Blade Oppsition

[ScorpionDevil]

I find myself very bad at blade oppsition. Whenever I tried to do them, my oppnent would just keep advancing until he/she push me off the strip. When I fence, I usually just move my oppnent's blade around or just hit it a few times rather than doing blade oppsition. But my coach said, "You have to use blade oppsition!"
So, someone, please, help. <img src="graemlins/evild.gif" border="0" alt="[Evil]" />

[MikeHarm]

If you want to buy some great instructional videotapes on that sort of thing, theres some really great stuff Salsberg does in his tapes American Fencing Supply sells showing time thrusts, ripostes with opposition and angulated attacks with opposition.

[veeco]

You have to see an opposition as a boxing punch:

Don't worry about the position of the other guy's blade. Just go straight in there. For
Four you will push a little to the left during your punch, and for six you will push to the right.

Hope this helps.

[neevel]

Are you making sure that you establish a good forte-to-foible contact before you start your opposition? Otherwise you won't have adequate leverage on your opponents blade. It's frequently necessary to give a little ground (i.e, widen the distance) beforehand to ensure you get a favorable contact point, especially when your opponent is coming forward.

-Dave