Fencing and height?

[CountAntonio]

I was just reading the fencing faq and they described how tall people as begginers of course, have advantages. I'm new to the sport and was wondering if in high level competition fencers tend to be taller than average like in many sports. I came from basketball which I played most of my life i'm 6'3 and in high level basketball i'd be one of the shortest guys on the team lol.. Kinda pointless but just out of curiosity.

[JasminaJ]

Welcome Count Antonio!
I'm a short, old woman fencer.
Tall people have good reach, and can close distance easily.
I can get in their space, with my stubby limbs and mess with them.
Lots of fun!
You do have an advantage, use it well, and have tons of fun!

[dramamine]

I think epeeists generally are the tallest of the bunch, but the best fencers in all three weapons have a huge range of height. For instance you have foilists like Lepechoux who are not even 5'8, and then Cassara who is around 6'4. Height will help you the most in the beginning when nobody is very fast or smart but as you get more experienced it won't matter as much.

[prototoast]

Being taller is most definitely an advantage at all levels of fencing.

[knave]

Being taller is most definitely an advantage at all levels of fencing.

..if you fence intelligently. If you are sloppy with your distance, wide with your blade, or stupid with your tactics a short person like me can make you look like a fool.

The best thing a tall person can do is control the distance and only pick good opportunities to get into range where they can be hit. Then the shorter fencers has to work a lot harder, or just gets desperate. Desperate fencers make mistakes.

If you want to exploit your potential advantage, work on your footwork religiously and pay attention to the range you need to hit versus what is needed to hit you.

[fencingfrog]

welcome to fencing CountAntonio, and have pity on the short people. just kidding, being short is cool too.
you have an advantage by having a long reach to go with your hight, and use it well! if you don't, you'll be mutilated. it will give you a nice jump start against other fencers, but make sure you don't let your point fly right over their shoulders and miss
have fun stabbing people!

[CountAntonio]

Thanks for the advice guys I will most definetly not underestimate any fencers lol. I got lots of work to do...

[thud]

As a relatively new and short (5'4") epeeist, I've been told that I have the advantage of being able to remise faster than my taller opponents, provided that I have closed the distance on them. True?

[bjacobs]

That's true. But height is still an advantage.

[Epee Scherma]

As a relatively new and short (5'4") epeeist, I've been told that I have the advantage of being able to remise faster than my taller opponents, provided that I have closed the distance on them. True?

The ability to remise faster dependant on height? No that isn't true. Height has no influence on this action. The ability to remise faster is entirely dependant on the individual and the power in their arm.

[dramamine]

The ability to remise faster dependant on height? No that isn't true. Height has no influence on this action. The ability to remise faster is entirely dependant on the individual and the power in their arm.

Of course from a physiological standpoint this is true. However, a shorter fencer typically has less distance to travel to get their tip on the target in close. Also, the relative height of where the fencers hold their blades means that it is pretty easy for a short person to remise to a low target where a tall fencer will probably more likely come around the back of their head because they have a greater distance to travel (assuming they have longer limbs they need to pull their arm back further). So in summary I think short people have an easier time infighting than tall people at first (later I think most genetic advantages are nullified by skill)

I am a pretty short guy (5'9) and I have a lot of success infighting with taller fencers around my skill level. Maybe it is coincidental but I dunno.

[ebonylevin]

You make your fencing what you want it to be. If you are tall you do have an advantage but you cant let it get to your head because you can win just by sticking you arm out. While you are doing that the other shorter people will be trying different ways that they can hit you. Thats not meant to be taken the wrong way.
Just use your advantage and keep working. Good luck!

[Durando]

You make your fencing what you want it to be.

Good observation. Sounds too simple, but it surprises me how many intermediate level fencers really have no idea of what they want their fencing to be. I'd say to shorter fencers that they should learn tactics and have some faith in the answer that may be found therein. Oh, and then actually spend some time learning the actions that you think are worthwhile. (After you think you have an answer, run it by someone with more experience. Use your maître d'armes as something other than a source of lessons.)

Because, oh boy, does tall count in épée. There's this tiny guy in our region. He has unwisely decided "I want my fencing to be built on aggressive attacks." Easiest thing in the world to wait for his extension and feed him his blade. Problem is, while I can throw "tall" onto the celestial poker table of my advantages, my adversary forgot that "brains" trumps "tall" and has stupidly squandered his training time on actions that simply will not work against most of the field.

He could take a page out of the book of one of the junior girls in our region, a tiny thing you can barely see in your field of vision. She's brilliant at stealing distance. I'm sure she works hard on giving misinformation and basic footwork. Here's Durando's brain while fencing "Le Moucheron": Christ she's small... Just put out the stop... Is it time to go yet? Oh yeah. Toesomethingtouches. I'm kinda thirsty. She's gonna.... CRAP."

[WonderWoman]

It takes some pretty creative ways to get in close enough while being short. I'm 5 foot nothing and is a definate disadvantage to me, but I guess it can make me more resourceful.

[Slim]

It takes some pretty creative ways to get in close enough while being short. I'm 5 foot nothing and is a definate disadvantage to me, but I guess it can make me more resourceful.

I agree. The smaller folks definitely need to be thinking more. I also ROW helps equalize things a bit. Foil seems to be the best for the vertically challenged, IMO.

[mrbiggs]

As a relatively new and short (5'4") epeeist, I've been told that I have the advantage of being able to remise faster than my taller opponents, provided that I have closed the distance on them. True?

Such an advantage is pretty minimal compared to the height advantage. Most of the people you fence will be able to do a simple counterattack and get one light, or maybe a double touch if you're fast. Just because you're short, it's your responsibility to take control of their blade or the distance in such a way so that only you hit.

Of course, there's nothing more fun than watching a talented, short epeeist take down a tall one.

[tallntender]

Of course, there's nothing more fun than watching a talented, short epeeist take down a tall one.

Actually, it's much more fun to be a tall and clumsy epeeist who routinely takes down short, talented fencers.

[RITFencing]

Height is generally advantageous.

However, no matter what your body is built like, there are things you can take advantage of. Short people have less target and have a bit of an easier time infighting, tall people have reach, bulky people have strength, slim people have mobility. Of course, a large, bulky fencer may do just fine at infighting and can be very quick (Seth Kelsey anyone?) but these are just general predelictions.

As far as your height, there's not too much you can do to change it, so you should learn to use it to your advantage. At 6'3 you're going to be at least as tall as most epeeists (at 6'4 I tend to be one of the tallest in the tournaments I attend, but not by a huge margin) so learn to get your freakishly long arms out there, keeping those short people at bay, and learn to use your footwork to set up your distance properly (ie such that you can hit them but they can't hit you.)

Happy fencing.

[Valerio Versace]

You make your fencing what you want it to be. If you are tall you do have an advantage but you cant let it get to your head because you can win just by sticking you arm out.

Yea, and then the random decent pistol grip fencer will turn your blade into a tie.

[seak]

I agree. The smaller folks definitely need to be thinking more. I also ROW helps equalize things a bit. Foil seems to be the best for the vertically challenged, IMO.

Not so much with the new timings in foil . In epee and sabre short fencers can negate some of the distance advantage by making wrist/arm attacks (it being the same distance wrist to wrist no matter the fencers relative heights), in foil you have to reach the body. This means there will always be a period of time when a taller fencer can hit a shorter fencer before the shorter fencer can hit them. With the new faster lockout times it's a lot easier to time out a short fencer making a long attack.