Anonimo Bolognese- A short note in distance and feinting

MS 345/27R

If your opponent is in coda lunga stretta with his right foot in front, you will place yourself in coda lunga stretta but with the left foot in front opposite to him. From here you will pass with the right a great step towards his left side throwing a mezzo riverso into his sword-hand, that does not go beyond coda lunga stretta, and your left foot must follow behind the right.

 And, from here, immediately feint as if you were to push a thrust to his chest, making a demonstration of a half-turn of the hand on his left side. And as he makes any motion to parry this feint you then disengage your sword under his and make a half-turn of the hand taking the true edge of your sword against his. And in this instant pass with left foot deep towards his right side pushing behind his sword a thrust to his flank, following with the right foot behind the left. 

This strike necessitates that you force his sword somewhat towards his left side in order for you to be able to wound with the said thrust, and that you turn your body as much as you can, so that the right shoulder is towards your opponent’s chest and the sword will be in way of coda lunga alta, but with the point kept towards the opponent as much as possible.

In this play, you feint to your opponent's inside and then strike to the outside.

One important  note on the thrust feint is the movement of your left food. While on the initial read it would seem that you would do the 'standard' Bolognese triangle step, you also have to feint a thrust. With this in mind, it seems to work best if you instead move you leg into a narrow position- almost heel to toe.

This has two advantages. First, moving your feet narrowly together doesn't move you back, which keeps you in range overall. Second, this allows you to look as though you are about to lunge, which makes the feint more believable since it would appear that you are leading with your hand and about to follow with the foot. In practice it's also a decent position to make a left passing step, so the rest of the mechanics of the play don't seem to be negatively effected by narrow feet.