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Footwork in fencing

In a fencing bout, a great deal depends onreversed. The order in which the feet are
being in the right place at the right time.moved is important, and, if the fencer gets
Fencers are constantly manoeuvring in and outit wrong, he may end up with a dangerously
of each other's range, accelerating,narrow and unbalanced stance half way through
decelerating, changing directions and so on.the step. Having said that, like all rules,
All this has to be done with minimum effortthis one can sometimes be broken to great
and maximum grace, which makes footworkeffect.
arguably the most important aspect of a
fencer's training regime. In fact, in theThe most common way of delivering an attack
first half of the 20th century it was commonin fencing is the lunge, where the fencer
practice to put fencers through six months tokicks out with his front foot and rapidly
a year of footwork before they were everstraightens his back leg. This maneuver has a
allowed to hold a sword. (For better or fornumber of advantages: it is faster than a
worse, this practice has now been largelystep, it allows the fencer to keep his own
abandoned.) Modern fencing tends to be quitebody as far away from the opponent as is
linear. To some extent this may be dictatedpossible without losing balance, and it is
by the practicalities of fitting the maximumcomparatively easy to return into the fencing
number of fencers into a finite size gym andstance. On the downside, the lunge puts the
hooking them up to the electronic scoringfencer in a comparatively static position,
apparatus. The main reason, however, is thatand any further movement backwards or
the weapons are light and easy to redirect.forwards, while by no means impossible, does
Sideways movement, which was a common defenserequire  extra  effort.
against an attack with a comparatively
unwieldy weapon like the rapier, is now aSometimes fencers do take the more "natural"
pretty unreliable tactic against a competentkind of steps steps, where the back foot
opponent. These days, defense by footworkpasses  the  front  foot.
usually takes the shape of moving either
directly away from your opponent (out of hisThese are usually referred to as cross-steps.
range) or directly towards him (making theWhile cross-steps do have the advantage of
attack  "overshoot").range and speed, they put a fencer in an
awkward and frequently unbalanced position
The way fencers stand and move often appearsmid-step, which is why experienced fencers
artificial to a novice, but it has evolvedtend to use them sparingly. A somewhat
over centuries of trial and error and is, inexaggerated version of the cross-step,
fact, extremely pragmatic. The most basicsometimes used to deliver an attack in foil
requirement is to face your opponent in suchor épée, is the fleche ("arrow" in
a way that your weapon offers you maximalFrench). In the fléche, the fencer leans
protection and your opponent maximal threat.forward and takes a long running cross-step,
Consequently fencers tend to stand somewhatgenerating most of the thrust with his front
side-on to the principal direction ofleg. Ideally, the hit delivered with a
movement (the fencing line), leading with thefléche should arrive as or just before the
weapon side (right for a right-hander, leftfencer's front foot hits the ground. In sabre
for a left-hander). In foil and épéecross-steps have been prohibited since the
this has the added advantage of presenting1990s, because they make for very boring
the opponent with a sloping target surface,fencing. In a real fight (one involving sharp
making it more difficult for him to land aweapons), a running attack would be an
sound hit. The second most importantextremely risky thing to try: there is always
requirement is to maintain balance and easethe possibility of a last-minute
of movement. In the fencing stance the feetcounterattack with both fencers ending up
are a shoulderwidth or more apart giving adead. Because of the priority rules (and the
wide base. They are also placed at rightfact that the weapons are blunt), this issue
angles to one another: the front foot pointsdoes not come up in competitive sabre. Given
along the fencing line, and the back footthe large scoring surface (the entire blade),
perpendicular  to  it.a well delivered running attack is nigh
impossible to defend against — it is
This allows the fencer to "shuffle" backwardsimpossible  to  move  backwards  fast enough.
and forwards, which is the most common mode
of movement (more about that in the nextVariations and portions of the above
paragraph).movements can also be used by themselves. For
example, a check-step forward is performed by
Finally, the knees are well bent and themoving the back foot as in a retreat, then
centre of gravity is kept mid way between theperforming an entire advance. This maneuver
heels. The fencer is now in a position wherecan trick your opponent into thinking that
he is well balanced, able to use his legyou are retreating, when in reality you are
muscles to generate rapid bursts of speed andabout  to  close  distance.
change  directions  with  comparative  ease.
Other footwork actions include the appel
As was already mentioned, fencers tend to(French for "call"), which is a stomp
move with series of "shuffling" steps, whichdesigned to upset the opponent's perception
allow them to stay in the fencing stance. Inof rhythm, and the ballestra, which is a
order to move forwards, the fencer picks up"hopping" step commonly used as a preparation
his front foot, puts it down a few inchesfor attacks (the back foot leaves the ground,
ahead of its original position, then picks upwhile the front foot is still in mid-air;
his back foot and moves it by the sameboth feet come down at the same time).
amount. To move backwards, the procedure is



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