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Showing posts with the label foil fencing

Footwork as the Foundation of Fencing

Basic footwork is one of the most critical and fundamental factors in becoming a strong fencer.   Without the ability to hold your body in the right posture, move forward and backwards, or adjust to your opponents movements your fencing ability is going to be limited. The footwork is a basic building block in the triangle of footwork, sword play, and mental conditioning.  Footwork: The movement of the body back and forth. Leads to lunges, attacks, and defense.  Sword play: The ability to move your arm and swords in coordination with your footwork. The more agile your wrists and quick your arms the more likely you can create movements that attack and defend.  Mental Conditioning: The ability to attack in defend is based on the recognition of movements and having a battery of responses. The time it takes to condition the mind to integrate recognition and reaction will determine the natural skill that leads to pinpointed actions.  Professional fencers go back and

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

The Counter Parry: Contre de Quarte and Sixte

Fencing is a game of skill that is refined within a certain radius of the body. In foil fencing the overall radius is even smaller making the movements more about subtle skill than overpowering your opponent. It is these attacks and counter attacks that make the game interesting to bystanders. Whenever there is an attack there are a number of moves that can be made ranging from moving out of the way to counter attacks. The counter parry is a tactic designed to stop an attack and regain momentum. The counter parry is considered a more advanced move than the standard parry and riposte. The purpose of the counter parry is to remove the opponent’s blade from blocking an attack or to disrupt a negative rhythm in the game. By using a contre de quarte or contre de sixte it is possible to not only remove the blade but also put oneself in the position of an attack.   This occurs when you have removed the opponent’s momentum and then placed it with yourself by controlling the nature of t

The Basics of the Fencing Lunge

The fencing lunge is a basic footwork attack using the three main categories of the foil, saber, and epee. The lunge is a fundamental attack and is characterized by pushing both the front foot and arm forward in an attempt to strike your opponent. With additional blade skills the lunge can be adjusted to create variety of movements from the basic forward motion. To complete the lunge well requires hours of practice but will improve your overall competitive game. Basic Motion: From the en garde position the front foot is moved forward from the knee without bending the ankle. The movement of the front leg occurs before the weight of the body is shifted creating less notice to the opponent.   The back leg is used to push the body forward and the rear arm is outstretched downward in order to create a counter balance. The front foot slides into position as the weapon arm is outstretched to strike the target. The front shin should be perpendicular to the ground and both heals fi