[Kromm]

I don't think starting the Parry penalties somewhere else makes much sense. The order of attacks is the order of attacks, and positioning yourself to deflect one necessarily takes you slightly out of position to deflect the next. That's fairly realistic, and it's gamist and unrealistic to half-heartedly parry people on all sides and then magically snap into the perfect position against the attacker who worries you most. You probably wouldn't even be thinking about this if you were attempting three or four parries in a second; you'd be reacting reflexively to fists and weapons coming at you.

If it's really important that you parry a specific foe's attack, you'd likely keep your weapon on him and not distract yourself using it to ward off other attackers. You would make dodges against those other fighters, or even trust your armor to turn their blows.