Epee Concepts and Lessons

Paul Sise
August 21, 2007

Beyond the initial learning of the many skills and strokes employed in fencing there is the need to
learn how those actions fit into the context of the bout. What’s more, the fencer needs to become
comfortable with his skills so that he can rely on them under stress. Fencers tend to have
personal favorite strokes and strategies. Some seem to always be attacking while some prefer to
hang back and counter attack. These preferences are rooted in their personality, skills, and
physical ability. That being said, it is important for the fencer to be able to switch seamlessly
between offense, defense, and counter-offense in order to successfully deal with various
opponents. Fencers must also strive to improve the quality of their technique. As such, no matter
the skill level or experience of the fencer, there is great value in practicing drills and taking
individual lessons.

I emphasize the goal of 5 Attempts to score = 5 Touches. I could say 5 Attacks = 5 Touches, but
the reality is that the touches could come from any offensive action, which includes attacks,
continuations and ripostes. Touches can also be made by counter-offensive actions. Granted, the
fencer may not be able to score with each genuine attempt, and that touches may be made rather
unexpectedly, such as through a reflexive response, but the emphasis is on setting up the phrase
to increase the likelihood of scoring during genuine attempts to score. This is a very efficient but
somewhat conservative method of fencing. The fencer does not waste a great deal of energy
franticly and futilely attacking, hoping (rather than expecting) that eventually one of his attacks
will score. Instead, emphasis is placed on careful observation of the opponent, ignoring
extraneous actions, creating and employing a strategy, and patience. False attacks are used but
they are meant to help control the opponent. Phrases that include secondary or backup actions
are also emphasized. These actions are sometimes called “safety” actions, like a safety net that
protects you should you fail your initial action. An example of this would be planning a specific
remise or parry-riposte in case the attack or counter-attack misses.

Care should be taken to emphasize the importance of preparatory actions in all weapons, but I
argue that epee, with its lack of rule enforced right-of-way, requires the most attention to the
preparations in order to safely and successfully deliver single light touches.* The longer the
fencing bout takes, the greater the percentage of time devoted to preparatory actions. Consider
this, in an epee bout that ends by time with a score of 3-2, how much time during that bout was
taken by the 3 scoring actions by the victor? By comparison, how much time was devoted to
learning about the opponent, setting up the distance, attempting to control the opponent, and
setting up the phrase that scored those touches, all the while attempting to prevent the opponent
from successfully scoring? The complexity and length of the bout is dependent in part on the
relative skill and experience of the opponents.

The fencer should have a high degree of accuracy in his point control to make use of
opportunities to score. It is one thing to be beaten by a superior opponent and another thing
entirely to lose because your attacks simply miss the target.
In addition it must be emphasized that one of the keys to successful offense is a strong defense.
An attacker with a weak defense will not only run into trouble if his attack fails, but will in fact
contribute to the failure of his own attack. The attacker with a weak defense may make half-
hearted attacks due to his own anxiety about being hit. The rules of right-of-way in foil and saber
help to reduce this anxiety, but in epee there are no rules to protect you against a sudden
counterattack. By contrast, a fencer with confidence in his own defense will fully commit his
attacks, knowing that if he fails and the opponent becomes threatening that he will be able to
adapt and protect himself.

Concerning speed - Developing speed is usually one of the last parts of learning a technique or
tactic. The student should first learn to do the drill slowly and smoothly. Balance and control
must be maintained. Gradually, as the student becomes comfortable with the drill, speed can be
developed. This builds confidence, which is a required element of speed in planned actions.
Reflexive actions require frequent repetition in bout-like lessons in order to develop.

The efficiency of the action affects the perceived speed. If we remember that Distance = Rate x
Time, we recognize that if we reduce the distance that the blade travels, but maintain the same
velocity, it takes less time to reach the destination or target. A disengage attack, for example,
made inefficiently, using a large wrist or arm movement to change the blade position will seem to
the opponent slow and easy to parry. By contrast, as small and efficient disengage made by the
fingers will seem fast. In both examples the actual velocity may be the same, but the more
efficient action, traveling a lesser distance, seems faster. Times to look for opportunities to
improve efficiency include actions like disengages, circular parries, and choice of target. For
example: If the attack is to the thumb should the continuation be made to the shoulder of the
weapon arm or to the shoulder of the non-weapon arm? The weapon arm shoulder is closer
therefore the tip needs to travel less distance therefore the amount of time it takes to reach is
lower.
Concerning the use of a padded epee coaching sleeve- I have found that there are only two
situations when the coach should wear a padded coaching sleeve. The first is with beginner
fencers. Here, the sleeve makes arm touches a much easier for the student and helps to build his
confidence. It also protects the coach from bruises due to poor technique and improper use of
distance. Once the student becomes proficient with hitting the arm the padded sleeve should be
shed in favor of the sleeve of the jacket. This forces the student to make more accurate touches
upon a target that more closely resembles the target of an opponent. Who while competing would
wear a big pillow on his arm that can be hit from a mile away? No one, obviously, and neither
should the coach. If the sleeve is of soft leather it may hold the point and make it difficult for the
student to make a smooth remise. I also find that the better the fencer, the less painful the touch.
Touches to the upper arm may be painful even with a sleeve, but the coach shouldn’t be hit on the
bicep often. He should instead prevent himself being hit on the bicep by making the realistic
responses to such an attack, such as extending the weapon arm with a counter-attack or by
parry-riposte. Aside from coaching beginners, I find the padded sleeve a must for training the
flick. This is fairly self-explanatory, so suffice it to say, the drawbacks of the sleeve are
outweighed by the bruise prevention it affords. I also advise that coaches wear a padded overshoe
for lessons that include toe touches to prevent bruising.

