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The Nine Parries of Saber Fencing

The Parry is important for defending against attacks and offers an opportunity to counter attack. Without learning parries it will be difficult to effectively compete in fencing. Your body will be generally open to seasoned fencers. Practicing defending against attacks using multiple parries is important for creating the highest levels of competitive skill. The most common parries used are Parry of Four, Parry of Six, Parry of Seven, and Parry of Eight ( 1 ). They are designed to protect your right side, left side, lower stomach, middle of your stomach. They are parries designed to cover the core areas of your body and help you defend against the majority of fencing attacks.   Prime: Stops a cut to the chest. Seconde: Stops a low cut to the flank Tierce: Stops high cut to the flank Quarte: Stops high cut to the chest. Quinte: Stops cut to head. Sixte : Stops cut to head. Septime: Stops cut to back. Octave: Stops cut to flank. Neuvieme: Protects Back Mic

The Importance of Ripostes in Fencing Practice

Ripostes are the counter attacks in a fencing challenge. A strong fencer will be able to riposte after an opponent’s attack to not only win points but to keep their attacker with lower confidence in the risk versus reward of their moves. A riposte occurs when an attacker attempts to strike, is parried, and then is struck by the defender. In the heat of the game this movement can be very quick and there may be multiple parries, counter parries and ripostes.  Ripostes are generally direct but also may be indirect. A direct riposte is a quick parry and strike to the opponent’s body leaving little time to react. An indirect riposte would mean adding a change of line or adding another movement before striking the opponent. This has benefits in terms of confusing the opponent but also risks being struck as you are engaging in these extra tactics.  Practice in done in both shadow and live opponent form. In shadow form the student should practice making a parry to the center of th

The Use of the Coupe in Fencing

As one advances in fencing they naturally learn new tactics with greater complexity. After mastering the basic attack and defense moves it is necessary to develop new skills to compete with higher end opponents. The coup is a move that appears to be simple and easy to learn but can create distinct advantages in the game or cause one to lose points if not quickly executed. The Coupe in fencing is also known as the cut over as the blade is pushed up and over the opponent’s blade with the use of the wrist. The fingers are primary because pulling back on the blade at any time loses the right of way and allows the opponent to place an attack.  The Coupe is an indirect tactic and a proficient move for advanced players. Much practice will be needed to do this well at lightning speed. According to a master fencer Capo Ferro in 1610 the cut over must be a single fluid motion. It is a risky tactic due to the blade moving out of line creating a level of exposure for the attacker. When

Introducing the Fencing Flick

The fencing flick is a move that would likely make the traditionalists cringe when seeing it in tournament. The action is so quick fencers have a hard time formulating a proper defense. It is not generally taught at the college level under traditional curriculum and came into existence after the invention of the electronic fencing sword. Because it is not widely known or taught it can be a powerful tool to overcoming an opponent’s defenses.  The flick occurs when an attacker moves his arm and foil to hit his opponent but just before full extension flicks his wrist making the blade swish. Since the foil is long and slim it has the ability of bend and creating a wrapping action. This fly fishing motion causes the tip to bend allowing it to hit the opponent on the back or shoulder. Such an attack may also work on the front but is most commonly as a way of throwing your opponent out of balance.  The defense against a flick often includes using a modified sabre quinte (90 degr