Envelopes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and are used to convey a wide variety of things. In this post we are talking about envelopes in fencing, specifically your tactical envelope, what it is made of, and how it is used. The concept of a tactical envelope is…
Fencing is a complicated sport. There is a lot to know – the current United States edition of the Rule Book runs to 210 pages, the Athlete’s Handbook another 143. Surely we should know all those rules and procedures? The history of the sport is long and rich. Shouldn’t we…
Recently, in conversation with my colleague, Maitre Gil Pezza, I was introduced to the idea of lost time. It reminded me that I have long had an interest in real time in fencing and in the relationship between efficient use of time and the ability to hit. So in this…
Counterattacks pose a difficult problem. You are in the midst of an attack, which means that you are committed to going forward, and suddenly the opponent attacks into your attack. Your focus is on the successful completion of the attack, not on dealing with an attempt to hit you. You…
Nothing is simpler than the straight thrust, right? You just stick you arm out and hit the other fencer. No great thought, no sophistication, you go fast at the right moment and you are a touch richer and closer to being a fencing hero (with apologies to the YouTube series…
In the big scheme of things, absent your opponent throwing himself or herself on your point, there are essentially two ways to hit him or her, with offense or with counteroffense. Offense is the whole family of attacks, ripostes, renewals and many of the second and fourth intention actions. Counteroffense…
So there you are, the perfect attack into the opening line and all is well with the world because the next touch will be yours. And then you feel it – blade contact. You know what that means – parry – and that a riposte is on its way. What…
For argument’s sake, let us say that you do everything right … your choice of footwork was correct for the situation, the parry is at the right distance, your riposte is correctly executed with no extra movement, timing is superb, speed is good, etc. But somehow the opponent sees what…
The remise? Surely there is no argument that you can make that involves a remise and preparation. A remise is the antithesis of preparation, after all it comes after the attack has been parried, not a something that prepares the attack. The definition of a remise makes that clear: a…
Last week we examined attacks on preparation, so it would seem that considering the preparation itself might be only fair. Tyshler and Logvin, in the FIE’s Sports Fencing manual for coach training state that preparatory actions are “applied in order to receive immediate information on opponent’s intentions, creation of an distraction…