There are several types of lessons. Some teach new techniques, some teach new tactics, others are
meant for review and correction or fixing (making permanent) a learned action. Some lessons are
meant to warm up the fencer before competition while others are used by the coach to learn what
a new (but experienced) fencer can do. A complete lesson that has the goal of teaching a new
technique or tactic would include a warm up, an introductory phase that develops into the body
of main theme of the lesson, variation on the theme, and a cool down.

An example of a compete lesson with offensive second intention:

START LESSON
1) Salute. Do a quick warm up. This would usually be simple thrusts to the torso, a few lunges, a
few parry-ripostes, and footwork to maintain the distance. The warm up gradually becomes more
intense, allowing the student to feel comfortable with the demands of the lesson. This is done even
if the fencer is already warmed from exercise or fencing before the lesson, though the time spent
in the warm up can be reduced.

2) Work toward the body of the lesson, laying the foundation for footwork and do a phrase that
will require the student to adapt by using the main element of the lesson. (IE, if teaching offensive
2nd intention, start out with student attacking, then coach being hit but then learning to parry
riposte, and suggest "Ok, now you need to learn how to deal with my ripostes...etc")

3) Now that there is a reason to learn it, teach and practice the main theme. (for example, coach
opens top of wrist, student attacks, coach makes 6 riposte, student makes opposition parry 6
riposte to torso and scores)

4) Now make the phrase bout-like, and demand a recognizable tempo change, where the attack is
slow and easy for the coach to parry, but the riposte is faster.

5) Now do it in a couple different lines for variety. Suggest that the student riposte to different
targets like bicep, torso, thigh, toe. Perhaps replace the student's opposition 6 parry with a
yielding 1 parry.

6) Make corrections as needed. Throw in one or two unforeseen/surprise action (like attacking
the student when normally the student is initiating with an attack). Verbally encourage the
student with feeling. "YES!" and "All right, come on COME ON!" as opposed to a bland "Ok
again. Ok again. Ok again."

7) Do a cool-down. An example of a cool down would be keeping distance slowly with slow,
medium length lunges, being sure to exhale during the lunge. If the student intends on continuing
to fence afterwards, the cool-down may be a reduced, but it shouldn’t be eliminated.

8) Salute, shake hands, and briefly discuss the lesson if necessary.

END LESSON

Before getting into the various drills that can be used to build up a complete lesson, I’d like to
present a few fundamental lessons that once mastered will improve the quality and ease of the
other more complicated actions:

1) Determining eye dominance and aiming:

It is helpful for the fencer to know which eye, the left or the right, is his dominant eye in order to
make aiming easier and more effective. The dominant eye is the eye that sees the same
perspective as the person’s binocular vision. One way to determine this is to have the student
extend both arms and make a small viewing hole between his two hands. Have him look at a
distant object through the peephole and alternate between both eyes open, left eye only open, and
right eye only open. The eye that sees the object (the same as with both eyes open) is the
dominant eye. Most people will be right eye dominant. Ideally eye dominance will match
handedness, but this isn’t always the case. Determining eye dominance is especially helpful to
people whose handedness and eye dominance do not match.
I advise that the student to look at the opponent’s weapon shoulder area, which shows the motion
of the arm relative to the torso and also helps the student judge distance from the torso.
Peripheral vision will detect the blade movement and foot movement. Only once the student
commits to the idea of attacking should he drop his eyes to focus on the target such as the wrist.
Sometimes though that isn’t even necessary.
Once the dominant eye has been found, the fencer can improve his ability to aim through
visualization. The fencer comes on guard and looks with both eyes at the target. The target
should be small and specific, ie, a dime sized spot on the forearm rather than the forearm. The
fencer extends the weapon arm and relaxes the shoulder. Now the fencer imagines a line being
drawn from his dominant eye that goes along his weapon arm and extends out of the blade to the
target like a laser beam. Maintaining a relaxed shoulder, the fencer delivers the touch, using only
the fingers to make fine corrections to the aim if necessary. The relaxed shoulder allows the
trajectory of the straightened weapon arm to remain the same as it was while in the guard
position while lunging. To put it another way, the weapon arm does not drop during the lunge.
This is all done very slowly at first, but in time the fencer is able to skip the laser beam
visualization and be able to aim and hit at bout pace. Eventually the sense of aim will become
refined and aiming can be done using peripheral vision.

2) Relaxing the weapon shoulder:

It is important for the weapon arm shoulder to remain relaxed, especially during the lunge. A
tight shoulder will force the weapon arm (and therefore the weapon) to drop during the lunge
which ruins the aim. Have the fencer come on guard and extend the weapon arm. Then make the
shoulder like water, feeling the arm almost disconnect from the torso. Whatever movement the
torso makes the arm should not be affected. With the arm extended and aimed, jump up and
down with the goal of keeping the weapon arm and epee aimed and motionless.

