In épée more than any other weapon, the bout is won and lost with the legs. The blade does the scoring but the feet decide whether the blade ever gets there. Every elite fencer can hit; the difference is who controls distance.
Advance (Marche)
Front foot moves first, lifting just off the floor and stepping forward about one foot length. The back foot follows the same distance to restore the en garde. Heel of the front foot lands first, toes of the back foot drag last. The torso stays level. If your head bobs up and down, you are giving away the timing of every advance.
Used to close the gap and to apply tempo pressure. A continuous, controlled advance forces the opponent to commit to either an action or a retreat.
Retreat (Romprez)
The reverse. Back foot moves first, front foot follows. Same shape, opposite direction. The danger is collapsing the stance, leaning back, or losing the bend in the knees. A retreat that wrecks your posture is worse than a touch taken on the way in.
Used to break distance, to set up a counter-attack on the prep, and to reset after a missed action.
Cross-Step (Pas Croisé / Cross-Advance)
Back foot crosses in front of the front foot, then the front foot steps forward to re-establish en garde. Covers roughly twice the distance of a normal advance.
Risky. The crossover moment leaves you off balance and unable to lunge. Used to close a large gap quickly when the opponent is retreating fast. Cross-retreats exist too and are slightly safer because you are moving away from the threat.
Balestra
A small explosive jump forward, landing in en garde with both feet hitting the floor simultaneously (or near enough). The balestra itself does not score; it is a launcher. The lunge that follows is what scores.
Used to add distance and surprise to a lunge. A balestra-lunge eats up far more ground than a regular lunge and arrives faster than the opponent expects.
Patinando
An advance immediately followed by another advance, or an advance that flows into a lunge without a pause. From the French “skating” feel. Looks like a slide rather than two discrete steps.
Used to draw a parry by feigning the start of an attack, then continuing into the real one once the opponent has reacted.
Lunge (Fente)
The signature attack movement. Front foot kicks forward heel-first, weapon arm extends fully before the foot lands, back leg straightens and pushes off explosively. The back foot stays planted, sole flat on the floor. At full extension the front knee is over the front ankle (not past it) and the back leg is locked straight.
Distance covered is roughly your own height from start to landing. A lunge with a poor back-leg drive is just a step.
Half-Lunge (Demi-Fente)
A short, controlled lunge that does not commit the full back-leg extension. Front foot moves out, hand extends, but the recovery is one beat away rather than two.
Used for wrist touches at the edge of distance, when committing to a full lunge would leave you too exposed if you miss.
Recovery (En Garde Avant / Arrière)
Pulling out of a lunge. Forward recovery (avant) brings the back foot up to the front foot to advance after the lunge. Backward recovery (arrière) is the default: push off the front foot, pull it back, restore en garde. The faster and more deliberate the recovery, the smaller the window the opponent has to remise on you.
Fleche (Flèche)
A running attack. The front foot drives forward, the back leg crosses past it, and the fencer essentially sprints through their attack. The arm extends and the touch must land before the back leg crosses the front.
Devastating when it lands. Catastrophic when it misses, because you cannot stop or reverse a fleche mid-flight. After the touch (or the miss), you run past the opponent and reset.
Flunge (Flying Lunge)
A hybrid of a fleche and a lunge. The front foot still leads, but the back foot leaves the ground and the fencer is briefly airborne, landing in a long lunge. Crosses more ground than a lunge but recovers faster than a fleche.
Used at sabre distance and increasingly in épée when the opponent has retreated to the end of the strip.
Passata-Sotto
The signature épée evasion. The back hand drops to the floor while the fencer’s body lowers into a deep, almost prone, position. The weapon arm extends straight along the line of the strip, pointing the blade upward into the opponent who is attacking high. Their attack passes over you while your point lands on their chest or wrist.
Hard on the back, hard on the wrists, but legal and effective. Sergey Bida and a handful of others use it as a real tool, not a trick.
(y-) Drills
| Drill | What It Trains |
|---|---|
| Advance / retreat ladders | Consistent step size, balance, breath control. 3 advance + 3 retreat × rounds. |
| Balestra-lunge intervals | Explosive leg power. 5 balestra-lunges, 30s rest, 5 sets. |
| Lunge-recover-lunge | Recovery discipline. Lunge, full recovery, lunge again without pause. |
| Shadow fencing | Distance reading without a partner. 3-minute rounds against an imaginary |
| opponent, varying tempo. | |
| Mirror footwork (with partner) | Distance management. One leads, the other matches every step. |
Sources
- USA Fencing Coaches: Footwork Fundamentals
- British Fencing: Coaching Resources
- Aldo Nadi: On Fencing (1943, still the canonical text)
- Modern footwork analysis on Fencing.net
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