In last week’s blog we reviewed the framework for the parry-riposte as preparation and offense. After reading that post, one could come to the conclusion that, after doing all the work to make the preparation successful, the riposte has to be able to do its job. And one would be…
Note that the title of this post is Parry-Riposte, not Parry then Riposte or Parry and Riposte. Readers of the blog will be familiar with the concept that defense by itself does not win bouts, except in the limited range of cases where it is preserving a lead in the…
A critical part of executing any technique on the strip or in drills is to simply get all of the parts moving in the right order at the right time. The need to do this applies to even the simplest of actions. When techniques are sequenced correctly, they can be…
In previous blog posts we have discussed the concept of distance in some depth. In today’s post I am going to review those quickly, and then focus on the questions about distance you need to ask yourself when you are fencing. So, to quickly review: (1) Traditionally there were three…
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…
Last week we talked about application of basic technique to create multiple choices for the tactical execution of the riposte. This week we go back to the roots of our theory of fencing, that all fencing is about offensive or counteroffensive action. Too often fencers think that they are not…
Before we talk about tactics, we should probably define what we mean by them. Tactics are the combination of actions and factors that allow a technique to do its job during the bout. Tactics are far more than just the technique you intend to apply to get the touch. If…
Everyone who fences learns parries. It is an article of faith in fencing that one must be able to parry to defend oneself. And yet many of us do not take them seriously enough to critically examine their characteristics and employment. So, we are going to do that in this…
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…
We tend to think of the opponent’s attack as threatening. After all, the blade is coming toward us with the intent to score, the opponent is fully committed to the action, and he or she is using every artifice at their command to get that blade on our target. Statistics…