Turning Shoulders

[TexasLady]

OK- I apologize if this has been discussed, but I can't find it in the old posts.

Sometimes, when my opponent lunges at me, I twist my torso to avoid the touch. Refs out there, is this equivalent to turning my back? I face my opponent the entire time and to my best knowledge, my back is never exposed. One person I fence does get his foil around behind me, though, which is why I am confused. I can't figure out how he does that!

I have not started competitions yet and if this is a bad habit I want to break it before I start. My coach has never said anything, but I don't know if he has seen it exactly.

Thanks for the input!

[eac]

There used to be a rule against bringing the back shoulder in front of the front shoulder. There isn't anymore. Now, the only related rules are a) that you can't turn your back so that your back is really showing toward the opponent (Bill Oliver's criterion was whether your opponent could read the name on your back, assuming you had one) and b) that you can't cover target, which you might do accidentally with the rear arm while bringing it forward.

[KD5MDK]

Who is your coach? In general, I would say no, given the caveats eac has described.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

yes, but depending how she's doing it, it might be a totally valid displacement tactic.

Is this one person you fence a clubmate, or has a clubmate ever watched you fence this person? Ask them how the person does it. It might be as simple as knowing you're going to do it, and putting his/her blade where they know you're about to put your target area.


In general, if you don't know if something that is very movement oriented is legal, and you have a coach, ask him/her. We can give pretty detailed answers on "is a martingale legal" and "what's the difference between a legal grip and epee and an illegal one" and "where and how big does your name need to be written"............

But your coach (assuming they have a vague idea of what they're doing) is your best resource on this kind of thing, since we don't know exactly how you're twisting your torso. It might be legal. It might be very illegal. And if it is illegal, your coach might be able to show you other ways to accomplish the same thing in legal ways.

[BrianH]

Originally Posted by MyrddinsPrecint

It might be as simple as knowing you're going to do it, and putting his/her blade where they know you're about to put your target area.

That's coincidentally been my main strategy for the past 28 years. I wish you hadn't told everyone.

Brian