hit when no hit was actually made, the fencer's adversary would say, "'pas de touché'" (; ) to indicate that the hit should not be counted. Parrying techniques Line – The main direction of an attack (e.g., high/low, inside/outside), often equated to the parry that must be made to deflect the attack; see also point in line. Lines – The means of referring to a position or area on a fencer's body. The idea behind 'lines' is that the torso, as facing the viewer in 'en garde' is bisected both laterally and vertically. There are then four quadrants of the body. The quadrants which are above the lateral line are referred to as 'high line,' those below as 'low line.' The fencer's left-hand-side, referred to as chest, is the inside. The fencer's right-hand-side, referred to as flank, is the outside. The lower chest side quadrant is then referred to as 'inside low line.' The common parries in foil and epée are: sixte (outside-high), quarte (inside-high), octave (outside-low), and septieme (inside-low). Angled (up-and-down) parries can also be used. In sabre, tierce replaces sixte to guard the inside-high line, quarte becomes more erect, seconde replace octave on the inside-low line, and prime replaces septieme. Quinte is used in sabre to protect the head. Parry – A simple defensive action designed to deflect an attack, performed with the forte of the blade. A parry is usually only wide enough to allow the attacker's blade to just miss; any additional motion is wasteful. A well-executed parry should take the foible of the attacker's blade with the forte and/or guard of the defender's. This provides the greatest control over the opponent's blade. In sabre, the guard should be turned appropriately using the fingers to protect the wrist. Parries generally cover one of the 'lines' of the body. The simplest parries move the blade in a straight line. Other parries move the blade in a circular, semicircular, or diagonal manner. There are eight basic parries, and many derivatives of these eight. (see Prime, Seconde, Tierce, Quarte, Quinte, Sixte, Septime, Octave, Neuvieme). See also Lines. In foil, the opponent's blade should not only be deflected away from the target, but away from off-target areas as well. An attack that is deflected off the valid target but onto invalid target still retains right-of-way. In sabre, the opponent's blade need only be deflected away from valid target, since off-target