3) Elbow position in guard position and thrust:

With the weapon arm bent while in the guard position it is important that the elbow be pulled in
to line up with the forearm, hand, guard, and point. If the elbow is exposed in the outside line
there are two problems. The first is that it is available as target, which is obvious enough. The
second problem is that when the elbow is to the outside it forces a small rotation in the bones of
the arm when the arm extends and that rotation affects the aim. A poor elbow position will cause
the epee point to drop and pull to the inside during the extension. By placing the elbow in line
with the forearm and guard that rotation is essentially done before the extension is made so it
won’t affect the aim during the extension. While extending it is important to keep the elbow,
forearm, guard, and point all in a line and parallel to the floor. Don’t chop! Retracting the arm
requires the same alignment.

4) Application of power in lunge and recovery:

Most fencers beyond the beginner stage can produce a lunge. I have found that many fencers can
improve upon their lunges by focusing on some subtle but important parts of the technique. The
first is the application of power in the lunge itself. Once the weapon arm has been extended and
the front foot is kicked forward the rear leg is straightened. I ask my students “If I want to lunge
this way, then which direction do I apply the power from my rear leg?” Students tend to suggest
applying the power in the direction opposite that the lunge is directed, i.e., they say to push
backwards. Equal and opposite reaction, right Newton? Well, the thing is that the rear foot is
upon the floor. The floor is not behind the fencer, but rather is underneath. The fencer should
apply the power from the rear leg directly down and into the floor using the whole of the rear
foot. Visualize breaking though the floorboards with the rear foot.
The recovery seems simple enough. Most fencers know to unlock the rear knee and then push off
the front leg and come back to guard position. It seems that few realize that the front leg isn’t
solely responsible for the power required to bring the body back to the guard position. Once the
front foot is off the floor the front leg can no longer apply power to the floor and it no longer has
much to offer towards the goal of recovering backward. The rear foot, however, is still on the
floor. By making use of the traction the rear foot has on the floor, the fencer can adduct the rear
leg while bending the rear knee. This allows the fencer to pull himself back into guard position in
addition to the push received from the front leg.

5) Use of the fingers:

Use the fingers. Use the fingers! Ok, ok, but how? Here’s how. It all starts with the choice of
handle. For those of you using an orthopedic pistol grip you need to make sure that the grip you
select is small enough to fit into the fingers, not fill the palm, and still be comfortable. I for
example wear an extra large glove, but I use a medium visconti pistol grip. This allows me to hold
the handle like a writing utensil as opposed to a baseball bat. Once the proper handle is selected
the fingers can be used effectively. While holding the epee in parry 6 position with the hand
towards supination you can relax the aids (the pinky, ring, and middle fingers). Maintain contact
with the handle as you relax them. You’ll find that the blade drops downward somewhat. Now
squeeze just the pinky finger and use the index finger as the fulcrum. This pulls the blade to the
inside. Finally, squeeze the ring and then the middle fingers. This draws the blade back up to the
original 6 position. By practicing this rhythmically, first relaxing the aids then squeezing them
from pinky, ring, and then middle finger you can develop a nice tight circle six parry. Circle 4 is
somewhat trickier because it requires more influence from the manipulators, which are the
thumb and index finger, but the basic principle is the same. Using the fingers to create circular
and semi-circular actions help the fencer to make efficient circular parries, disengage attacks,
and indirect ripostes. Finger control is also helpful in making strong beats without winding up
first.

The Lessons - What follows are many epee drills and lessons. Having a written menu of lessons
like this can help the coach with his lesson preparation and reduce stress. It also can help prevent
the coach from getting into a rut giving the same 4 or 5 types of lessons where there are in fact
many more to select from. Variety helps both the coach and student from getting bored.
Many of these lessons are appropriate (usually with modification) for foil and saber. Most of
these lessons are not technical lessons that teach specific actions, but rather methods of cueing to
create a variety of tactical situations for the student. This assumes that the student already has
some mastery of footwork as well as the essential components of bladework, ie, the thrust,
disengage attack and indirect ripostes, the parries, attacks on the blade, and various methods of
taking and controlling the opponent’s blade, etc. From these lessons the student is able to practice
phrases of actions that have context and purpose. Some of these drills can be used in combination
by linking them together in a logical manner.
Relatively simplistic lessons can be made more difficult in a variety of ways, such as by playing
with tempo, giving some control of the lesson to the student, or introducing false cues that are
meant to be ignored. Many of these drills can be modified simply by changing the line that they
are written in, changing the actions to second intention, or by changing the footwork. Usually the
manner of making the touch (with or without engagement, with a change of line by making a
bind, by flick, with or without angulation, etc) is not specified and is at the coach’s discretion.
Attacks can be turned to counter-attacks just by changing the direction of the footwork and
having the coach initiate the attack. The timing and footwork relative to the blade cue can also be
changed to change simple attacks into feint attacks. The student can be forced to reprise when
the coach unexpectedly parries or forced to parry or counter-attack if the coach ripostes. Student
can be cued to riposte with a fleche if the coach makes a quick rear recovery from his own lunge.
Note that some of the drills are attributed to Gary Copeland. He taught these drills or concepts to
me in Epee 3 at the USFA Coaches College. This isn’t to say that he invented the concepts in those
lessons, but I figured I’d give credit where credit was due. The rest are lessons I’ve pieced
together over the years from my own experience as well as from the influence of various books,
USFCA seminars, USFA Coaches College, Swordmaster articles, etc.

