Footwork , how many steps are best?

[big daddy]

I read in a a book and on a fencing fourm that footwork sequences of more than three steps are useless since a fencer is unlikely to more than that in a real bout. The authors felt three steps with a rapid change of direction is a beter way to train. Yet other have said the "strips" of footwork build strengh and stamina. What do you think?

[noodle]

i think that both are good and you'll need both. its not true that 3 steps is all that you'll need. odds are you were reading evangelista or some other classical text. if you take a look at the high level foil or sabre, at least, you'll often see long actions. people book it when they don't want to get hit, so you need to be able to catch up. marches are commonly 3 or more steps.

[dunastor]

Enough to get in striking distance. That can be any amount of steps.

When practising, you can learn a lot of different aspects of footwork.
You can practice moving forward or backward by advancing/retreating around the gym, trying to make it a fluid movement.

When practising lunging power, you don't first need to move from one side of the gym to the other, but you can just stick with a few steps before the lunge.

When practising distance drills, just have a partner hold the same distance, and move about as you see fit, frequently changing directions and/or speed, no limits on number of steps.

btw number of steps is far less important than the size of the step. Keep them very very small (at least in sabre practice). If you try to make as few steps as possible, you're bound to make your steps too big, which is more unstable.

[Craig]

Look at some high level bouts - there are actions where the fencers chase each other down to the end of the strip and back, changing directions whenever possible to take advantage of distance and timing.

Strips of footwork are effective - more effective for training are 30 second sets of "follow the leader". In this, the leader is on one side and performs actions, the followers (1 or many) have to keep distance for the allotted time. It's up to the leader to keep the speed high and change directions, etc. to keep the followers moving.

Craig

[fencerontheline]

Also- it's good to practice footwork where you vary the size and speed of the step. This will give you tons and tons of control over your footwork(if it's done right), and allow you to set touches up and really control the footowrk of the bout(while fencing).