Outline of Fencing - Tactics and Techniques - Footwork

Footwork

• Advance – The ‘advance’ is the basic forward movement. The front foot moves first, beginning by lifting the toes. Straighten the leg at the knee, pushing the heel out in front. Land on the heel, and then bring the back foot up to en garde stance. Also, the term advance is used in general for any movement forward by either step, cross, or ballestra.
• Advance-Lunge – An advance followed immediately by a lunge.
• Appel – Stamping the front foot to the ground, to produce a sound to distract or startle the opponent. This may be made during an advance, or directly from an en garde position. It may precede a lunge, or be used merely as a distraction. An appel is also sometimes called a 'half-Advance'. This action may also be used to halt a bout, often by stamping the trailing foot insistently.
• Balestra – A footwork preparation, consisting of a jump forwards. It is most often, but not always, immediately followed by a lunge. It is faster than a step forward, which helps change the rhythm and timing of moves. ‘Balestra’ is the French term for sudden leap.
• Flèche – Flèche means 'arrow' in French. The rear leg is brought in front of the front leg and the fencer sprints past his/her opponent. This action is currently not allowed during sabre bouts, because the front and rear legs must not cross. In épée, a quick pass is essential, since the defending fencer is allowed one attack after the pass, so long as the defenders attack is in one action, with or without a parry, initiated before the pass is completed.
• Cross Over – An advance or retreat by crossing one leg over the other; see also Pass Forward (passe' avant) and Pass Backwards (passe arriere).
• Forward Recovery – A recovery from a lunge, performed by pulling the rear leg up into en garde, rather than pulling the front leg and body backwards. Can be used to gain ground on the opponent more secretly than a standard advance, and when used sparingly can surprise the opponent by changing the expected distance between fencers.
• In Quartata – An evasive action that is recognized under category of the defensive actions ( see also "Passata-sotto"), and made with a quarter turn to the inside, concealing the front but exposing the back. This attempts to move some of the target out of harm’s way during an attack or a counter-attack. This evasive action is often executed and used in conjunction with opposition parry.
• Lunge – A forward movement made by advancing the front foot and straightening the back leg. One of the most basic and common attacking movements in modern fencing.
• Passata-sotto – An evasive action which is initiated by dropping a hand to the floor and lowering the body under the opponent's oncoming blade. Often accompanied by a straightening of the sword arm to attempt a hit on the opposing combatant.
• Pass Backwards – also Passe Arriere. A backwards footwork action. The front foot moves behind the rear foot on the body's outside. Landing on the ball of the front foot, the rear foot moves backwards to the ‘en garde’ stance.
• Pass Forward – also Passe Avant. A forwards footwork action. The rear foot moves in front of forward foot on the body's inside. From the crossed position, the front foot moves forward into the ‘en garde’ stance. Note: Passing forward is illegal in sabre.
• Patinando – There are two types of patinandos, speed and tempo. They are advance lunges but with different tempos. The speed patinando is a fast step and a lunge, while the tempo patinando is a slow step (to get a slow response from one's opponent) and a fast lunge.
• Recovery – A return to en garde stance from any other position, generally by pulling backwards into en garde. Recovery from a lunge occurs by reversing the motions in a lunge, and recovering the extended arm last of all. A forward recovery involves moving the rear foot forward to return to en garde. For a center recovery, both feet move towards the center simultaneously.
• Reprise – From a lunge, a swift surprise attack made by performing a short forward recovery and an immediate second lunge. In terms of Right-of-way, a new action that follows an attack that missed or was parried. A redoublement takes place in a fencing tempo subsequent to that of the initial attack or riposte.
• Retreat – The basic backwards movement. Rear foot reaches backwards and is firmly planted, then front leg pushes body weight backwards smoothly into 'en garde' stance.