Lesson 3: Movement

As we discussed in the previous lessons, the fencing stance is intregal to the success of the fencer. Placing the body in the best compromise between comfort and effectiveness is essential for minimizing the target area while allowing for freedom to advance and retreat. It is the advance and retreat, which we are going to discuss today.

Movement up and down the strip is what controls the bout. We talked in the last lesson about fencing distance. Fencing distance is the optimal distance a fencer attempts to maintain from his/her opponent, where they are close enough to launch a successful attack, and yet far enough away to defend or outdistance an opposing attack. This distance usually falls around one and a half blade lengths from the opponent and the obvious fallacy of it should jump immediately to mind. With all but the most mis-matched fencers (in the area of height and reach) once a fencer has moved close enough to attack, he/she has also moved close enough to be attacked. So how does one maintain "fencing distance?" The answer is dynamically, by moving into and out of attack distance as your strategy requires.

This constant changing of the distance, forward and back is, perhaps, the greatest single offensive and defensive tool. Each fencer attempts to maintain distance to his or her advantage while maintaining sync with their strategy's timing. A properly timed advance will add speed and surprise to an attack, whereas an appropriately timed retreat will devastate the best executed counter attack by simply causing it to fall short of the target.

If any of you have taken the opportunity to visit the "Fencing Footage" site listed with the links, you will see that movement is the vital part of attack and defense. You will also see on this site, unfortunately, people advancing and retreating in manners completely contradictory to this article, which stands to emphasize the two laws of any athletic training...

1. Master proper form first.

2. Do whatever it takes to score the point (within the rules of the game and sportsmanship) including ignoring rule number one.

The moral of these rules are, of course, that without proper form it is impossible to generate the foundation from which one may take 'artistic license.' The basics of advancing and retreating in a controlled, balanced manner is key to controlling your timing, and ruining the timing of your opponent. When I was instructing, I preferred to have my students drill in the advance and retreat for weeks before even allowing them a foil.

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4 5