Forte

From SwordWiki

"Forte" is the French word for "strong", and describes the half of the blade closest to the hilt, as opposed to the foible. This half has the most leverage, and therefore this half is used for parries. On the other hand, it is also the slowest moving part of the sword, and is almost useless for attacks in this respect. Some swords are even unsharpened along the forte for parrying, since the forte is rarely used for offense. The term is regularly used in sport fencing, which uses French terminology, though it has been adopted by many other styles of swordsmanship since the term is so commonly accepted.

See also strong.