Complexity in foil does not come from techniques, but from their application in a dynamic environment. For instance, a fencer might lunge hundreds of times in practice, all of those lunges would be identical, however the moment the bout begins no two lunges are the same, and often parries or disengages will be attempted at the same time. What are the Techniques? they include: on guard, Advance, retreat, lunge, crossover, fleshe, ballestera, Parry, Opposition, disengage, reposte, and half advance/retreat.

On Guard is the standard foil fencing position, a "stance" if you like. This position is static, and provides the base off of which everything else comes. To determine your optimal On Guard, start with your heels together, feet at a 90 degree Angle, the foot on your dominant side (right for right handed people) should be pointed toward your opponent. put your other heel directly behind your dominant foot. Try for a square corner with those feet, remember to keep your dominant foot pointed at your opponent at all times. Now, step out so there is a shoulder width between your feet. This is the closest your feet should ever come together (their are a couple of very rare exceptions), especially during training sessions (no exceptions). Got that? yes? well, read it again. This is very important, I have seen many people trip over themselves because of a failure in this area. Now bend those knees. You should sink down until your shin is perfectly vertical. If you don't bend enough, you will move slower. If too much you can screw up your knees. Shin vertical? your weight would be evenly distributed at this point. To check this, rock slowly back and forth until you find the spot that you are perfectly balanced. You should be back where you started. If not tweak your stance slightly so that it is. Ready? good. Practice assuming the on guard until it comes naturally, and then do it ten more times. Yay! you did it. For a more advanced variation, practice this with a foil. Be sure to close out the outside high line.

To advance is to bring the fight to the enemy. Advancing is simply moving forward, decreasing the distance between foilists. To properly execute this technique, raise your leading (dominant) foot's toe and step roughly a foot's length forward. Move your rear foot back up to the on guard. Beginners have a tendency to take bigger advances hoping to finish drills faster. Just calm down and take it one step at a time. Bigger steps are slower, we have other methods of crossing large distances quickly, But there are not very many times when large distances need to be crossed. So practice short advances, one foot at a time. Always maintain at least your minimum spacing, and go slow. It is easier to learn anything correctly if you go slow. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, it takes a minimum of 500 reps to begin (11,000 minimum for automatic response) to get something down correctly, so don't waste time shortchanging yourself by practicing incorrectly. Later try doing your advances with a foil, held correctly, to train automatic recovery after an action during a foil bout.

To fall back in fencing is really important. Fencers are not marines, when you get in a bad spot attacking in reverse is not usually an option. So learn to retreat. With this technique I have seen people win bouts by just falling back. No advancing at all! They just string out their aggressive opponent, and then, wham! They get the touch when their opponent gets impatient with the falling back strategy. To execute from on guard: raise your rear heal, bring it one foot length to the rear, and bring your front foot back to on guard. You should have traveled one foot to the rear. Just like with the advance, try this technique with a foil occasionally.

Most hits in fencing are made using the lunge. To execute a lunge: Start at on guard, raise your front toe (ala the advance), simultaneously extend your weapon hand to strike to the opponent and take a large step forward, keeping the rear heel and foot firmly on the ground. Once you land, check to make sure your leading shin is vertical, that you have not rocked your body forward, and that your rear foot has not rolled and is firmly on the ground. The force behind executing the lunge is from the rear leg. So just push off good and land with a modicum of grace and you'll be good to go. pay attention to your front knee, it needs to be perfectly above your ankle or it will be damaged by the stress of lunging. If this is too easy the first time, double check your form, initially this technique should should be difficult. Proper execution of the technique will mean overriding the body's regular motion to learn a new one. Just be aware of this. Don't forget to begin the lunge by extending your foil arm!

The crossover is the standard technique for closing large distances quickly. They are usually executed with some degree of haste, but trained slowly and smoothly to prevent tripping during a high intensity bout. For the front crossover, start from on guard, bring your rear heel up to your front toe, and then step out again to on guard. Be sure to come a little further than the front toe to maintain a stable base, but get back to on guard as quickly as possible. Got that? good. Now for the Rear crossover. From on guard again, bring your front foot back behind your rear heel and swing your rear heel back to assume an on guard. The front and rear crossovers are mirrors of each other, and not very hard to do correctly. Just remember to keep a safety margin between your feet so you don't trip, and roll with it!

The Fleshe is the most natural movement in fencing. It is the running attack, so, from on guard, extend the leading arm drop the foil's point a couple of inches, swing your rear heel up to the front, lean into it and run at your opponent. This is almost impossible to defend against, but there is a level of risk. You can not defend yourself, and so if your opponent has the right of way, and hits you (even second) then you just gave him a cheap point. So be sure to do it only if you know you have the right of way. And don't do it if you or your opponent is angry. The last thing anyone needs is a high speed sword break, it could defeat safety equipment. Practice this technique safely!

For the ballestra, jump forward (like hopping) and lunge. It is a loud, strong, and highly dynamic attack, very effective as a softening up tactic, be prepared for a fast parry-reposte combo just in case. This technique is most effective when not expected, so do not overuse it. Keep it for those special times when you need the half-second mental "What the..." from an opponent.

Parrying is the simple deflection of an incoming foil. There are four main parries the 4, 6, 7, and 8. The 4 is to your inside high, the 6 is to your outside high (for the right handed person, think 46. Lefties think 64). 7 is inside low and 8 is to the outside low (righties think 78, lefties think 87). The purpose is to deflect a blade not to muscle it out of the way, or to wrestle with blades. parries should be fast and crisp, only travel as much as needed to deflect the point of their foil a way from you. No more. A weak parry will still get you the right of way, but an over blown theatrical parry will allow your opponent to disengage and hit you before you can recover. Which brings me to another point. Always transition immediately from parry to reposte, no hesitation, no delay. Just hit them before they can regain right of way.

Reposte: This technique is just a simple attack. Extend your sword arm. That's it. Every parry should be IMMEDIATELY followed by one of these. Proper form dictates that the point be dropped a couple of inches during the reposte, this helps prolong blade life and improves traction for the button switch on electric weapons.

The opposition is very strong and decisive technique, but difficult to do with a foil. To do an opposition, lock the thick (forte) part of the blade onto the thin (foible) part of your opponents blade and slide up it, keeping constant pressure on their blade, until you make the touch. Quillons make doing an opposition much easier, since you can lock down on your opponents blade in a firmer fashion.

Disengages and cut-overs are very similar techniques. With a disengage you make a small half circle under your opponents blade to escape the engagement (engage: in contact, as in the gears were engaged). A cut over is basically a big "^" over your opponents blade ending in a hit (ideally, although not necessarily). I'm not sure, but I believe cut overs were recently disallowed for competitive fencing. So, just be aware of that if you are competing. If you are just going to fence with friends or at the local club, go for it.

Half advances and half retreats are small tactical distance adjustments for setting up an attack, retreat, or gamble. A half advance is just moving your front foot forward the foot length without bringing the rear foot up to on guard again. This can be used to push an opponent away before retreating. The half retreat can be used to sucker an opponent in prior to an attack, since your body travels back slightly. An opponent may interpret this as a giving way, and attempt to close in, creating an opportunity to hit. As you probably guessed, a half retreat is simply stepping back with the rear heel without following through with the front foot. Use these techniques judiciously.

Got all that? Great. Next you may want to look into my drill section for some handy drills for individuals and /or groups to hone their skills.

Erik Schlagel, December 7, 2009
  

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