1) Hand touches:
From immobility, advancing, or retreating, coach presents his hand as target, makes sweeps in 4
and 6, and circular actions, so that the student may make simple direct attacks, disengages, and
feint attacks. Use of a retreat allows for a redouble.

2) Lateral movement on the strip:

Students should be encouraged to use the full potential of their environment. Although
positioning oneself directly in front of the opponent and maintaining the fighting line is generally
wisest, there are times in which lateral locomotion is helpful. This is done in order to acquire a
different angle leading to the target, to aid a parry, to avoid collision, or simply to disturb the
opponent. With a right-handed fencer, steps to the left should be initiated with the front foot.
Steps to the right should be initiated with the rear foot.

3) 4 simple rules (Gary Copeland):

This is a version of Gary’s 1-2 drill and is a very good introduction to epee for fencers who
normally fence foil. There are 4 simple rules. 1) If the arm is open, hit it. 2) If the arm is opening
then hit the arm on the opening line. 3) If the arm is not open you can create an opening with a
beat. 4) If the arm is extended you take the blade and hit body.
This lesson would count as a 4 cue and 4 response lesson. It can serve as the framework lesson for
a variety of techniques and tactics. Be creative!

4) Parry Riposte or Counter-attack against coach’s attack:

Coach makes either straight-arm attacks or bent arm attacks. Student makes parry-riposte
against straight-arm attacks and makes counter attacks to the bent arm attacks. The straight-
arm attacks should generally be to the top of the student’s weapon arm, drawing the student’s
circle 6 parry. If both the student and coach are right handed, the student should when making
parry 4, either make a riposte with bind, or wait till the coach relaxes his weapon arm before
making a direct riposte with opposition.

5) Counter-attack followed by parry-riposte:

This is a handy tactic in epee as well as saber, where counter-attacks can be made to the hand or
forearms, as opposed to foil which would require the fencer to be close enough to hit the torso.
Coach makes bend arm attack to the hip. Student makes counter-attack with retreat. Whether or
not he is successful with the counter-attack he then makes a strong parry 2 and should follow
with riposte to thigh. The coach may vary his bend arm attack by attacking to any line which
forces to the student to find the opening for the stop hit and select an appropriate parry. Riposte
can be direct or with a bind. If coach makes a quick recovery the student can riposte with a
fleche.

6) Parry or counter-attack against coach’s riposte:

Similar to the previous drill, but begins with the student’s attack to forearm which the coach
parries. The student, on his recovery must disengage his point from the coach’s forte and place
his point on the exposed surface of the coach’s weapon arm, thus allowing the coach to impale his
wrist on the student’s point. If the student fails to do so, or if for any reason the student
determines ahead of time that the stop hit is impractical, the student makes a fast recovery and
makes parry riposte. This drill is good for situations where the student is trying to keep his
distance from the opponent, whereas the following drill “Remise and reprise” would force the
student to close the distance to hit deeper target. Considering the similarities though, these two
drills work well together.

7) Remise and reprise:

Student hits hand with thrust and then makes immediate continuation to deeper target such as
shoulder with a lunge. If coach makes parry the student evades and either continues to the same
target or chooses a different target such as hip, thigh, or toe. If the student makes the initial
attack with the intention of proving a parry in order to deceive it, this makes the tactic a feint
attack, though physically it may appear identical to the reprise.

8) Avoid the double touch (countertime):

Here the coach offers the chance for the student to practice countertime. Student attacks and
coach immediately counterattacks. The student may try various ways to hit first with speed and
concealment of intent, or may try second intention countertime.

9) Controlling the opponent’s blade:

This is useful for fencing against taller opponents.
Since the shorter fencer will be attempting to control the taller fencer’s blade we can assume that
the taller fencer will be attempting to prevent his blade from being controlled by
derobement/evasions and will also attempt to disengage once his blade is caught. It therefore is to
the advantage of the shorter fencer to master controlling the opponent’s blade for multiple
tempos. (By contrast, the press and beat made before an attack are far riskier, since the opponent
may simply replace his point.)
Coach extends, attacks, or ripostes in order to present a straightened weapon arm. Student
makes engagement, perhaps as a parry against an attack, then envelopes (circular transport) and
then binds (diagonal transport). The drill is repeated with a variety of blade transports with the
emphasis on the student trying to control the coach’s blade for as many tempos as possible,
particularly as the coach recovers from his lunge and retreats. As the skill and confidence of the
student increases, have the student finish by making touches to the coach’s various targets (chest,
leg, foot, etc).

10) Avoiding blade contact:

Simply reverse roles and do the previous drill “Emphasis on controlling the opponent’s blade.”
Student attempts to prevent his blade from being taken and controlled.

11) Instigating infighting (from Gary Copeland):

Student makes strong press in 4 (or a circular sweep in 6) with a fast advance or lunge to close
the distance and acquire control of the opponent’s blade. Student then immediately maneuvers
his blade and arm to make the touch while his opponent is still surprised at the sudden close of
distance. This all may or may not be preceded by a beat attack to the arm. Whether or not the
student is eventually able to create the infighting situation in bouts, he will become more
comfortable and capable during unexpected infighting.

