ABSTRACT
Up until this point you have been working in the True Art of fence, attacking and defending one line at a time, with a single action of the blade. Tactically and theatrically, however, this has its limitations. Historically the science of fence was divided into two arts, the True Art and the False Art. The True Art was the philosophy of superior practice and skill in the techniques of striking the opponent while safely defending one's self. The False Art was the process of using tricks and misleading movements of the sword and body to dupe the opponent into unwittingly opening a line for attack. Of course the honorable practitioners of the Noble Science found these tricks distasteful and uncalled-for. Various schools had different opinions of these false actions of the blade. di Grassi took the time to define the two arts, and then explain to the reader his strong opinion against the False Art.
