Bayonet Nxso

As an experiment, take your favorite weapon, sit on guard at lunge distance, and attack a cooperative fellow fencer. Attack each of the possible targets for your weapon. Did they all require exactly the same length lunge? Were some parts of the target further away, requiring a deeper attack, and some closer, easily reached with a short lunge?

The answer, of course, is no, they required different depths of attack, and yes, the targets varied in distance. Over the years, fencing manual after fencing manual and generations of fencing teachers have taught the target for each of the weapons as though that target was an equidistant monolith. And yet it is obvious that the target is at many distances, with a real impact on your choice of tactics.

Let's divide the possible target into segments - not all weapons will use all segments, but defining the segments will help us think about the variety of hitting surfaces. Bac Tau talks about three segments of target area, and Lukovich redefines the foil target based on modern practice. However, I believe a more clearly segmented understanding based on 6 zones is tactically useful:

Zone 1: the advanced arm target. In epee and sabre this target has the advantage of relative equality regardless of arm length. Hits here arrive early in the action and expose the fencer to less risk.

Zone 2: the forward torso and upper leg. The surface most likely to result in a solid hit on the torso is a narrow area of flat chest from the center line to the weapon arm, down to the waist and around under the arm on the flank. Depending on how deep an on guard the opponent adopts, the forward thigh is also reachable as a target in this zone for epee fencers.

Zone 3: the lower leg. In epee the lower leg is a traditional target, but the attack must actually be deeper than an attack to the forward torso. Attacks here have the advantage of forcing an opponent to protect the entire body. However, they are also vulnerable to counterattack.

Zone 4: the rear torso and rear arm. The far side of the torso requires that the attack be delivered deeply and exposes the fencer to counterattack. Therefore, it requires careful selection of both distance and opportunity. The rear arm in most fencers is now held close to the torso, making it effectively an extension and enlargement of the target in this zone for epee and sabre.

Zone 5: the back. The back is a difficult target in an opponent who adopts a 45 degree stance for the torso across the legs. However, if the opponent adopts a position with the torso turned parallel to the fencing line (the guard position favored in the early 1900s as it exposed little chest), the back may be exposed. It is also exposed in infighting, requiring very close distance, or to deep flick attacks.

Zone 6: the rear leg. Yes, I was flabbergasted to see a tape of an international tournament in the early 2000s with an epee fencer scoring what appeared to be a hit on the rear foot of his opponent. This is clearly not a common target, but if it gets in the way of your point, a touch is a touch.

Foil fencers can score in zones 2, 4, and 5, Sabre fencers in zones 1, 2, 4, and 5; and epee fencers in all zones. As you select tactics, consider where you have the best choice of scoring in each weapon. Thinking about the target zones helps make those choices.

Walter Green is a Maitre d'Armes (Fencing Master) certified by the Academie d'Armes Internationale. He teaches modern competitive and classical fencing, historical swordplay, bayonet fencing, and Asian martial arts swords at Salle Green ( http://www.sallegreen.com ), the fencing school he operates in Glen Allen, Virginia.

Copyright 2010 by Walter G. Green III. All rights reserved.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Indian Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Polish Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions UK Auctions

Best Match Time: ending soonest Time: newly listed Price: lowest first Price: highest first Price + Shipping: lowest first Price + Shipping: highest first

No items matching your keywords were found.