Fencing 101: Basic Attack Moves

Series Summary

Fencing is the sport of combat with a hand-held weapon, whether practiced as a martial art in form only, or put to the test in a duel. Most commonly known to incorporate the foil and the saber, modern fencing is largely practiced as a competitive sport, relying on a well-developed hand-eye coordination and a grasp of tactical strategy similarly needed for the game of chess.

Fencing carries with it an air of nobility, left over from its 18th and 19th century roots as a gentleman’s pursuit. Some classical enthusiasts consider true fencing to be the art of defense for an actual sword fight. Nevertheless, the sport today enjoys a large popularity in universities worldwide as a holistic method of study, training both the body and the mind.

Competitive fencing involves a variety of moves, stances, and sword techniques needed not only to defend from an opponent’s attack, but to counterattack in an instant, scoring a point known as a “touch.” While the swords used are usually blunted and capped, there is still a real danger of injury, and fencers use safety clothing and equipment to cover their entire body. In this free video introduction to fencing, learn some of the basic attack and defense moves needed to become an accomplished duelist. Lessons include using the fencing equipment, scoring points, the parry and the lunge, the flash attack, the beat attack, and a primer on saber fencing.

Video Transcript

" Hi! I'm Mike Elder, the General Manager of the Miami Fencing Club; that's www.miamifencingclub.com. We meet in South Miami weekdays and Miami Day College in Kendall on weekends on Saturday afternoon. On behalf of expertvillage.com, I welcome you. Tonight I am going to show you something about this more competitive fencing. Fencing makes a great sport for people of all ages. It provides an excellent loving pack aerobic workout. We have fencers here from age 8 to 82. My friend here tonight is Harry and he is going to work with me and we'll do some moves here first. First I am going to show you a basic simple attack. The idea of the attack in fencing with this sort of weapon is called the foil. We need to attack so that we hit each other with the point. We are only allowed to hit with a point but thrusting like this. I am allowed to hit him any where on the white jacket. I can't hit is arms, his legs; I can't hit him on the head."