STRATEGY and TACTICS

Article taken from En Garde! The serious fencers' training diary

The following article forms the basis of the Gold level competencies in the En Garde! fencing Learn-to-Fence course.

In Queensland phone Tynan Worsfield on 0419 018 377 and get  En Garde! fencing                                             

STRATEGY and TACTICS

Strategy refers to the general type of game played by a fencer - it may be an offensive type game, defensive, or even counter-offensive in nature. Tactics are the specific application of the actions that deal with each situation, for example a counter-attack can be used against a fencer who attacks with compound and broken-time actions, or a renewed attack may be appropriate against a fencer who parries and doesn't riposte, delays, or prefers compound ripostes. 

STRATEGY

These are the games within the sport of fencing.  Like footwork, it's not the fencer that maintains distance but the fencer that is setting the movement, its' rhythm and pace, that controls mobility and can more easily gain the initiative.  You gain the opportunities and timing more easily than the fencer who is simply responding to the situation.  No matter how fast the opponent is, he/she is still responding, behind the fencer who is controlling the situation.

You could play a counter-offensive game; preparing your opponent with a variety of preparations so that you can counter-offensively deal with their committed, offensive responses.  Or perhaps a game simply based on counter-time, or sur-la-march attacks, or alternatively, you may even base your game on timing and priority, using a combination of simple and fast attacks, intermingled with broken-time actions.  You can further add to this strategy the use of lines, with the possibilities of derobements.

If a fencer sets a rhythm and invitation for counter-time, say for example he steps forward into quarte and steps back and returns to sixte.   He maintains this forward and backward rhythm.  By doing this he knows not only when the opponent is likely to attack (on the forward movement) but also where the opponent will direct his attack (the invitation opening in sixte).  He has now set a game strategy.  The opponent, whatever he does is responding to a situation established by the fencer

TACTICS

The expression of the movement is the essence of tactical success.   Once the technical mechanics have been mastered, the intent of what you are attempting to do has to come across.   Feints have to really look like attacks, and therefore provoke responses that you would expect from actual attacks.  

The timing of the actions must be completely in relation to the opponent.   This cannot be rushed.   The actions must be performed at the exact moment that the opponent creates.    This is the area that most athletes rush; they observe and analysis the opponent, work out the tactics, only to then rush the delivery of the action, and then sometimes even assume that it was the wrong tactic.   The actions must be performed at the exact moment that the opponent creates, whether it's when he moves to take your blade, as he starts to move forward, at the very last moment of his attack, or at the very moment that he responds to your feint.   Timing lies in observation  - it cannot be created but simply happens.  The athlete can heighten and train their awareness of timing through visualization and mental-rehearsal.    Timing comes from a good command of distance.   Timing occurs continually in the fight for control of distance.   Opportunities and cues occur either with the change of direction of the body (distance awareness) and/or with the blade movement.   The sooner you heighten your distance awareness, the more opportunities and cues you become aware of, and then timing and control of timing start to occur.    By focusing your central thought on distance, you allow peripheral, subconscious thought to be used in timing your responses to the various cues.   This is a more relaxed form of thought, and as such is better suited to timing responses to cues.  Skill attainment occurs in a state of unconscious thought.

THE THOUGHT PROCESS

Although your central focus of attention should be on distance awareness, the thought process of the competitively trained fencer continually changes - ideally it should start with a broad-external awareness, noting your opponent's reactions, style of fencing, timing, distance, etc., then it should go to a broad-internal process of assessing what tactics may be applicable/appropriate to this particular opponent, the thought process then zooms into an internal-narrow whereby you become very aware of what tactic/s you intend to use against this fencer, and finally your thought must become external-narrow looking and waiting for the exact moment to perform the chosen tactic.

These four areas of fencing thought should become a natural sequence of your game.   Firstly, focus your attention on distance, then:

• Observe and analyze your opponent.   Note their style of mobility, distance and timing.   Assess their weaknesses and what moves might be favoured.  It is from this observation that you draw your tactics.

• Visualise the successful completion of your chosen tactic.  Mentally rehearse the action before physically doing it.

• Focus attention on your target.   Look past the blades to your goal.

• And finally, set up your opponent and prepare for your intended tactic.

By consciously thinking about these separate components, in time, the four areas of thought will become one......OBSERVE.......ANALYSE.....VISUALIZE the chosen tactic......FOCUS.....and prepare to implement.  