12) Defensive second intention/invitation with attempt at blade contact (sweep):

Student makes sweep or press in either 4 or 6. Coach attacks with disengage. Student, expecting
this, makes lateral or circular parry and riposte. The riposte may be direct or with a bind. It may
be delivered with thrust, lunge, or fleche.

13) Multiple targets:

This lesson has a variety of difficulties. In the easiest version the coach stands still and opens
various lines and the student makes direct attacks to different target areas, namely thumb,
forearm, shoulder, chest, thigh, toe, and mask. To cue for indirect attacks, the coach sweeps the
blade and student hits while avoiding blade contact. If coach extends the weapon arm, student
can take the blade and hit the various targets with binds. If coach attacks, the ripostes can go to
different targets.

14) Multiple hits and multiple targets:

Similar to the previous drill, but incorporates an initial attack and a remise, redouble, and/or
reprise. An additional hit may be made with a flick to the arm during the student’s recovery.

15) Simple phrase while advancing and then retreating:

For example, if the student makes engagement in 4 and then thrusts in opposition, this phrase is
an opposition thrust while moving forward but is a parry riposte when moving backwards.

16) Stop-hit against riposte followed by parry counter riposte:

Student attacks arm with lunge and is parried. Student changes line by moving his tip around the
guard and leaves his arm extended as he recovers. Coach begins his riposte and is hit on wrist as
student recovers. Student should follow with a safety action of parry and counter riposte.

17) Attack, redouble, reprise:

With student continuously moving forward and coach continuously retreating, student makes
attack to thumb, makes redouble to top of elbow, and finally evades a parry to make a third
touch to shoulder. Once the student is comfortable with the actions, coach will accelerate his
retreating through the phrase, starting with a slow retreat and ending with escape footwork. This
should provoke a fleche for the final touch.

18) Single cue and single response with increasing difficult (Gary Copeland):
This devilish lesson teaches the student when to attack. It starts off very simply and easily. Select
an attack such as the disengage. That attack will be the action for the whole lesson. It starts from
immobility and the coach cues for the attack. The student easily scores. Footwork is added and
the coach stops footwork to give the cue. Eventually the coach gives the cue while still moving but
still during moments that the student should attack, ie, when the student is in balance and at the
right distance, etc. Gradually the lesson gets harder as the coach sometimes gives the cue at
inappropriate times. The student must only attack when the timing and distance are appropriate.
The coach may even hide the good cues within other blade actions, forcing the student to be
patient and to ignore or deal with the extra bladework.

19) Multiple cues and single response:

Fairly self explanatory… the coach makes several different cues which prompt the student to
make the same response. For example – sweep in 4, or 6, or circle 6, or circle 4 all draw a
disengage to the thigh.

20) Multiple cues and multiple responses (one specific response per cue):
Each cue has a specific response. Three or four cues seem to work best here. For example –
Coach makes sweep in 2 = student disengages to hit top of wrist. Coach makes sweep of circle 6 =
disengage to thigh. Coach makes sweep to 4 = toe touch. Coach makes attack = student makes
circle 6 parry and riposte to torso.

21) Single cue and multiple responses:

This is a good lesson to force the student to explore his creative side, or at the very least practice
some variety. One example of the cue would be – Coach extends weapon arm. The student can so
many things against this, including counterattack while the extension occurs, beat the blade in
various ways and hit, use opposition thrust, take the blade with a bind and hit practically
anywhere.

22) Real cues and false cues (Gary Copeland):

A real cue is a cue done at an appropriate time for the action and is designed to allow for the
student to be successful. A false cue usually looks similar to the real cue but is generally done at
the wrong time, tempo, distance, or direction, and is designed to tempt the student into acting
and failing. The student therefore must learn to discern between the real and false cues and to act
upon only the real ones. A simple example of a real cue would be- Coach places blade in parry 2
in order to open his wrist for a simple direct attack. The false cue could be opening the line with a
retreat which would actually call for a feint attack and not a simple direct attack. The student
should therefore ignore the opening during the coach’s retreat.

23) Offensive second intention using attack and counter-riposte:

Perhaps the most common form of second intention, student makes a shallow and somewhat slow
attack and allows himself to be parried. Coach makes riposte. Student parries the riposte and
makes a counter-riposte. There is some variety in how this is done. For example, if the coach
makes 6 riposte with engagement, the student may make either opposition parry 6 or may make a
yielding parry of 1. If the student’s counter-riposte is made with a bind the final target can be
varied.

24) Deliberate attack to bell guard and remise:

A clever trick to use against an opponent who has a solid guard position – Student makes a
medium length lunge and purposely hit a quadrant of the opponent’s bellguard. When hit, the
coach reacts by making small retreat and moving his hand in the direction opposite the quadrant
hit, meaning if the top of the guard is hit the coach lowers his guard. If the bottom is hit, then the
coach raises his guard, etc. The student then makes a remise with a second kick of his front foot
and changes his medium lunge to a long lunge and touches the opening target.

