Foil Fencing

Fencers should methodically work to improve their feeling for distance. Experienced fencers build up a sixth sense for this. At any moment they can instinctively feel, for example, if they would need to use an extension, a lunge or an even longer attack to reach out and hit their opponent. Novice fencers lack this sense and will often fall unintentionally short in their attacks or will hit with hard lunges when their opponent could be easily reached simply by extending their arm.

En garde!

CONTROL THE DISTANCE, CONTROL THE BOUT

If you can build up a keen sense for distance, you can begin to develop your ability to control the space between yourself and your opponent. By being in control of the distance, you take control of the match. Your opponent continually chases after you. They feel perpetually one step behind, yet they are still compelled to try and keep up. They never seem to find themselves at quite the right distance to initiate a successful attack. Becoming impatient, they find themselves launching desperate attacks at inopportune moments.

Exploit poor distance

By preying on their opponent's poor sense of distance, a defender is often able to outmanoeuvre their partner whilst waiting patiently for the final attack. When this anticipated attack finally comes, the prepared defender can calmly take a big step backwards with a well-timed parry. This leaves their over-stretched adversary stranded and at the mercy of a fast riposte. Alternatively, the defender, by being in control of the distance, can simply step away from any incoming attacks. Their high level of mobility easily allows them to make their opponent's attack fall short. We call this 'defending with distance'. If the attacker has stretched out fully in trying to hit, they will likely be unable to recover quickly and become vulnerable to an answering attack from their opponent.

Controlling the distance is like having possession in football

Surrendering control of the distance quickly becomes exhausting. In football, when one team uses precision passing to keep possession (the Spanish call this style of play 'tiki-taka'), their opposition soon becomes sapped of energy from running around after the ball. Pursuing the elusive ball in this fashion can begin to feel like chasing ghosts. In much the same way, if you take control of the distance, your opponent will waste their energy. They will tend to rush around inefficiently, just trying to stay with you. If you can become this elusive to catch, your opponents will quickly tire and will likely fade in the later stages of the match.

Change the distance

Coaches, as well as fencers, should remind themselves to focus on distance and timing in training. Surprisingly, this pivotal aspect of fencing is sometimes overlooked. For example, it is common to see even highly skilled coaches give individual lessons where the distance between the participants doesn't change throughout. Here, the fencer surrenders the initiative and is expected to simply follow the coach, keeping at a consistent distance throughout the lesson. Coaches should actively avoid imposing such unrealistic fixed distances as this approach limits the effectiveness of their lessons.

The importance of timing

However, with experience a coach will gradually develop a greater feeling and control of the distance. Now the lesson can better resemble a bout, where the distance between the competitors constantly fluctuates. This more accurately represents the ever-changing distance between two fencers in a real competitive match. The coach no longer feels it necessary to always take the lead. Occasionally, they now allow the initiative to pass freely from the coach to the fencer and back again. Practising this way enables the fencer to learn how best to exploit the changes in distance and to discover the optimal moments to attack. For this reason, not only distance but also timing becomes a crucial factor in determining the best moment to start and finish your attacks. It is important for the coach to realize that every exercise has a correct distance. As their student becomes more experienced, the fencer should become more active and involved in deciding how far away from their coach they are. If, on the other hand, the coach is always setting up the distance for them the pupil is reduced to a passive role. In this instance, they will not learn to understand distance and timing so profoundly.

IN SUMMARY

Always be mindful of distance and timing in training.

Fencers and coaches will improve their sense of distance with experience.

Coaches should avoid giving lessons where the fencer is passive and following them at a fixed distance.

In lessons, the coach shouldn't always have the initiative; instead it should pass from coach to fencer and back again.

Every exercise has a correct distance.

Advanced fencers should take an active role in setting the distance in their lessons.

An individual lesson, in which the distance regularly changes, is an ideal learning environment for fencers to discover the best distances and moments to initiate their attacks.

Find the best moments to attack

As a fencer gains experience, their timing will sharpen. They will come to realize that not all moments to attack are equal. They find that they can now exploit their newly acquired sense of timing to seize moments where their opponent is particularly vulnerable. Remember, the more familiar you become with these moments, the quicker you will recognize them. With experience, you will cultivate an instant awareness of these favourable situations when they arise during your competitive matches. Only by consciously developing your familiarity to these moments can you capitalize on the precise timing that they require.

Controlling the distance in defence.

Improve your preparation by focussing on footwork

Fundamental to gaining the ability to control the distance, the fencer must develop their footwork. For example, as the distance between attacker and opponent gets shorter, the advancing fencer's steps need to become smaller. This is necessary, as employing long steps would allow their opponent to anticipate when they are going to initiate their final attack. Giving an opponent this knowledge would leave the attacker particularly vulnerable to attacks on their preparation. However, if a fencer makes a concerted effort to improve their footwork, they will eventually develop the habit of making smaller, more controlled steps as soon as the distance shortens. Now, without even having to think about it, they will automatically move with light, controlled footwork that doesn't betray their intentions. This effectively camouflages the moment that they will initiate their attack. Creating this new habit to take smaller steps yields the additional benefit of enabling them to make quick changes of direction, further improving their ability to control the distance.

Too close when attacking

Most fencers get too close in their preparation as they press forward trying to set up their attack. This is a sign of their aggressive inclination to chase their opponent and get the hit. Unfortunately, coming too close whilst advancing yields several benefits to their opponent. Firstly, it increases their opportunities to find the blade (leaving them vulnerable to the defender's parry riposte) whilst also making them more susceptible to their opponent's counter-attacks. For this reason, if you are a coach, it is important that during your individual lessons you take small steps backwards. The coach taking small steps whilst retreating tends to compel their students to do the same. If, despite these efforts, you find the distance collapsing as the student presses too closely, you cannot allow the lesson to continue until the fencer has been made aware of their mistake. There are small margins for error in high level fencing and small but important details like this can end up proving decisive.

Finding a good distance for the riposte.

Too far away when defending

Conversely, fencers sometimes put far too much distance between themselves and their opponent as they retreat in defence. Here, fencers should ignore their intuition. In this situation, a fencer's first thought will be to get as far away from their opponent as possible. It seems logical that increasing the distance in defence would make them safer. However, the perceived safety they get in taking this approach is largely an illusion. With no pressure on their build up, the attacking fencer can easily push them to the back line before finishing once they have them where they want them. Instead, it is preferable to defend closer and to put pressure on the attacker's advance. The overriding principle is that you must not allow your advancing opponent to feel comfortable at any time. If you are successful in agitating your pressing adversary in this way, then you are probably at an ideal distance for defence.

Hindering

Whilst retreating in defence, the fencer can combine this closer distance with extending their arm slightly. This will have the effect of further hindering the attacker. Such a provocation will disconcert the advancing fencer, giving them the feeling that they are too close for comfort. Now, the attacking fencer cannot relax for a second and is continually worrying whether they...