The PROGRESSION OF TACTICAL THOUGHT

The tactical success of an action is often the result of the preceding moves and responses that lead up to the actual touch.   This is referred to as preparing or setting up the opponent.   This is a natural progression of moves and responses in relation to the principles of play.   For example, against your feint or beat of the blade, the opponent may respond with an action against that, the next action to follow would have the same start (the feint or the beat) but would deceive their response.   Another example may be when you parry your opponent's attack and immediately riposte, only to have it parried.  The next immediate progression should be to parry and slightly pause, riposting by deception.   And a final example may be when you get stop-hit in the preparation of one of your attacks.  Immediately you should repeat the start of you preparation, only this time you are playing counter-time and are waiting for the response to parry and touch with a riposte.  

However, your opponent may also be developing this progression of tactical thought and assume that is exactly what you would intend to do, so they may throw out a line into your preparation and derobe any attempt to make contact with your blade.   At a higher level, the competitor is often unconsciously well aware of these progressions and tactically counters them.  The thought must be then, to mix up and disguise your intent - play between two tactics, for example, broken-time preparations setting up for counter-time, and simple attacks.

FIRST and SECOND-INTENTION

First-Intention

These actions attempt to score BEFORE the opponent has a chance to respond.   They require speed and timing to be successful.  Unlike second-intention, they do not rely on obtaining a response, but simply attempt to score before any response.  Their success relies on efficiency of technique, timing of when to perform the action, and speed in its delivery.   The pre-requisite for first-intention actions is to control the movement.  Set the rhythm and pace, to force the opponent to maintain distance.  This will allow for timing opportunities, which can catch the opponent unprepared.

Second-Intention

Second-intention is the basis of tactical thinking behind the game.   Eventually all reasonable fencers are going to reach near perfection in the execution of the moves.   Once two fencers are equally competent with the technical performance of the moves, and have a similar awareness of timing to deliver these actions, it's going to be the fencer who prepares his opponent and confuses his own intentions that will leave the piste victorious.

Second-intention is the preparing of your opponent to believe that you intend to do one specific thing, so that you can use this response to score a touch.   An example could be a false attack, or a deep feint to an area, in an attempt to draw a specific parry, so that you can deceive to touch. Another may be to take your opponents blade, or perhaps beat his blade to get that specific response.  Yet another may be to create a line, and when your opponent attempts to gain the priority, avoid his blade and score with a derobement.   Perhaps your opponent is an habitual stop-hitter, you could prepare your opponent by doing a move to draw his stop hit, and then deal with it in any way you wish - parry riposte, a simple action attack to ensure his stop- hit is out of time, or even, stop hit his stop hit - but with opposition.

Second-intention is comprised of two general forms:

• Firstly, those actions that use preparations of attack (feints, beats, takings-of-the-blade, etc.) as the first-intention; and secondly,

• Those actions that provoke counter-offensive responses (stop-hits, simple counter-attacks, compound or broken-timed counter-attacks, etc.) as first-intention.

This latter category, provoking and dealing with counter-offensive actions, is referred to as COUNTER-TIME.

LINES AND DEROBEMENTS

By establishing a line (arm straight and point threatening target) you have created priority.   Your opponent cannot simply attack without first taking over the priority.   He can gain priority by deflecting the line with some sort of blade contact.   A beat being the most common response.   On this attempt to take over the priority, as the opponent tries to make contact with your blade, any evasion of this contact while maintaining the arm straight and threat of the point is called a DEROBEMENT.   The word "derobement", in French means to evade.   Derobements can be simple (one deception) or compound (involving feints).  To be able to maintain the arm straight and evade the opponent's attempt to make contact with your blade, an increased demand is placed on body mobility and distance.  If you break your line, you lose priority.  The priority remains with the line if the opponent fails to make contact with the blade to gain priority himself.    Tactically, the opponent can of course attempt to provoke this derobement, with a planned invitation such as a large attempted taking-of-the-blade, and then quickly beat the simple derobement to gain priority.   This would be a form of second intension, an offensive type of counter-time.   The corresponding tactic to use against this would be a compound derobement avoiding both actions. 

SUR-LA-MARCHE ATTACKS

The Sur-la-marche attack combines mobility to priority.  It forces the issue, the reaction/s.  If the priority is created with a feint - it continuously progresses forcing the opponent to respond.  It is important to note that mobility is added to priority - the point initiates priority and therefore we must add continuous (sur-la-marche) body mobility to the movement of the point, and don't simply just extend the arm.  If the arm is extended it is easy to parry, but it can be virtually impossible to parry an evasive point.

TIMING AND BROKEN-TIME ACTIONS

There are two facets to timing.   Firstly, the timing of when to perform the action in relation to the opponent, and secondly, the timing of the action itself - the delivery of the action in relation to the blade movement of the opponent.

The timing of when to perform an action refers to that exact moment when the opponent is not quite prepared.   Blade wise, it may be perhaps when they are attempting to make contact with your blade, or simply as they drop their guard.  Distance wise, it may be when you are moving backwards and forwards, creating a rhythm, and when they assume you are about to step back, instead you attack.

