The most common mistakes

1. Holding the grip too tight leads to numerous problems.

The arm must be the primary strength control, although these muscles should be used to a minimum until action occurs. Many fencing attacks and parries require very flexible wrist movements in order to properly execute parries, counterparries, envelopments, disengages and coupes. A tight grip also degrades the accuracy of point placement, since the arm will then move with the wrist and displace the point. Any preliminary arm movement is a signal of things to come ("telegraphing your moves"), and the movements become larger and slower. The famous Italian fencer and master, Santelli, told his fencers to "....grip the weapon as if you have a small bird in your hand". All of my fencing masters have made similar comments. First pick up the weapon with two or three fingers as shown below:

(Note that this is a pistol grip foil, and that the French foil is held and fenced differently, since the grip is comparatively long and must be maneuvered around the wrist as the blade changes position). Then lightly wrap the other fingers around the grip as shown below. The blade should be in line with the arm, both vertically and horizontally. Note that three fingers do most of the holding.

A characteristic undesirable bend at the wrist is not unusual for beginning fencers, and it must be corrected at the earliest possible opportunity. There should be a slight bend at the elbow in the en garde position, and the elbow must be kept in toward the body. Keep the blade aligned with your forearm so that the arm lies in a vertical plane. The blade will tend to go toward the direction in which it is pointed, so the blade must be in line with both the target and the forearm, pointed toward the target. There is a tendency to bend the hand to the right and somewhat downward, which will make the point go towards the right and below the target. Aldo Nadi taught very small (with some exceptions), efficient movements and recommended the use of a tight wrist strap in order to be able to use very fine finger control for foil fencing. The wrist strap also helps keep the blade in line. Bela de Tuscan used very flexible wrist movements combined with finger control for sabre fencing, and this method can also be used for foil. The lunge will tend to move toward wherever you point your forward foot, so point it directly toward your opponent. The position of the knee can also cause problems, so keep it vertically over the front foot.

2. Improper distance:
Most fencers do not maintain sufficient distance between them and their opponent. You would not be standing so close if the opponent had a sharp weapon in his hand and he meant to use it on you. An opponent cannot score a hit against you if you maintain sufficient separation. Maintaining distance is not so easy to do in a competition, which is the reason why you must develop the proper techniques in practice. You should initially set the distance between you and your opponents one small step further than where you believe the tip of your weapon can hit your opponent in a full lunge. This distance should be maintained as you and your opponent move along the strip, which takes a lot of foot, leg and body control. If done properly, it will seem that you cannot reach your opponent in the lunge, which may seem uncomfortable. However, this is also true for your opponent, and you will be pleasantly surprised as to the results of this exercise when you discover that you will hit your opponent and that your aim is more accurate!.

3. Insufficient or Improper Lunge:

The lunge follows the arm thrust outward. As soon as you begin your thrust, raise the tip of your foot slightly and then move your front foot forward, powered by the quick straightening of the back leg. It is another common faux pas to raise the foot excessively in the lunge (looking like a "gazelle leaping across the plain", as my fencing masters would say). This simply wastes time and energy and actually slows down the movement. At the end of the lunge, the arm, the leg, the leading foot and the right shoulder should be in line with one another and pointing directly toward the targer. The knee should be over the leading foot, with the leg vertical, The lunge must be fully extended in order to make a touch on your opponent when maintaining proper distance. Some fencers simply refuse to extend to the full distance in their lunges (and they will never become top fencers). In the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, the Chinese women's foil champion extender her lunge further than any other fencer that I have seen, and, not by coincidence, she won the gold medal. The knee of her fully extended left leg nearly touched the floor!

