Mandritto to the head against Third

This wound of mandritto to the head against Third can happen in two ways. In the first, one goes to find the enemy blade and the other does not move; the swords come together on the outside, the one who is wounded wishes to press strongly against the enemy blade, and the striker, feeling that force, yields (cede), turning with the wrist (voltando di nodo di mano) and keeping the hilt near the enemy sword, and so wounds as shown. The wounded man cannot parry because, in the yielding made by the striker, his own sword falls somewhat lower, so that the striker's forte oppresses it and prevents him from raising it again.

It may also happen that, with both in Third on the inside, the striker goes to find the enemy blade, and the other disengages in Third while carrying himself forward in order to wound on the outside. Then the striker lets the point, which had gone to the blade, fall, turns with the wrist, mounts with the hilt over the enemy blade, and thus makes the descending mandritto, although the hand then falls into Third, as shown. The larger lesson is the same as in the bind: yielding to force creates the time and the superior relation from which the cut can be safely delivered.