Those of you in the Monday night class from 8:00-9:00 with R.J. and I have been introduced to some new tactical concepts in the past couple of months. Some of these concepts have been things like the “Vocabulary of Footwork” mixing up speed, direction, and length with each step making it difficult to follow or predict what action you will perform next. Other items have included hand tempo, foot tempo, and taking over the attack as times to execute an attack to capitalize when your opponent is weakest and less able to defend themselves.
Thinking about tactics off of the strip, and practicing common tactical heuristics is a great way to augment your ability to think tactically on the strip and to help you set up scenarios which you can purposefully capitalize on to score points and eventually win the bout. Once your fencing has reached the point where you can reliably execute the physical motions of fencing, it is time to start thinking about tactics.
Zbigniew Czajkowski’s book, Understanding Fencing, is a great resource for tactical thought and methodically discusses tactics and how fencers purposefully prepare for tactical strikes. It also talks about Foreseen, Partially Foreseen, and Unforeseen responses from your opponent. By sticking to Foreseen, and Partially Foreseen actions you can predict how your opponent will respond to your actions (after a suitable period of recon) and set traps for them to play into. Here is a section from Czajkowski’s work.
Also, much of the material has come from information and systems created by David Littell on his website: Fencing-Always More to Learn. I recommend that you read through his website and take the time to consider it, and/or discuss it with your coach. I recommend all of the articles he has posted but the articles “Hungarian System”, “Foil Tactics”, and “Footwork Phrases” are of special interest. Also go to his video site and look at video numbers 6 and 7 for a look at some of the techniques we have been working on. The videos are great because you can see them over and over. You can also jump here to the Hungarian system in action.
Developing your tactical game will much improve your fencing and will help you land points when it’s easy and also make it more difficult for your opponent. Best of luck.
Stay well,
A. Harms
