

A fencer whose main strategy is to attack must continually look for openings. First, analyze the basic on-guard position of your opponent - what hand and arm target seems to be open? Remember, you’re not going to hit them with your eyes - the openings have to be in respect to your blade and point. With some point control, attacks that can be delivered directly are easiest (aim early for best results, especially if you're just learning): extend, aim, and use footwork to move the point to target.



Some targets are reachable with some angulation - “coming around the corner” of the bell guard - and some may be reachable with a “flick” that bends the blade in around that same “corner.” The best angulation is delivered with a normal thrust and a movement outward with the hand during the attack - if you bend your wrist to angulate at the beginning, it provides immediate target to a counterattack and too much warning of your intent. Flicks are difficult to do without opening your own hand and wrist target to a counterattack. Also, flicks are best perfected in practice on either a dummy or a well-padded partner - badly-done flicks are brutal, and I would not recommend numbing your opponent’s arm as a sporting strategy (be aware that some fencers do use it as just that, however). Both of these types of attacks can usually be defended with a slight adjustment of the bell guard position, rather than a blade-on-blade parry. Move your hand slightly toward the direction that the attacks are coming past your guard. parts of opponents' on-guard for you to analyze is the position of the front foot - is it close enough for you to hit? Careful - your reach starts at your shoulder, so low target is often farther away than it feels. Remember, however, that attacks to the leg or foot open your own arm to counterattacks, and so are of limited use against someone who usually counterattacks. A high feint with a drop to low target is more likely to work against fencers who are trying to defend, or who back away but are slow removing that front foot. Look, too, for your opponent’s balance point - if their weight is primarily on one foot or the other, this will affect how well they move - if on their front foot, they will retreat faster than they advance, and vice versa for the rear foot. And if their rear foot is not underneath them (once moving, many fencers "drag" that foot), their lunging distance will be compromised. Also, if they are constantly moving, is there a pattern or rhythm to the movement that you can take advantage of? Analyze, too, the initial reaction of your opponent to your attacks. If they parry, is it always the same way? You may be able to take advantage of this. Remember, however, that in many cases you may want them to actually parry - the contact will often cause a break in their rhythm, and of course for that split second you will know exactly where their blade is. But when they push on you, don't push back; you rarely will have the leverage to push through a parry. From the contact, a quick redouble - move the point quickly to open target somewhere else - will beat many ripostes. A foil-like feint and disengage that evades the parry completely will often cause them to keep trying to parry, and that may block your disengage, especially if the opponent has earlier foil training. Another reason that you may want to provoke a parry is that foil-trained fencers will sometimes parry, release your blade (in foil, they have right-of-way at this point and don't have to worry about what you'll do then), and riposte, leaving you an opportunity for a quick remise into the now-opened target. Look at the section on defense for a discussion of ripostes. If your opponent counterattacks, is it coming from a predictable angle? You may be able to adjust your hand position so that their counterattack is diverted from your target, or just to cover the target that you’re opening during your attacks. Think of attacking through their counterattack. Use your opponent's scored points to tell you what you are showing to them - if they keep hitting a particular area of your target, you must be leaving it open. Many counterattackers have good focus and point control; one of the common mistakes made against counterattackers is attempting an attack to a target that is much too deep (far away)- you’re trying to reach the body and getting hit on the arm as you try it. Against many counterattackers, you may need to attack the blade as a first step, disturbing their focus and forcing them to take time to regain their point control. Sometimes a simple beat will do this, especially if executed (as they are supposed to be) as an early-to-middle part of your extension, so that your rebound from the beat puts your point very close to their target while they are recovering from the beat. Beats in epee are less effective at actually opening target than in foil, usually, and can be tricky to deliver against a blade that’s almost parallel to yours - you may need to angulate the blade slightly to make good contact. Beats can be from the inside out (attacks up the arm are good from this), from the outside in (easier against an opposite-handed fencer), up from underneath (can be quite disorienting to an opponent, but also harder for the attacker to recover from), or down from above (better on a grounded strip, because the point may be driven into the floor). Attacks on the blade may also provide you with enough time to allow you to attack to your opponent’s body, or may offset a reach disadvantage. It’s important to remember, when you are first starting, that it’s target, not the other blade, that is your first consideration - swinging at the other weapon just "because it's there" won’t score many points and can be a disadvantage in several ways. An important aspect to attacks (or counterattacks) is the angle of delivery. You are much better off moving your point forward in a direction where, if it misses your intended target, it continues into other target. For instance, an attack to the arm that, if it misses, tracks off into the air is not as good as one that continues up the arm and may hit the shoulder, armpit, or mask. Often a small shift of hand position will provide a much better angle. Attacks may consistently fail against a good defender or counterattacker - if you don’t feel comfortable moving to another strategy, try changing your rhythm, or try countertime: feinting an attack (or delivering a very shallow attack), dealing with their response, and then hitting them.



Fleche attacks can be effective if unexpected, but usually need to hit immediately - a fleche attack carried to a second or third step requires fast handwork from a fairly awkward position to keep you from being hit. Fleching itself is difficult to do until you have good control of your foot-body interaction - you need to be able to step over without swinging your torso around. Make sure that your back foot's push is preparatory, just shifting your weight, and the primary push comes off your front foot, or the move is just a big step. You also will need to practice how to deal with the results of an unsuccessful fleche attack - for most people new to them, running past is the best follow-up; later, a halt at infighting range may be better. Also consider the side you fleche to - a move to the opponent's chest side provides more follow-up opportunities for you but responses from them more likely to hit you; a move behind them can limit both, but you can practice continued attack options, while your opponents may not have practiced their response options. is critical to any epee strategy. For attackers, forward controlled speed is very important. You want to land in a position to deal with the consequences if your attack is unsuccessful. Don’t overlunge, leaving yourself off balance on one foot and often your hand low. Be balanced enough that, if your point is near target and you are not in immediate danger of being hit yourself, you can continue to move in (or at the very least, keep your point in the way of their forward movement). Don't automatically move back out - how often do you get that close to open target? But be ready to get out as well, or continue in if that is advantageous. For defenders, a judicious retreat that still leaves them close enough to land a riposte is very important. For counterattackers, an immediate retreat that stays just close enough to deliver the counter is most important. Often a good counterattack involves moving back just a bit more slowly than the attacker is moving forward. For most epee grips, point control comes from the first two fingers and the thumb - holding or squeezing with the back fingers makes point movement slow and large, and may dip the point (if your point consistently dips at the end of your attacks, you're squeezing - relax your grip). It is easier to aim early in an attack and deliver the point with your footwork; a loose grip makes the fine-tuning of this approach possible. Aiming done in the middle of an attack is possible but harder to do consistently. If your blade is bent, you may need to turn your hand so that the point hits target flatly and will push in. It is also a good idea to aim slightly “through” target - if you’ve miscalculated the distance, or the opponent moves back, or their jacket is a bit loose, you may need the extra distance. Try not to run them through, however - beside being rather unsportsmanlike, it tends to bring you habitually in closer than is wise.

