Compilation Video!! This is a re-upload as the original had audio issues. Due to the recent World Championships in Kazan I decided to do another one of these!
Having fenced when I was younger, I can tell you that it is an incredibly physically and mentally demanding sport. Most people don't see this, as it happens so incredibly fast, that they really can't see what's actually going on. It would be great to show both full speed and slow motion to really get a feel of what is going on and how unbelievebly fast it occurs, Fencers plan a series of moves almost like chess, trying to force their opponent into position that they can not defend, and then execute at lightning speeds, while reacting to their opponents defense. The first time you face a skilled fencer is a very humbling experience. And yes, it's not sword fighting, it's fencing, totally different things, that just kinda look the same.
I'm a foil fencer myself, I've been a fencer for 8 years now and the first 3 are just brutal on your body and mind espacialy if you like fast pace games like me even after 8 years I'm stil out of breath after a match 😅
@@ansel8 I have a similar perspective as you, and yes fencing is almost all reactions and “in the moment”, but when coming off the line you always have to have a general plan of action at first
MrBroken030 Absolutely Greatest thing ever no kidding.. I love It the mantal and physical coordinate in harmony . To the point of human possible greatest achievement . Thrillingly amazing.😎😎😎😁
The clips shown are of international competitions and of the best fencers in the world. They move with insane levels of speed that the blade looks really "floppy" especially in slow-mo but in fact the blades are not that flexible if you just wave them about in your hand. You can definitely bend them a lot using your hand but with the air its much, much, MUCH harder to make it flop around like that.
Yeah. Except for that no way in hell would it count. I’ve never even seen someone attempt doing a move like that. That might just be the foil and epee talking in me, though.
@@beardguy6320 It acutally happens a lot in foil. It is a prefectly correct touch as long as you don’t turn your back against the opponent or make contact with the body. In epée, however, it is quite rare as the blade is longer and harder to turn behind the back like that
@@beardguy6320 it’s not something they teach you in your first 5 years, in fact many of these kinds of moves are sort of self taught. Pretty much the same in epée, at least my coach hates all kinds of show off moves as they make the fencer focus on the wrong things during bouts. Epée is the real deal btw ;) Foil is for beginners, you joined the right side
sam chen I have only watched 3 international level epee bouts in my life and i can't use use anything i havent seen. I'm sure there are some awesome bouts out there which i could use though.
It happens, but nothing like how it used to be. It does take time, they changed the timing in '04 actually (god I'm old). It was changed from 1-5 milliseconds of depression to 15 milliseconds. Explicitly this is was reduce flicking as a viable tactic and it has been indisputably successful at that.
Юки Ота и Баландини очень впечетлающие рапиристы,по крайней мере других не знаю.. т.к мало смотрю,времени мало для этого.. но уверен много талантливых фехтовальщиков) Из шпажистов очень нравиться стиль Макса Хайезера..тоже очень талантлив)
Gerald Bauer This is because they are not swords.... and don't serve the same function as swords. Also, they are actually more stiff than they look from this footage; the athletes are pretty strong and the slow motion only serves to highlight their 'noodliness'
Pretty much only iin a straight line. You can move to the left or right a little to get a better angle on your opponent if you want but moving side to side doesn't get you out the way of your opponents foil.
Yes, despite the narrow piste, there is angled footwork in fencing, particularly in Epee. It only takes a very slight movement to put an epee point offline and stop it scoring. It's subtle but it is there.
Moving to the side can be great against opponents that like to Fleche (Running attack) on a certain side, or against left handers if you are fencing with your right and vice versa if you fence with your left. I imagine it is also good against someone that is at the far end of the piste, limiting any escape route that they may try to conjure.
Oberyn Tyrell You have definitely have the possibility to go on sides, not usual, but can be part of a strategy. And definitely when people are ending up in very close action it can be very good to find the path! It might be important to choose to go more right and left depending on whether you are right/left ended and the styke of the oponent. You can kind of cover yourself by standing at the edge on one side or the other. My opinion, I was a fencer till 2000, things do change.
+IanMaCee They look bendy because the fencers are very very strong, and most of these glorified actions are flicks (intentionally bending the blade to whip it). They primarily bend so they don't kill people. Most touches aren't flicks
+IanMaCee You'd be very surprised if you get to hold and play with one. Your blade won't be bending like this until you actually hit something. And if you break off a third of blade at the tip end (which is designed to bent on contact to be safe), the rest of the blade will be so stiff you could kill someone with it. And these are foils. Epees are actually more stiff and less bendable.