The timing of the action itself is more of an interactive timing in relation to the opponent's blade movement.   All deception has to be in relation to the movement of the opponent's defense.   One-twos and doubles' have to be performed in relation to the attempted parries, otherwise you parry yourself.

  It is my belief that timing in general, and in particular this interactive form of timing is fostered and enhanced through playing electronic computer games.  Computer games are interactive games involving movement and action, with situations requiring controlled reflexes and appropriate reactions.

We learn timing specifically from the actions.   You parry the attack at a certain moment in its delivery.   You develop this feeling of timing, so consequently when an action starts as what you would expect, and then is broken or delayed, your senses become disturbed.  This is what broken- time actions attempt to do.  Broken-time actions start conventionally, and then intentionally delay the natural flow of the action.  

RENEWED OFFENSIVE ACTIONS

When an offensive action has lost priority, a renewal of the offensive may be appropriate.  An attack or a riposte may be parried, and a line may loose priority by a beat from the opponent.  Because these actions are now "counter-offensive" in nature, the same tactical applications and scoring validity apply.

When an attack is parried, another attack made immediately is known as a renewed attack.   Renewed attacks are used against opponent's who:

• Parry and don't riposte,
• Parry and delay their riposte, or
• Parry and use compound ripostes.

Remise

This is simply done, while remaining on the lunge, by replacing the point in the same line as you were parried.  It consists of a single blade action with no additional arm movement.

Redoublement

This is again done, while remaining on the lunge, but does involve additional blade and/or arm movement.

Reprise

The reprise is any combination of the above made immediately after a return to the on-guard position. The return to guard can be either forward or the conventional recovery.

Renewed-offensive actions have lost the priority, so are in fact counter-offensive in nature against the offensive response.  The loss of priority is normally the start of a simple response to score.  It is unlikely to gain priority, only to confuse matters with a compound preparation to the offensive response.  As a result renewed-offensive actions can be compared to counter-offensive actions, done against simple offensive responses.  That is, the remise, redouble and reprise, can be performed with opposition, bind, etc.

COUNTER-OFFENSIVE ACTIONS

Counter-offensive actions, counter the offensive with an offensive action. Instead of defending against an offensive action, you deal with it through another offensive move.   Counter-offensive actions are usually considered as offensive moves into an attack.  However, whenever there is an offensive action (an attack, riposte, counter-riposte, renewed attack, counter-offensive action) it can be dealt with by an offensive action.

Counter-offensive actions rely on the shock of breaking the convention, i.e. not conforming to the priority of conventional fencing, where you would expect an attack to be parried.  Because of this, to be valid, they must arrive either:

• One period of fencing-time before the final movement of the attack,

• While completely deflecting the attack, or

• As the only valid touch (the attack missing).

These counter-offensive actions are therefore tactically more suited to compound and broken-time moves or actions involving several foot movements.

As counter-offensive actions are used primarily to stop compound and broken-time actions, they tend to be simple (in contrast to compound) in composition.   Compound counter-offensive actions, involving feints, would be used against defensive counter-time.

Counter-offensive actions include the Stop-hit, the Stop-hit with opposition (previously known as the Time-hit), the Stop-hit with interception and the Counter-attack.

Stop-hit (In-time)

For a stop-hit to be in time, it must arrive before the start of the final movement of the attack. 

Stop-hit with Opposition

A stop-hit with opposition, blocks the final movement of the attack, as it hits.

Stop-hit with Interception

A stop-hit done with interception, intercepts the compound attack in mid- delivery.  It is a stop-hit with opposition, which intercepts during the delivery of the attack.

Counter-attacks

All the above counter-offensive moves performed as attacks, using primarily the lunge but can also include the fleche.

There are two types of counter-attacks:

• Simple counter-offensive attacks (all of the above)
• Compound counter-offensive attacks (feint in time) performed against defensive counter-time. 

COUNTER-TIME

Counter-time is the method to deal with all forms of counter-offensive actions.

Counter-time performed against SIMPLE counter-offensive actions can be either defensive or offensive.

• Defensive counter-time is the drawing of the counter-offensive action and dealing with it defensively (with a parry-riposte).

• Offensive counter-time is the drawing of the counter-offensive action and dealing with it in an offensive manner (beat attack).         

Counter-time performed against COMPOUND counter-offensive actions can be either defensive or counter-offensive.

• Dealing   with   compound   counter-offensive actions   with defensive counter-time requires a feint-parry to allow successive parries to pick up the counter-attack.
• Counter-offensive counter-time is simply counter-attacking into the compound counter-attack.  This is sometimes referred to as a Feint in time.

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