A type of counterattack in modern fencing.
“You can oppose the Inquartata to any final thrust
directed against the inner line, whether the action consists of one movement or
more. During the inquartata, body and
blade must perform their movements simultaneously. Just as your opponent lunges you direct your point at his
trunk. This is done by a convex semicircular movement downward and inward, and by provoking at the same time a
strong opposition with your own blade. Simultaneously you withdraw your left foot diagonally to the right and
jerk your body to the right out of the line of attack. Body and blade must be so directed that it
is impossible for your opponent to score a touch.”
--From The Art of the Foil, by Luigi Barbasetti
The inquartata is one of my favorite moves, although its execution must be very prudently chosen since you don’t have right-of-way while doing it. Basically, if you see that your opponent is going to attack your inside line (for a righty, that’s the left side of your body), you basically spin out of the way of your opponent’s touch
while counterattacking—basically avoiding the touch by dodging laterally.
The main problem with the inquartata is that if your
opponent hits you at all, you’re dead. You
don’t have priority, so you have to be damn sure that you get out of the way
quick enough so that your opponent doesn’t hit at all, or at least just hits off-target. Plus, if you guessed wrong and your opponent is coming with an attack to your outside line—particularly the low outside
line, in the flank—there’s almost no chance you’ll avoid the touch…your
entire body is rotating around your flank, which hardly moves at all.