First against Third

Both fencers are in Third (terza) on the outside (fuori della spada). Their swords have come together and they have begun to press one against the other (attaccate le spade insieme, fare forza l'una contra l'altra). The striker turns the hand from Third into First (voltata la mano di terza in prima). This First naturally tends to wound low and has its strength underneath (va a ferire verso terra, ha il suo forte di sotto). Thus, by raising the hand, he leaves the opponent's sword underneath, in the line where First is strongest. While raising the hand, he also approaches the enemy's weak (si è avicinato al debile), and in that same instant he presses forward and wounds (in un punto istesso si è spinto oltre, e ha ferito).

The same wound could have been made more easily if the opponent had been in Second, because although Second covers that part more, it is weaker there, and so First would overcome it more readily than Third. This wound also arises well from the contest of the swords (contendere di spada). Fabris therefore warns how bad it is to resist one who presses with force, and how much better it is to yield (cedere), indeed even to remove the sword away, because the blade that wishes to contend by force must necessarily make some little fall (caduta) when the other yields. That fall gives the adversary a tempo either to wound or to gain some advantage (vantaggio) over the falling sword; and this is both safer and less fatiguing.