How to Disengage in Foil Fencing

Video Transcript

"Here I'd like to introduce the disengage, which is a really useful preparation for an attack. The disengage, also known as the Digage, is a simple evasion in which you move your point of line from one line to the other. And again, we use the term line but what we're really talking about are those quadrants. So, if I'm facing an opponent, and my sword is engaged on this line, I can do a very quick, simple disengage to the other line. The movement is quite small. It makes a tiny circle around the blade, and you're actually moving the blade with your fingers, with those two fingers, your thumb and your finger, that are holding the blade. Now the word disengage actually comes from literally when the blades are engaged, they are touching. So you can have a disengage that moves from contact to not having contact. But either way you're moving from one line to the other line to execute a proper disengage. Okay, so the disengage in action. If I'm here, and I am on line with Cyrie's four, I can disengage under her blade quickly with a small movement over to her six, to make a hit. You can see how that would be really useful if Cyrie was going over to parry my blade on this side, and I can evade her. Or if she's making some other action, you want to make a quick Digage just around the blade so that you have access to the opposite line for your opponent."