25) Mimicking specific opponents:

There are two opportunities to help your student by mimicking the styles of his opponents. The
first is when the student comes to you and says “ I just competed and lost to this guy who fenced
like this…” As the coach you can mimic the actions or style used by that opponent so your
student would be able to be better prepared for their next match together. The second
opportunity is the preparation for an upcoming competition. Careful analysis and mimicry of
expected opponents can help the student feel more comfortable, and therefore have a greater
chance of success, against those opponents during competition. It is particularly useful for the
coach to become proficient at coaching and fencing with his non-dominant hand in order to
mimic both righty and lefty fencers.

26) The “blind” opponent:

This does not refer to visually impaired fencers, but rather fencers who seem to act with total
disregard for their opponent’s actions. These fencers are difficult to control and predict, which
can make them difficult to fence. The coach can be surprisingly successful by making sweeps,
seemingly random parries, and thrusts, searching for blade contact, and using sentiment du fer to
complete the attacks. The student must adapt and fence with the tactic of patiently exploiting
openings rather than controlling the opponent or creating openings with feints.

27) Sentiment du fer (offensive):

Sentiment du fer means “feeling of the blade.” Sentiment – sentimentality. Fer - ferrous, iron, the
blade. The sense of touch can be just as important as the visual sense in fencing if properly used.
Have the student close his eyes and then engage his blade. Ask the student which line you have
made contact in, or perhaps ask him to respond with a disengage. The student should be able to
tell how you have engaged his blade from his fingers. Sentiment du fer can be used while on the
offense. Student makes attack. Coach makes a parry. The student, relying on his sense of touch,
slips away from the parry and hits with a reprise. A second use of sentiment du fer is with the
press. Student makes a press. Coach either does not respond or returns pressure. Student, relying
on his fingers to sense the difference, either makes a straight thrust or a disengage.

28) Sentiment du fer (defensive):

While on the defense the combination of sentiment du fer and a working knowledge of the parry
systems creates a powerful tool for the fencer. Coach attacks. Student makes parry and expects
the coach to make a reprise. Student has a second parry planned ahead of time for the reprise
and selects this parry based on the first parry. For example, if the attack is to the thumb and
student makes parry 6 then he bets that the coach will disengage by coming below and around
the guard to hit either the thigh or chest. Once the student makes that parry 6 he can plan to
make an intercept parry of 2 or 8. The instant the student feels the coach’s blade leave his own he
knows that the reprise has started. The student then makes his pre-planned intercept parry and
riposte. This gives the illusion of super-human reflexes because the decision making process is
moved from after the reprise starts to before the reprise starts, thereby allowing the student to go
immediately from recognition (that the reprise has started) to the execution of the parry.

29) Choice between low line parries and counterattacks:

This is a little more difficult that simply having the coach make low line attacks and the student
either parrying or counter-attacking. There should be a reason for the student to parry and a
reason for him to select the counter-attack. The student should lead the footwork. To cue the
counter-attack the coach makes a low line attack smoothly and from long distance. To cue for the
parry the coach makes his attack suddenly, quickly, and from slightly closer distance.

30) Method of aiming for toe touches:

It is not necessary to drop the eyes to look directly at the opponent’s foot in order to hit it. The
opponent’s toe is under his knee, which is under his hip, which is under the line connecting the
shoulder to the torso, which is usually under the side of his mask. The student can aim at any
point along that line, begin the attack, and once begun he can drop the point to the foot. Have the
student practice this timing his attack to your advance while you sweep your blade to a parry 4
or 6. It is relatively safe for the fencer to initiate a toe touch (without engagement) when the
opponent’s blade is moving in a direction away from him and the opponent’s weight is being
placed on the front foot.

31) Counter-attack against toe touch:

The student should practice this to develop the sense of timing, aim, and balance required for a
successful counter-attack as well as for a successful recovery should the counter-attack fail.
Coach makes attack to toe. Student withdraws the front foot and counter-attacks to the
wrist/forearm, shoulder, or mask. A tall fencer with long arms may find it safer and more
effective to counter-attack to the mask or shoulder than the wrist. Against a very fast and well
executed attack to the toe, the student may have to pivot at his center of gravity, kick his rear leg
back into the air, and move his front foot under his center of gravity in order to protect the toe
and develop the forward motion of the point to hit. With this action the student should
immediately hop back into the guard position after attempting the counter-attack.

32) Yielding parry of 1 and opposition parry 6:

Both of these options are responses to the opponent’s circle 6 parry and riposte with engagement.
Student attacks. Coach makes parry circle 6 riposte. Student, in time with the riposte, maintains
blade contact and makes parry 6. The counter-riposte can be direct, indirect, or with bind.
Alternately, the student could instead select to make yielding parry of 1 instead of the opposition
parry 6. To do this the student rolls his blade around the other blade during the coach’s riposte
and moves to parry 1 position. The student may need to rotate at the torso and displace
downward. To aid in the counter-riposte the student may need to bend backwards at the waist.
Riposte is generally direct and to the belly or thigh. The choice of yielding parry may be desirable
compared to the opposition 6 parry when fencing against a physically stronger opponent since
the yielding parry uses the opponent’s strength against him. This drill can be done as second
intention or as a response to a surprise parry-riposte by the coach.