4. Large movements:
Large hand and arm movements are slow movements. The larger the movement, the slower the speed of the attack. The wrist movements do much of the work, so practice bending and twisting the wrist in order to move the point of the blade in space. The speed of the weapon may not always be the fastest for some movements, but the time that it takes to complete the movement should be minimal. Sometimes a large movement can work effectively (such as the coupe' combined with disengages). Inertia can work for you or against you. It usually works against you when using a wide overly powerful parry or beat, which is, again, typical for inexperienced fencers. It is better to practice the movement slowly and properly in the beginning, rather than going for speed. The speed will come with practice. The better fencers will easily counter large movements and use the excessive inertia and slow timing to their advantage. In order to maximize the speed of your attack, try to make the point with very small movements when thrusting. When disengaging (changing the line of the blade from one position to another around your opponents blade) in an indirect attack, watch your point as it moves around the opponents blade. If performed correctly, it should begin with the point moving forward and, as it reaches a point about 9 inches in front of the bell guard, try a semicircular movement around the opponent's blade with a diameter about the size of a quarter! The disengage movement should be very smooth (one continuous action). You will not be able to achieve such accuracy without a great deal of practice. This movement can be initially practiced slowly, with separate and distinct actions, and then must be made faster and smoother and until it becomes one complete movement.

5. The Arm:
I learned the hard way not to bend the arm excessively at the elbow when being attacked with an epee with a sharpened point in a "duel" and ended up with a puncture wound just above the crook of my arm. A lightly bent arm is especially beneficial when fencing epee, but Nadi taught that the arm is also only bent slightly in foil. When you go en garde, straighten the arm fully and then bend it slightly at the elbow. The elbow always seems to want to stick out from the body, which will cause problems on both on offense and defense. Make sure that you keep your elbow inward, that is towards the left if you are right handed. It helps to accentuate this in practice by keeping the elbow so far inward that it is somewhat uncomfortable. If you are having accuracy problems in placing the point during your attack, then you are most likely letting your elbow inadvertently move outward, which very nicely directs the point off target. The expert fencer strives to place the point to a target location within the diameter of a dime, which is very difficult to learn. A tight elbow is the cause of many problems, so loosen up your elbow so that it lies vertically downward in line with the center of your forward leg. The blade should also be completely in line with your forearm in the normal en garde position. The thrust, when done properly, does not feel like you are pushing the blade, but more like your arm, and then your body, are following the blade forward (this is a mind set that is not unlike the sport of boxing, where focus is very important). It

is not easy to attain an extremely fast thrust with a loose arm, but it most certainly can be done, but it takes discipline to begin with a loose, slightly bent arm and end up with a straight arm. When retreating, it is generally best to move the body backward with the torso completely erect, starting with your back foot initiating the movement (but not lifting it too high). If this is not done prodigiously, the distance between you and your opponent will inevitably close, resulting in insufficient distance and a bent arm, potentially giving your opponent the advantage. However, if the distance closes very quickly, then the arm should be allowed to bend so as to avoid injuries to the opponent or a broken blade. This, too, requires much practice to achieve. If you are a new fencer and find this task difficult, you are not alone. It has always amused me as to how the arm and leg seem to be attached by a hidden rope. A beginning fencer most always will move the arm and leg together, with the leg (rather than the blade) mistakenly leading the attack, which "telegraphs" the message to your opponent that the attack is coming. A similar phenomenon occurs when concentrating on foot movements, where the elbow seems to want to bend outward. It takes a great deal of practice and concentration to perform these movements correctly and delay the leg movement..

6. Other On-Guard Positions

The normal grip shown in the first figure on the previous page is the most common. However, the hand can also be held in pronation, as shown below.

This hand position favors parries tierce (third) to the right and quarte (fourth) to the right, since less hand motion is required for simple attacks to the flank or stomach. The movement begins by moving the point upward with a slight bending of the wrist and then twisting the wrist clockwise or counter-clockwise, repectively. The point moves downward and to your right in a small spiral with this motion. As you get faster with practice, these two movements combine in to one smooth, fast movement. A very fast and powerful parry seconde (second) can be accomplished by a slight bend of the wrist backward and a clockwise twist of the wrist counter-clockwise (downward). I have found that I can more easily do a coupe' (attack with the point of your blade rising over the opponent's blade) by bending the wrist so that the point rises above the opponent's and then finish with a slight twist of the writst as the blade comes down and the arm straightens in the thrust. Get in the habit of closing the line in opposition to your opponent's blade, just enough protect against a remise. Practice for the fastest, most effective parry with minimal movements. The blade can also be held in supination as illustrated below.

