Choosing Sword Style in Fencing

Video Transcript

"When you're deciding what sort of weapon to choose, most coaches will recommend that you do not start with the epee. A foil is definitely the most popular starting weapon. There are actually some really good reasons for that. If you think about the weapon styles, there are a few key differences. Foil has the smallest target area, it has the rules of right of way--it's a strategy weapon. It relies a lot on point control, on thinking, and on following the rules. Epee, or saber, is the third style of weapon, and saber has a larger area than foil, but a smaller area than epee, but it still follows those rules of way, and also with the saber you add the very big difference of being able to hit with the side, if you happen to make cuts that make points rather than just thrusts. And epee has the biggest target area, and has no rules of right of way. So you can see how epee can easily degrade in free for all poking battle, which is not what it is. It's still a game of strategy, and if you begin with the epee, you risk losing the important lessons in point control and in strategy that you learn in foil fencing, in discipline and footwork, and also in saber, but saber a lot of times will be the third weapon that you pick up. So, I strongly recommend that you start with foil first before picking up an epee, even if you know epee is your true weapon at heart. So, before you look at epee attacks, I would look at foil fencing attacks, which, every one of them will still hold true for epee, and then add some of the differences. I'd like to concentrate mostly on the differences between epee and foil attacks, so that this is a good progression after your foil training in learning the ways that epee differs from foil, and the sort of adaptations you can make to your foil style to make you a great epeeist."