33) Yielding parry of 4 and opposition parry 2:

Similar to the preceding drill “Yielding parry of 1 and opposition parry 6” except that this drill
makes use of different parries. Student attacks. Coach makes either parry 2 or makes parry 4
and then binds to 2 and makes riposte. Student rolls his blade over the coach’s blade and
maintains contact the whole time. Student displaces downwards and makes a very low parry 4.
The counter-riposte is generally to the upper torso or side of the mask. Alternately, the student
could chose to make opposition parry of 2 and counter-riposte to thigh.

34) Angulation to circumvent parries:

If the opponent makes a parry but does not immediately bind the blade or envelope it, the fencer
can continue pushing the point forward and angulate to pass around the parry and still strike
target with a remise. This is useful when the attacking fencer has a lot of forward momentum,
such as in a fleche attack. If the defender makes a riposte the attacker’s remise will likely hit and
at worst there should be a double touché. Student attacks. Coach makes parry 4, 6, or 1. Student
moves his hand to the same direction as the opponent’s blade and angulates so the point will hit
while continuing forward with a redouble, fleche, etc. Coach may make riposte to force the
student to make his remise smoothly and quickly.

35) Beat or press attack from advance lunge distance:

Emphasis in this drill is on the timing between the beat (or press) and the footwork. Student
starts at advance lunge distance. Student starts his advance with the front foot. Student strikes
the coach’s blade simultaneously with the landing of his rear foot. Now that the rear foot has
landed the student is capable of making his lunge, which he does.

36) Push-pull:
This is similar to the push-pull done in foil and saber in concept but generally using much less of
the strip because of the threat of a counter-attack. Student threatens coach and advances once or
twice or makes small hops forward. Student makes a change of small hop backward or a retreat
and coach advances. This may be repeated two or three times to set a tempo. Student times his
attack to land during the coach’s advance.

37) Student attacks. Coach has options.

The student should feel comfortable and confident in his attacks. This comes from belief that his
attacks will land, and if they don’t that he’ll be able to deal with whatever happens next. In this
drill the student attacks and the coach responds to the attack in a few expected ways. He can 1)
not react and get hit 2) parry riposte to force the student to reprise or make parry counter-
riposte or 3) counter-attack to force the student to make countertime. At first the lesson is done
slowly to get the student used to the different responses. Ideally the coach reacts appropriately to
the attacks made by the student. If the attack is well timed, done with a straight arm, done at the
right distance, and done without telegraphing then it should score. If the distance or timing is a
little off but otherwise done well, then the coach should parry. If the attack is made with a bent
arm and does not have a feeling of surprise, then the coach should make counter-attack. The
student should be made aware of why the coach reacts the way he does so that in time the student
may be able to vary his attacks in such a way to make distinct 1st intention, feint, and second
intention actions of various sorts including countertime.

38) 1 st intention attack, Feint attack, and 2 nd intention and countertime in serial pattern and
random:
Essentially the goal is to get the student capable of returning to lesson 37 and taking total control
of that lesson including the coach's reactions. The student practices the previous lesson's actions
in a serial pattern. The coach will respond according to the feeling and qualities of the student’s
attack. The student can eventually take control of the order to transition to a random pattern.
The student needs to make the initial attack a little differently for each.
1 st int) Student makes quick attack intending to hit. Emphasis is on being explosive and not
telegraphing. Student times the attack to land during the coach's advance. Student hits before
coach is able to parry.
Feint) Student attacks with advance and 90% extension (too little of an extension will draw a
counter-attack) at moderately fast speed. Student times attack to occur during coach's retreat.
Coach parries. Student avoids parry and accelerates with a second footwork action for the
genuine attack.
2 nd int) Student makes slower attack with straightened arm. The point does not penetrate quite
deep enough to hit target but gets close. Coach makes parry-riposte. Student makes opposition
parry or yielding parry and finishes with a counter-riposte.
Countertime) Student makes a bent-arm attack at moderate speed. Coach makes counter-attack.
Student aborts attack to make a quick parry and riposte of the coach's attack.

39) Misdirection of tempo (Gary Copeland):

For example - Student makes footwork and simple attacks at a particular speed. Coach, acting as
the opponent, becomes comfortable with the temp and learns to parry at that tempo. Student
then attacks much more quickly and hits before the parry can be successful.

40) Misdirection of target (Gary Copeland):

For example – Student makes several false attacks to the high outside line forcing the coach to
become paranoid about being hit on the outside of the hand. Coach’s response of closing the line
of 6 becomes twitchy or reflexive. Student then makes feint to high outside line. Coach makes
parry 6. Student deceives parry and finishes to another line.

41) Recognizing and avoiding the danger zone:

This is useful for fencing against taller opponents.
In the guard position, both fencers extend their weapon arms. The taller fencer places his point
on a chosen, easily hit target, such as the shoulder or part of the torso. The shorter fencer then
sees how far her point can reach, and afterwards, when both fencers have their arms relaxed, she
makes her attacks no deeper than that original spot. Going any closer would allow the taller
fencer to counterattack. While maneuvering on the strip, the shorter fencer makes attacks and
the taller fencer makes attacks or counter attacks when he feels the shorter fencer has gotten too
close.