This position favors parry sixte (sixth) to the flank (right side of the body) by shorting the movement for attacks to the flank. Some fencers move the blade somewhat to the left, which opens up the flank in an invitation to attack (sucker movement). Since the parry carte (fourth) to the left (stomach) takes a somewhat larger movement, this also evens out the length of motion. This position works well against left-handed fencers. The blade can also be dropped into a lower position as shown below.

The arm position is not evident from this picture, but there is little or no bend at the wrist, so the arm is in line with the blade. This position favors parry septime (seventh) to the right, which is accomplished with a slight downward bend at the wrist and a counterclockwise movement of the hand. Parry octave (eighth) is to the left, which is done similarly but with a clockwise movement at the wrist. Excessive movement of the point from the target is called an "invitation", as it invites an attack to your open area. The invitation can be used to advantage when your parry becomes effective for the open area. These are very simple tactics that can be practiced, and yet they can be very effective. It helps to have an arsenal of movements to work with when the opponent uses a style that is effective against you. Less experienced fencers are sometimes baffled by these invitations and have difficulty in countering them.

7. The Beat-Parry-Riposte:
The beat-parry-riposte is a very fast and effective movement, particularly suited to the pistol grip and Italian foil. It can be so fast that some fencers can break a blade using it. Begin by picking up your blade with two fingers; the index finger and the thumb, and then place the middle finger gently under the poignard (note that- a "gripping" situation is also "poignant", as Faulkner would explain it, and the hand grip tends to tighten). This procedure is used for all weapons. The fourth finger can also touch the grip, but very lightly. Try to keep your little finger off the grip initially, as it will automatically come into use for the attack and defense, especially for saber. If you tighten the little finger too soon, your

attack will automatically slow down. This is the prime reason why a wrist strap (Nadi's favorite) helps so much in foil and epee. It is possible to parry with only two fingers when using a wrist strap! Therefore, the wrist strap does not bind your hand to the grip, as most inexperienced fencers (and some uninformed experienced fencers) seem to believe, but actually frees it up to make faster well-controlled movements while using fewer muscles. In order to make a beat parry, first bend your hand upward slightly at the wrist so that the blade is at about a 30 degree vertical angle. Then hold this angle while twisting the wrist. The point of the blade will move in a circle until the parry is made with a strong force. The higher the angle, the greater the radius of movement of the point. Begin by emphasizing these two distinct movements and then try to blend them. Do not allow the blade to move any further than is necessary to protect you from the opponents attack (most shallow angle), otherwise you will set yourself up for a disengage attack by your opponent when your blade goes out of line. After you have practiced these movements until they come easily, then blend the movements together smoothly so that the fastest and most effective parry is obtained. You will find that the stronger portion of your blade (toward the grip) against the weakest portion of your opponents blade produces the strongest parries, so a greater angle is necessary as the distance between fencers decreases in order to keep your forte against your opponent's foible. In the extreme, going to far in this direction tends to slow down the speed of the countermovement, so just go far enough to gain control of your opponent's blade. After the beat, your blade will naturally tend to bounce back. This rebounding movement can be used to advantage by loosening the grip at the time of the beat and then almost immediately tightening it such that the blade ends up directly in line for the riposte, which should occur in the fastest possible speed. These movements were taught to me by Nadi, who insisted upon perfection in performing minimal movements with power.

