Counter attacks and stop thrusts.

[ReverseLunge]

I just about never counter attack in foil I was taught not to. The only time I counter is when duck or do an inquartata. Could someone tell me when to counter without getting hit and how to set up a stop thrust?

[Talyn]

Stop hits and stuff are good against people who do premeditated attacks... for example

They beat disengage lunge... no matter what you do

that means that you can simply stick out your arm and supinate it a bit while holding their sword and they'll be locked out while you get a free point...

I think thats what it is anyway.

[Craig]

Originally posted by ReverseLunge
Could someone tell me when to counter without getting hit and how to set up a stop thrust?

A good counterattack will have the fencer committed to attacking you in a certain line or finishing to a certain spot. Your counterattack should both remove your target from that spot while you get a hit on your opponent.

The key is knowing where the attack will finish. It's not as hard as it sounds if you've scouted your opponent and have a good feel for the flow of the bout.

The best counterattacks are those where you cause your opponent to miss when you hit, but in such a way that your opponent thinks "If I just go a little faster, or get my point on, then that's my touch." Once you get them thinking that *they missed* and not that *you caused* the miss, you've turned a one-touch action into three.

Craig

[FoilyGeezer]

Originally posted by ReverseLunge
I just about never counter attack in foil I was taught not to. The only time I counter is when duck or do an inquartata. Could someone tell me when to counter without getting hit and how to set up a stop thrust?

What Craig said. Another good time to Counter is when an opponent takes a long time to develop their attack. You can use a counterattack as a kind of "hit-and-run" tactic by taking your opponent off cadence and hitting pre-emptively.

Recently I was fencing a younger fencer who likes to come at you doing a moulinet until close and then infighting, which he was pretty good at. I detest infighting. So instead of letting him get close to me I just feinted a retreat and then counterattacked right down the middle where his moulinet would be rendered ineffective. It really took the wind out of his sails by the time I score the third touch, and we settled down to do some fencing after that.

I counter attack quite a bit, but the philosophy behind it is different than the "hit without being hit" philosophy. What you're doing it playing more of a percentage game or "I can hit more consistently or faster than my opponent can", so while it's not an ideal tactic for taking someone out 5-0, it will give you a lot of 5-3 and 5-4 victories without burning a lot of calories.