ABSTRACT
Within the various philosophies of defense, there was a fairly common principal in schools of rapier play: to get in and get out quick, and to never trust the defense of the weapon completely. Because an attack could be falsed or a thrust that had been effectively removed could then come back as a cut or redoubled as another thrust, the defensive action often consisted of some type of twist or turn of the body to remove it from the threat of the attacking blade. These maneuvers could be an execution of some type of footwork or the complex turning and winding of the body causing an attack to miss its intended target without moving the feet.