8. The Sequence of the Attack:

The point always leads the attack. Your arm will tend to follow the blade as it moves forward in the thrust. A proper quick thrust is difficult to attain. Remember that the elbow of your weapon arm should feel loose until the arm is straight. Your arm should be like a coiled spring, with only the muscles at the top of the shoulder tightened, and the thrust should be as fast as possible when it come, sort of like releasing the spring. After the arm is fully straight before your opponent's, you have gained right-of-way. If not, then you will lose right-of-way. Therefore, the lunge should not begin until the arm is almost straight and you see that the opponent is going to lose right-of-way. The delivery of the point (or cut in saber) on target must begin with a mental focus on the target area. In saber, the last phase of the cut must be fully in-line along a straight plane. At the end of the lunge, the non-weapon arm is thrust backward to give the last little bit of distance to the lunge. This sequence seems to very difficult for the beginning fencer to learn. When that happens, I tell my students "do not attack your opponents blade with your body", which is what often happens when they move their body too soon. Emphasize all of the distinct movements that have been discussed. Begin by practicing them sequentially with a slight hesitation between them so that you can observe the result. As you become accustomed to the movement, then the hesitation can be reduced until a smooth motion is eventually attained. Start with the point moving forward, then the springlike release of the bent arm and begin toextend your back arm. Then proceed to lunge to a full extension and a hesitation to observe the distance forward, the height of your back knee from the ground. You will not be able to get a very deep lunge initially, because the muscles must be trained by exercise, so do not overdo do the depth of the lunge or you may end up with a torn muscle or tendon. Therefore, try to increase the depth of your lunge gradually with practice.

9. Balance:
Did you find yourself falling over in practicing the lunge? This is a very common occurence for the beginning fencer. The first balance exercise is in the en garde position. The body weight should be centered just in front of the back foot. Try lifting up your forward leg and achieve balance. When you can do this easily, you will have properly centered your body for maximum balance. If the left shoulder is too far forward, there will be a tendency to fall to the left when lunging. A similar thing happens when the the shoulders are not in line with the leg, in which case the fencer tends to fall to the left in the lunge, and the point goes off target. Maintaining this position also reduces the open target area of the torso. At the end of the lunge, when the back arm is extending, adjust it in the opposite direction to which you

may be falling in order to achieve balance. 10. Self training:

a. Many, if not most fencers do not develop daily exercises to improve techniques. Every fencing master under whom I fenced utilized large, full-length mirrors so that they could illustrate the positional problems and movements in a way that they could observe them directly. I have a full-length mirror that I still use to practice various movements. The foil fencer can develop fast and smooth movements by observing his movements in a mirror. The sabre fencer can see how to reduce the size of a movement and still avoid a parry and get around the opposing fencer's blade. The epee fencer can see the open target area that he is revealing in his stance.

b. Practice, practice practice. Set up a daily self-practice routine that includes many lunges. The Northeast Section foil champion at the 1972 National Championships told me that he did 1000 practice lunges every day! His lunge was extremely fast and with great depth, and he reached the finals of the competition. As described above the lunge should begin with an arm extension that is followed by body movement. Make sure that you do the lunges correctly, with the left leg fully extended and straight at the end of the lunge. Make sure that the arm is moving and nearly straight before the right leg begins its forward movement. Your initial exercises may seem awkward (probably because you are not used to them), and you will most likely have a balance problem that you will have to correct. With practice, you will feel much more comfortable with every session.

