by Danielle Dames

Created on: May 10, 2009

You lunge with the blade, but the weapon only reaches your opponent because you fly with your feet. Strong footwork in fencing is imperative in order to win a bout. Avoiding hits, winning attacks and gaining ground are all due to brilliant foot work. The importance of footwork in fencing cannot be ignored.

Flexibility

Good flexion and extension in the ankle joints allow you freedom of movement. Your lunges extend farther forward, giving you a longer reach.

Stability

Strong ankle muscles and stabilizers as well as under arch support all help in creating a stable base. Strong muscles create rapid, powerful movement and assist you to pull back from lunges. Strong stabilizers ensure that when you plant your foot, there is minimal roll. This gets more surface area in contact with the ground more quickly, again creating a stronger base, which is harder to upset.

Agility

Being able to shift position quickly will enable you to read and adapt to every situation. When your opponent attacks, your agile feet will pivot easily and find their ground, placing you in a new secure and stable position. Without agility, your reaction time slows down, giving the advantage to your opponent. They will take notice and speed up their movements, in the attempt to create a very mobile bout, hoping to out pace you.

Balance

Our sense of balance is physically determined in our inner ears, but flexibility, stability and agility will all assist when we find ourselves off balance. They work together to right you as smoothly and quickly as possible, when an overthrown arm or offensive attack puts you in a bad position.

Repertoire

Having good footwork means having a solid list of moves that you know inside out. Understanding what happens to the center of your body weight when you change your feet positioning is essential. Your body and your feet need to work together.

Skill

Not only does it matter that you know the moves, but you have to be able to complete them. Aside from natural ability, this comes down to experience and practice. Skill practice is not simply sword practice. It is footwork, footwork and more footwork.

All of these elements: flexibility, agility, stability, balance, repertoire and skill, come together to create the footwork required to compliment your sword skills. A Fencer would be on his knees and at the mercy of his opponent without them. If you never underestimate the importance of fencing in footwork, half the battle is won.

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