Changing your En Guard Position

[Grasshopper]

(Might be foil specific...) If you find yourself getting hit over and over again by the same compound attack by the same opponent, try changing the position of your en guard. For example, if you are en guard in sixte (as most of us are), your opponent is making his compound attack under the assumption that your blade will start in sixte. Regardless of what parry(ies) you choose to do, the fact that your blade starts in sixte is a big clue to your opponent as to how your hand will move during his attack. On the other hand, if you start an action with your blade in another position (like quarte or septime or octave) and make your parries from this new starting place, this is often all it takes to shut down your opponents staple attack.

If you have ever seen a right handed fencer cream all the other righties and then lose to an average lefty, then you know what I am talking about. The lefty is no better than the righty as a fencer, but due to his handedness, the righty finds it difficult to use his "staple" attacks that always work on other righties because the blade movements don't "match up" as they usually do.

Of course, like anything, your opponent can catch on and adjust to your new hand position, but by throwing a monkey wrench into his favorite attack, you can gain significant advantage for a time.

Any thoughts?

[FoilyGeezer]

Yes,

In addition, you may find that coming en garde differently opens lines of attack that normally are closed depending on how your opponent reacts to the different look. I'm RH and one of my best tactics against LH fencers is to come en garde in 4 or 7 closing the line to the flank and forcing them to attack in 6. Generates a lot of good opportunities for parry ripostes, and will sometimes draw them out opening up a nice direct flank shot.

Another look that I haven't quite figured out why it works but it does, is to come en garde in 3. For some reason most foilists (except for those who also fence saber) tend to look at this as a prepatory position and look for a shift to 4 or 6 before lauching attacks. You can beat quite strongly from two and it also gives you a good setup for a quick coupe.

[Tomax]

Only once in my life have I ever changed my enguarde in this way. I completely forgot about it. Great advice, I feel like I just learned how to read for the first time.

[edew]

I regularly change on guard positions specifically to deal with fencers who exploit my weaknesses, exactly as Grasshoppa mentions it.

[veeco]

Not only can you change the line you're starting in, you can also change the way you distribute your weight on your legs: being more on the front leg means it's harder to hit deeper targets, while being more on your back leg means it's easier to. On the contrary, it will make it easier to hit your shallow targets if you are more on the front leg. It will also affect how fast you attack and retreat, and might affect your point control. Everything starts from the feet up.

Also, the way your torso is affects how you attack. I found that when I fence with my body in a more classical position (i.e. with my front shoulder pointing straight down the strip) it's easier to do advance lunge attacks than fleching attacks. On the other hand, when I am more in a "boxing stance" it is easier to fleche and harder to do advance lunge.

Also, if you feel your attacks have lost some punch or some power, it can be because your feet are too spread appart.

Being aware of how your en guarde is and how you can change it to react to the situation is something that can make a huge difference in how well you fence.