1. Counter Parries (Applicable primarily to foil and epee, and occasionally with saber)
A good defense is essential to becoming proficient, and the (circular) counter parry can be a very effective defensive tactic. As a matter of fact, various combinations of counter parries can work well against the most experienced fencers, provided that they are executed in proper form with sufficient speed, accuracy, timing and distance. Maestro Faulkner told me that one of his fencers reached the finals of the Nationals using mostly just two counter-parries! You may want to go over these methods slowly several times in order to fully understand what is being conveyed. The need for using counter-parries is required when your opponent is successful in his indirect attacks where the opponent executes a disengage attack. The first movement of his blade can be to your flank and then his point moves under your blade and he scores a touch in your stomach. The counter-parry, or a series of counter-parries can be used to parry the the disengage attack. Counter parries can be quite effective when executed properly. Either the contre sixte or the contre-carte parry can be used successfully against a simple disengage attack. The contre-tierce parry can as well be used in place of contresixte and may actually be faster. When executed smoothly, with minimal movement, these parries become fast and difficult to avoid. This is not so easily accomplished without a great deal of practice. The contre-carte parry begins with your point on the right of your opponent's blade. Shortly after the start of the opponent's thrust the to your stomach area, bend your wrist such that the point moves slightly upward. Then immediately twist your wrist smoothly in a small clockwise semicircle. This type of movement (Nadi) must be effected with minimal arm movement. Remember that you are countering the disengage of a point that is moving under your blade and toward your flank. The opponent's object is to get around what he believes to be your simple carte parry. At the end of your parry, your blade ends up in the normal carte parry position with a closed line in opposition to your opponent's blade. This parry is executed with minimal arm movement and only a slight bend of the arm at the elbow. Most of the motion in a parry consists of a bending and twisting of the hand at the wrist (the first three fingers exert the main control for this parry, so loosen the other two fingers). To see how this twisting motion works against high-line attacks, bend your hand slightly at the wrist so that the point has moved somewhat upward. Then twist your wrist in a clockwise motion, all the time trying to keep your arm pointed nearly straight towards your opponent. As you work against an attacking blade, your own blade should be moving slightly forward such that at the instant of the meeting of the blades, your forte (strong part of the blade) meets his foible (weak part of the blade). This circular movement works well against both a simple disengage (single movement) that is executed by your opponent or a compound movement. Once you end up with blade stopped and in opposition (opponents blade out of line with your target area), you having gained right-of-way gained by the parry. Your blade should move in opposition only as far as to be successful, or your parry can be defeated in another type of movement. As is normally the case, the riposte follows immediately with a smooth overall action and ending up with a closed line. When a highly experienced fencer perform this movement properly, the movement will be very smooth and so small that the circular motion may be very slight and hard to see. The contre sixte parry is executed similarly, but the disengage begins an engagement from your left, instead of your right, and moves in a counter-clockwise circle around the opponent's blade and ending up on your right with opposition and then your counter attack with a direct or indirect thrust. Note that the counter-parry can also be effective against a simple direct thrust. The blades will meet sooner than expected, so the full counter-parry simply stops when at a direct parry. Although this circular action against a simple thrust might not seem to be an advantage, your opponent can mix direct attacks with indirect attacks, in which case you have both offensive tactics countered. As soon as you feel blade contact at the end of the parry, you should initiate your thrust, being careful to close the line in the process so as to gain right-of-way and protect against a possible remise or a bad call by the director (which never happens, of course). A series of counter-parries can also be helpful when other movements are not working.

The counter parry can, however, be defeated by the doubl'e (pronounced "dooblay") attack, which is simply a full circular movement of the attacker's blade that moves in the same direction as the blade of the defender. In your doubl'e, your blades is moving slightly ahead of his blade, thus avoiding blade contact. This tactic can, in turn be defeated by a second defensive counter parry or direct parry carte in opposition. Thus, multiple offensive movements can be countered by multiple defensive movements as well. These movements can be very fast and complex, so it does take some time to learn how to do them corre Problems typically occur with excessively large circular movements in parries that may be too slow or too fast to get through the opponent's first movement and end up in a proper parry. The most common problem with these movements are that they are not smooth and may be too large. Also, your counter parry may either begin too soon or too late, giving your opponent the advantage of easily observing and reacting. The movement of the arm is the most likely culprit, which slows downs the action considerably. It is very natural to see circular movements end up being too large, especially with an inexperienced fencer who will tense his arm and generally make large and slow motions. This problem is commonly due to lack of experience, training and natural reaction. The bending, twisting wrist must do most of the motion so that maximum speed is attained, which takes a lot of practice. For more complex tactics, the combination of multiple contre carte/contre sixte movements, or vice versa, can be particularly effective. To learn how to do manipulate both movements, try to change line of your blade from one position to another prior to any attack. Then you can change from a contre-carte parry to a contre-sixte parry, or vice versa, depending upon the side of engagement. Strategically, the timing of these initial movements should be random so that your opponent cannot preempt your action and counter it effectively. A fencer who has mastered the technique of combining these two defense movements with minimal motion and fast timing has mastered a very strong defensive tactic, especially when used in combination with the control of proper distance. In these advanced movements, the advantage of having an excellent fencing master to guide you cannot be overestimated. Faulkner once pointed to one of his fencers and told me that this fellow had achieved high nationally ranking by successfully using the combinations of just two parries: contre carte and contre sixte!