like the ward and the guard it is relatively easy to sort out which is which. Further you can sort out how to turn one to the other, how to close a Line that may be open or create an opportunity for an active action, depending what your desire is. Some will prefer to sit and wait for their opponent to make the first action, others will prefer to make the first action themselves. In part this should be a consideration as to whether you choose a ward or a guard, and which one you take against which opponent. While relatively simple, these questions can get quite complex the further you look into them.

Cheers,

Henry.

P.S. You will notice a lot of Wikipedia links in my posts. This is a great resource of free information which is now reliably researched, as you will note by the references which appear at the bottom of each page. I donate to the Wikimedia Foundation every year to keep this non-profit group operational, and I recommend that everyone do the same, you can do this HERE. Please give, and keep this free source of information alive, there are few of them these days.