Target Areas & Thrusting in Foil Fencing

Video Transcript

"Target area for foil is the smallest target area of all the sword types. It is my trunk and my back and that's it. My arms, my legs, and my head are excluded so your target area and when you are making any kind of attack you are aiming for this prime area. Every once in a while there are some different sorts of flicks or flushers you might hit the back of a fencer but most of the time this is what you are aiming for so this is how we divide the target area. It's as if there is a cross across my middle. Then we use numbers to describe each part of that cross. This quadrant is four, this quadrant is six, this one is seven and this one is eight and the numbers are the same on my opponent so every time someone makes an attack you can divide the idea of the quadrant into these four sections. The ones you will be using most frequently are your four and your six. Another important concept to understand is the concept of point in line. If I have a point in line in foil fencing it means that my foil is actually aiming at target area on my opponent so the tip of my sword is pointed at four, six, seven, and eight. Also to have my point in line my arm has to be extended and I have to have a straight arm. It is really important when you are establishing right away which we will talk about soon. So again, target area four, six, seven and eight. It is only the trunk, the front, and the back and when you are making a thrust you are going to employ one of those four target areas so let's demonstrate. I would like to demonstrate each of the four attacks that we just discussed so Syria is here to help me again and we'll show four, six, seven, and eight. Again in foil you can only attack with the tip of your sword. Only thrusts are legal so each time I hit I am hitting with the tip of my sword. I'll thrust, two, four, thrust two, six thrust two, seven, thrust two, eight. One more time; four, six, seven, eight. Now each of those thrusts has uses that are better at different times each are used for different strategies and they are accompanying periods for each but those are your basic moves. In the beginning you will find that you use four and six much more often than the other two."