Breaking Broken Time

I was asked for advice on what to do against the broken time attack in foil recently and here is some of my thinking on the subject, after some more rumination...


1. On no account stay within lungeing distance - this plays right into the attackers hands

2. Be careful if you retreat - it is likely your opponent will pursue with bent arm and lunge. Even if you successfully stop hit many presidents will give the right of way against you on a double hit due to your perceived backward movement

3. It is best to either stay still or better yet move in closer. The strength of the broken time lies in the final replacement of the blade into line to hit; this is normally achieved by bringing the blade back down from the vertical or diagonal position. If you step inside this arc you destroy the distance element and while risking a flat blow on the head or shoulder should be able to score with close technique. This is a naturally counter-intuitive movement (getting closer to an attacker) so you will need to practice it to perfect it.

By the way, this list is not exhaustive; think about it for yourself as well!

Thinking out of a corner...

I had an interesting bout at the club last night, which goes some way to reinforcing my previous post concerning making the opponent come to you. I was invited to fence by an opponent who I'd never faced before, one of my younger students who has taken up epee since learning foil. I didn't know what to suspect as he's quite a physically imposing lad and my brain was definitely work-fuddled but was pleasantly surprised to find myself 8-2 up after a couple of minutes. It all seemed to be too easy, my hits to arm were getting through; I got some nice hits to wrist and then.... it all started to go wrong. Suddenly I was being picked off very neatly on my wrist as I tried exactly the same attacks that had worked previously and I was soon only 11-10 up. I strongly suspected I had been set up and knew that I needed to come up with a new game plan. I played for a bit of time as I explored options, just doing enough to keep the bout going without leaking any more hits. Thinking it through I realised that my opponent's strength was his speed in the counter-attack and essentially I was 'going to him' all the time. What's more, he'd obviously worked this out and was deploying his strength well and if I carried on like this I was going to lose. So I decided to take his strength away from him by pretending to attack and then responding to his counter with a circular bind. I felt if I could get a two or three point gap I would be ok and lo and behold I got to 13-10 up with this change of tactic. He then had to change his method (and all credit to him, he responded to the situation well) by attacking me which then allowed me to start countering him, finally taking the match 15-11.


It was a good match made more pleasurable by the fact I felt I had thought my way to a win by employing processes and techniques that I advocate regularly to my students. It's nice to practice what one preaches! I'm not saying Musashi, Munenori et al would have been proud but they may have just perhaps ghosted the merest hint of a nod......

Let your opponent come to you

Sun Tzu says "Good warriors cause others to come to them, and do not go to others". As is my wont I like to apply some of the old learning to my fencing so I got to pondering what does this mean for the fencer on the piste... How do you get your opponent to come to you? I suppose the most obvious answer would be to move away from them making them come forward, which seems a bit obvious but if you time it right will get them off balance as you attack them whilst they prepare, probably with a beat on their blade or other assertive action. Another option would be to step toward them and open (or close) your line, thus provoking them to attack you on your preparation. If you have planned this correctly you can then score with a crisply executed parry riposte. One of the most satisfying ways of making your opponent come to you is the derobement, where you maintain a straight arm and evade the attempted bind with your fingers, thus letting your opponent throw themselves onto your blade. A most gratifying move if you can get it to work.
As a general principle you are trying to get them to expend effort into a trap of your making. This should not be confused with letting them have momentum though; if you let them dictate what they want to do you have lost the advantage. Controlling them by letting them move....... another one for the list of fencing paradoxes!   

Fingerspitzengefuhl

I came across the above German term whilst recently reading a book on strategy. I believe the translation is "finger tip feel" and not only is it a great word but it also has implications for fencers. In this particular book it was used in the context of a strategist having all the knowledge he needed at his fingertips regarding his men, their morale, the situation etc. In fencing this could also be looked at on two levels; the first level is knowing your opponent to a good level of detail, having intelligence on their favourite techniques, their temperament, their style and energy etc. On a more practical level finger tip feel could also mean the way you control, hold and use your blade to make your reconnaissance and attack. Your senses through your blade can provide a great indicator of your opponent's mood, experience and habits so it is wise to cultivate an effective way of using it via your fingertips and not your fist! 

