Prise de Fer - Envelopment

An envelopment is conducted by starting in a line and then completing a full circular motion in order to return to that same line. This action is also known as a Circular Transfer or an Enveloppement. One school of thought is that the action is, in theory, done from any line, but it works best when done from sixth because of the difficulty of holding onto the opponent's blade otherwise. Jean-Jacques Gillet writes that the envolpment can be done from all lines but works particularly well in the actions that move the blade to the outside of the body. Roger Crosnier writes that the size of the circle in the envelopment needs to be limited, and in order to do so, the actions must be made with the wrist, because otherwise the action would be to too slow and cumbersome and thereby easily detected and deceived. Julio Martinez Castello teaches that the envelopment is essentially a combination of two binds since it completes two semicircles. In addition, he writes that the action can be followed by any attack, but preferably a glide, because that combination would continue to sustain a constant control of the opponent's blade.