Forte (fencing) Capo Ferro defined the forte as the blade from the hilt to the middle. From the middle to the top is known as the debole. For the debole only, the edges are labeled true and false, the former being the lower edge when the sword is held horizontally. The flats of the sword are not named. By contrast, fencing master Salvator Fabris divides the debole into two sections, the third and fourth part (the first and second are divisions of the forte). The third part, midway to three quarters of the way to the tip, is ineffective but not entirely
Fencing practice and techniques prevents the arrival of that attack by closing the line in which that attack is to finish". In practice, sabre referees tend to look at the point of blade contact: contact of a defender's forte with an attacker's foible is generally counted as a parry, whereas contact of a defender's foible with an attacker's forte is incorrectly executed, and priority stays with the attacker. Some fencers refer to a retreat that makes an attack fall short as a "distance parry", but this is informal use: an actual parry requires blade contact. Modern fencing also includes the addition of penalty cards