Dylan Simmons Depends on the style. In the video, you will notice that the athletes are wearing gold colored vests. Anywhere in the gold area is a point scoring touch. Anywhere else does not count. That's for foil fencing, at least. In epee fencing, the entire body from the tip of the toes to the top of the head is a target, excluding the back of the head (due to it being exposed). In saber fencing, anywhere above the waist is open for scoring.
Foil: The body up to the shoulders, and some parts of the neck. (no legs) Epee: The whole body, even with the shoes and whatnot. Sabre: the body up to the hands, and the whole mask. (no legs)
Dylan Simmons the above comments are correct how ever it is only in epee that the first to hit gets the point. I foil and sabre there is a rule called the Right of Way in which if both hit each other it is not determined by who hit first but who had right of way, this is determined by many factors such as who initiated their attack first and wether they were parried or beaten (blocked or hit away) at all. This makes the rules quite confusing and hard to follow matches so epee is more viewer friendly without right of way
It's rather complicated to explain, but here's the general idea: In electric foil fencing(what is hown) people an electric vest(the grey part of everyone's gear), which, when hit, registers as a hit. To get a point, you need to hit without the opponent hitting you, or there is something called"priority," or "initiative." The way this works is that whoever starts their attack first, OR parries and makes a riposte(attack after a parry) without a delay after the parry. You also do something called a "preparation." You can engage your opponent's blade and gain the initiative. I hoped I helped.
The only thing I dislike about this sport is the flexible blade, i know why it's so flexible, so no injuries can occur, however it makes it sloppy for that reason, if you try to block it might pass through just because it's so flexible, so there's not much of blocking going on
Those blades were probably chosen for flexibility. Most of the swords are stiffer, but some people choose really flexible blades like that. I agree it IS stupid.
Many of the blades used in these tournaments are often not as flexible as you think. There is a certain range of flexibility where the blade must stay within. There are many cases where the blades would fail the weapon check because it is too stiff. Also, the flexibility of the blade might be beneficial for attacks but it also isn't the greatest for parrying ("blocking") the attack or initiating an attack since your blade would bounce right off and would have poor point control/accuracy. The flexibility of the blade you see in slow motion is often due to the strength of the fencer's arm/wrist. In addition, unlike most swords, fencing blades are slender (long and small cross section). Unless you make them out of a high strength metal, bigger cross section or shorter blade then it will most likely bend.
***** Kinda bummed they didn't show sabre....since those blades mode a HELL of a lot, but they have the least allowable deflection when testing on a gabarit...1/2 cm LESS than epee at minimum, in fact.
Steel is never rigid unless it is in I bar section and even that flexes.Rapiers of the 18th and 19th century were more flexible than you realise. They only look rigid in films because the flexing is so fast, and theylook extra flexible in slowmo for the same reason. The points of those weapons move at a speed second only to a bullet. And it is parrying not blocking! I cannot think of another sport that moves so fast or requires such rapid decision making.
Hunter Maclennan I think they start using the StM system in the DE round at World Cups...they're on traditional floor reels for pools. The StM system is notoriously finicky and expensive....I doubt we'll ever see it at a US event, not even Summer Nationals.
I honestly thought there was more tact and parrying involved in fencing, but it seems like most of it only consists of two clumsy opponents gracelessly lunging at each other. If you have to throw yourself onto your opponent's blade just to get a hit than what's the point?
This is such a high level, anything up to regional parries are more important, but this is foil and all about right of way, if you want tact and parrying watch epee fencing
Ronald Poniatowski Yes, but he was running with his arm tucked in rather than extended. Does it even count for right of way in foil if the arm is like that? I did epee
I believe this fencer using "a bent arm running attack" is a very clever idea as I believe this fencer knows that Baldini [the opposite fencer] will not counter attack as he as done his research. so he knows if he is running with his hand bent this will make Baldini Panic trying to find his blade so all this fencer needs than is to firstly get in distance and then find the timing to extend his arm easy point. without the running this attack can be known as an unbroken attack. This works as this is not the rhythm or pattern your opponent is expecting so you can easily disingage is blade and then hit this can also be done with footwork as this can make you unpredictable. I hope this has helped you
Not sure. All I can think about right now is that if someone runs at me like that I just get the timing right and surprise fleche the shift out of him right into the center of body hoping that even if he is quick enough to use his weapon for defense it won't be strong enough to completely bend my weapon out of harms way in time. In epee it'd be more dangerous because then the other guy can hit my hand from below before I reach his body or at least score a double point. But, anyway, these guys are too good. I'm obviously missing something.