42) Respecting the danger zone:

Student makes simple attacks and counterattacks without blade contact only to the safe target
areas such as thumb, wrist, and distal forearm. Any offensive or counteroffensive action made to
deeper target must be either compound or when controlling the opponent’s blade (bind etc). The
student should use footwork tempo changes and distance stealing footwork in order to reach
critical striking distance.

* (Here I’m in agreement with the coach and referee Jon Moss in that epee is the only weapon
with real right of way, whereas foil and saber have artificially enforced right of way through
rules. A fast counter-attack against a slow bent arm attack is something to be respected and not
ignored because of a rule! Epee is also the only weapon where the parry actually has to defend
the target from being hit, whereas in foil the click of blade contact is all that is required for the
referee.)

Update – May 2018

I’ve been meaning to update the epee lesson manual for some time now. My lessons have
evolved quite a bit over the years, and without bogging down into too many details, here are a
few thoughts about my current lessons.

1) Even when the fencer is stationary, the legs should be bent and the feet should be continuously
moving. This could be a rhythmic bounce, the occasional half advance or retreat and return of
the foot to original position, or small half-steps in and out with both feet. Ie, from guard position,
half advance, half retreat (simply bringing the fencer to a wider on guard stance) then replacing
the front foot back to original position, then finally the rear foot returns to original position, and
repeat. The half steps are preparations and should be fairly slow and feel purposeful. Eventually
the student develops the ability to be constantly making fine adjustments to the distance, be able
to change direction easily, and be able to make larger changes to distance almost instantly.
2)We seem to have a natural understanding of what surprise means, so teaching people that one
of the main goals of fencing is to catch the opponent by surprise is helpful, especially with
children.

3) My club turns 15 years old this summer. I’ve trained a good number of fencers in all weapons.
My best are epee fencers, but none of the epee fencers at my club have been trained in the same
way. All of their lessons have been personalized to their personalities, physical characteristics,
skills, etc. Individualization is hardly a new idea, but I’d like to say that it has been very
beneficial for my fencers and my club. No two fencers fence alike, so there is variety within the
club, and that makes it more fun to fence each other and harder for us to beaten at competitions.

4) Balancing the need for the student to be able to make lightning fast actions with the often
contradictory need for the student to observe the opponent and make decisions based on the
opponent’s actions is difficult. This usually means slowing the lesson down and increasing the
number of potential responses by the coach and putting the responses into a random pattern as
soon as the student can handle the individual actions. This means, that I’ll very often give a
lesson where the student initiates with a preparation and we will skip the usual serial portion of a
lesson and go right to a slower but randomized portion. For example, the student makes a short
half-advance with a preparation, perhaps a beat in 4 and a threat to the coach’s wrist. The coach
could 0) do nothing and get hit or 1) parry 4, or 2) parry circle 6 or 3) parry one or 4) parry 2 or
5) counterattack or 6) return beat with or without extending afterward or 7) retreat or 8) do
either of 1-6 with a retreat or 8) do either of 1-6 with an advance. 9) The coach could also do 1-6
after having taken a retreat.
That makes for a lot of variety, far more than the usual 3 options done in a lesson, and forces
the student to always take that short moment to observe the reactions and be prepared to move
either forward or backward. This is particularly important. The student must not build so much
forward momentum during the preparation that he cannot then retreat in the next tempo. Once
the observation is made, and the decision on how to respond to the coach is made, the final action
should be made quickly and decisively. The student should be hitting the torso, arm, and leg, and
the attacks may be with or without engagement, depending on the action. This isn’t easy, but it
works. It doesn’t feel like an 18 option lesson though, because to the student, I’m either making a
parry or extending my arm, and I may or may not be moving while I do it. From that
perspective, it doesn’t seem complicated at all. The unforeseen actions all come after the student
launches the final attack.
Basically, the coach responds the way the opponent could, so the student can practice handling
whatever the opponent may do. As the coach, my responses aren't truly random. Each action I
do, I think, tries to build on or relate somehow to the previous two or three. I'll make various
parries standing still, then with a retreat, then the counterattacks standing still, then with a
retreat, then revisit the parries, then do them coming forward, then the counterattacks coming
forward, then mixing them up for a bit, then multiple parries with multiple retreats, then making
counterattacks followed by a parry, then mix it up a bit. Occasionally I don't respond and see if
the student follows through and hits or just freezes. It takes quite a bit of time to go through all
of the combinations of actions. Obviously if a student is having trouble with any particular
phrase we will focus on that for a while till the student either is successful or we've decided it will
be the focus of the next lesson.

5) It can be hard to guess if the opponent will parry or counterattack against your initial attack
or feint. But since it is really difficult to make a counterattack immediately after making a parry,
especially from the low line parry positions, your opponent will probably make a second parry
after his first parry is deceived by your feint and that second parry may be wider and more
desperate. (The risk is having the opponent automatically riposte whether his first parry is
successful or not.) Try this: Have the student feint to the bottom of the coach's hand and have
him (the student) keep his eyes open. He should try to make sure he doesn't expose too much of
his arm. If he does, you (the coach) should counterattack. If you parry, he should deceive it and
threaten your thumb with a new feint. You make another parry, thus making yourself
vulnerable to a touch to the thigh or toe. Similarly, try having him: Feint 4, feint 6, hit toe.