Something for Everyone

It was the ladder week at the club today so whilst the youngsters went through their paces I had the opportunity to give some individual lessons. This is where a coach really gets to know the fencer, even for a short duration of time and I believe each student should come away from a lesson with personalised advice. All my lessons start with the same basic warm up which gives me a chance to assess things if I don't know the fencer, before throwing in something specific. Here's some of the things I worked on...
Fencer 1: A capable young lady who prefers attack to defence. So I worked on different parries and ripostes with her (I'm like that). Also did some work getting her to use all the piste rather than a few feet by getting her to beat attack on my forward step. If the rhythm was too obvious she wouldn't get me before I parried it. It's a common flaw in fencers that they don't move their feet enough.....
Fencer 2: Another young lady with good technical ability but who is slightly diffident in attack. In this case I went through some compound attacks with her, explaining that she has the competence to do these well and they will work better in situations where she doesn't feel confident attacking directly.
Fencer 3: A 16 year old lad who is quite powerful but lacks a little sharpness. Got him doing feint disengage attacks and lo and behold his feint wasn't in line thus his final attack had a tendency to miss or go flat. Got him feinting at me and then showed him how it all became a lot neater, but then how success depended on him doing the finger movement before the lunge.
Fencer 4: A young lady who has a tendency to hit flat. I noticed that she was holding her free arm straight down in front of her torso so when she lunged she had a tendency to lean down to the left. Advised her to brace her shoulders a bit more as this would help her point arrive on target. Quite a productive 90 minutes, especially as I got to preside a few fights and observe others. All in a morning's work for a coach....

Fight The Next Battle

When you are practising in a bout, do you try the same things over again or do you try different techniques? In line with the previous post we tend to not only fence familiar people but we repeat familiar actions. Do not fight the last battle over again, change your tactics and try something new. This is different to repeatedly practising a specific technique to improve, there is nothing wrong with that. But what you must avoid is stagnation of thought and tactics through just mindlessly repeating yourself. Just because something worked once doesn't mean it will work again. Look at the French and the Maginot Line in 1940. Solid immobile defensive lines had been de rigeur during the Great War so the French built a line of forts and bunkers on their border with Germany. They hadn't been at war with the Belgians so they didn't build on that border. Unfortunately this plan went horribly wrong for a number of reasons.... a) the Germans invaded Belgium first and circumvented the line b) they had also invented airborne glider troops and paratroopers so just dropped on top of the forts and c) all the guns pointed toward Germany making the whole thing useless if out-flanked. A classic case of not adapting to the next likely battle. Don't become a Maginot Line yourself!

Seek Out Your Opponent

When you fence at your club (or take part in any bout of your particular discipline) who do you seek out? Is it the same people you fence every week? Are they better, worse or the same skill level as you? It's worth examining this as it can prove instrumental in your development or lack of it. It's natural to want to train with the same people on a regular basis; we are by nature social creatures who like routine but it can also be counterproductive when testing our skills. If we don't push ourselves we don't improve. If you should find yourself drawn to experienced fencers who can teach you something then that's no bad thing, even if it means you lose a lot of bouts. Gradually you will see yourself improve a step at a time and it's important to set yourself realistic goals, such as one more point a week. I have a number of valued sparring partners who I fence and I am never sure how things will go which keeps me alert. Last night I had a neck and neck bout where I faded badly at the end (still working out why...) and another where I was hammered 15-4 but those four hits were planned and executed well. I also found that I was intimidated by my opponent and my desire to do well into complete immobility of mind. My thoughts solidified into a confused mess of hesitation and my actions did the same (non-existent Zan Shin - if that isn't a paradox....?)This in itself was a very good lesson!
I have seen fencers of a certain disposition deliberately seek out people they know they can beat in order to inflate their own egos. My counsel would be to seek out those who have gone before and learn from them. As Musashi said "determine that today you will overcome your self of the day before. Tomorrow you will win over those of lesser skill, and later you will win over those of greater skill".