I have been doing this sport for 9 years since i was four so I know allot about it. in australia queensland I have won u13 u15 and u17 and on a national level I have won an u13 epee came 3rd in the u13 foil and won the epee teams. i am also going to the u15 and u17 competitions in about two days.
+Arieabdul ghany +MonkeyKong The sword doesn't matter. It's chess playing that leads up to each touch. The creator chose extremely flicky actions, which in reality comprises a small number of touches. It bends marginally to protect the target. These fencer are very very strong, making the blades look like noodles.
Sabres are used in fencing, and they are equally if not bendier. Foil fencing(what is shown here) is the most precise and technical of all the swords. Try doing some research before jumping to conclusions. Ignorance and arrogance are most people's (including your) greatest weakness.
@@bananapeel8178 they are, i'm 90 kilos guy who can lift 100 kilos as a work weight. I'm doing foil&epee for few years and i can bend the blade, but only if i try hard sating still, and i cannot use it to my advantage, as they do. It is really hard to even hit straight a moving opponent, find a distance, angle, tempo, avoid parry.. and with a flick - only world class level fencers do that.
i'm just joking with that,my weaponmaster is a wold foil champion of weaponmaster (Laurent Vicenty1998). I don't like foil,but not for the blades,only for the soft side of this weapon,compare sabre and foil,or épée and foil,foil is the most "soft" combat. I'll make some Sabre next sport season,my second master is a 3 time olympique medal winner and 2 wold champion :) (Alain Coicaud).
Fencing is a sport of coordination, tactical sense, reflex, discipline, and curiosity. There is no other sport in the world like it. It is swordsmanship, and nothing else.
Fencing is not a bad sport ,its train your mind and body reflect to the next level ,but....fencing is only a sport ,it is very different with real historical swordfight ,speacially because of its unrealistic rule ,yes....ignoring afterblow ,in real death or life scenario even if you poke your oppenent hands a bit with the tip of your sword doesnt mean that he will die and stop stabing you right on your chest.....in fact you will die while he just got his hand full of blood,yes it is cool to see them running towards each other perform cut and thrust with fancy techniques in a blink of eye,but come on....they dont care if they get stabed as long as they stab first .bendy sword is another reason why its unrealistic ,sometime their sword just whiping around touch the enemy a bit and they score a point which is wont happend with real sword ,you wont be able perform a proper cut with that sword ,atleast you can thrust with it . HEMA is a btter choice if you want a sport that historicly accurate ,it doesnt mean olympic fencers is less skilled then Hema guy ,it depends on the person.....anyway olympic fencing is unrealistic But its quite fun to watch....
Fencing is a sport of coordination, tactical sense, reflex, discipline, and curiosity. There is no other sport in the world like it. It is swordsmanship, and nothing else.
I'm guessing you know nothing about the history of fencing, the rules, the reasons for the rules, or even the different weapons of fencing. Edit: you clearly don't even know the rules, never mind the reasons behind them.
this is a very bastardized version of sword fighting. grant it there is some very skills movements involved, it just looks like a bunch of off balance lunging. I couldn't help but think of kids playing in the yard arguing over who's stick touch who first.
Unfortunately you know nothing about fencing. If you had tried it yourself, you wouldn't be saying this. If you think that this sport or the way it has evolved wouldn't make the winner survive to his opponent, you are wrong. Think about this : today's olympic fencers would be dangerous with a rapier in their hands, believe me.
yup and if they lunged like that all off balance and without purpose they would be dead in a heart beat. they don't have a way to recover, so if they got parried with a normal rapier they would not survive it.
It's a very specific form of sword fighting, like Karate or Judo in martial arts, or bring wrestling in. It is what it is. But it's daft to say 'oh this wouldn't work in this other form'. It's not supposed to. Can say the same of hockey played on astro turf vs grass; very different sports but the core skills transfer.
Despin Power I agree with you Despin...just give those fencers a rapier and wish their opponent the best of luck.....bc they will be able to be alive just a couple of seconds until the rapier touches them.
Fencing is a sport of coordination, tactical sense, reflex, discipline, and curiosity. There is no other sport in the world like it. It is swordsmanship, and nothing else.
