Challenge #63 - Let's Move! - En Garde!
Mar. 31st, 2024 11:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yhlee posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
drawesomeTitle: En Garde!
Artist:yhlee
Rating: general
Fandom: original art
Characters/Pairings: two foilists
Content Notes: sketch in Procreate (digital) based on this Pexels reference photo by Tima Miroshnichenko.
Preview:
Image and fencing neepery/notes behind cut. :)
Fencing neepery for the curious! I'm on medical leave but I've fenced foil and épée recreationally.
1. They're both fencing foil (the three weapons in sport fencing are foil, sabre, and épée) - you can tell by the guard shape and by the lamé (the silvery torso layer, which will register hits electrically when the fencers are wired, which they both are).
2. The fencer on the left is LEFT-HANDED; the one on the right is right-handed. This is one of THE most important things to notice when going up against an opponent, because it affects the angles/guards/parries/etc. due to the geometries involved.
3. Fencer on the left has launched an attack, which means in foil they have right of way [1] - I'm guessing from the footwork that this is an advance-lunge or similar. My recollection is that for a straight-up lunge, one extends BEFORE lunging, so I'm a little dubious of the technique here but???
[1] Foil and sabre have right of way rules dictating whose touches "count" and when; the gross oversimplification is whoever starts attacking has right of way until the attack fails (or they score a touch, in which case we reset); after the attack fails, the other party then has a chance at right of way. So you can't have "tied" points where both parties hit: only one person has right of way at a time, and only that person's touch counts. (Epée has no right of way, so "tied" points, called double touches, are in fact legal.)
Why extend first? Sport fencing relies on finesse, not power. It takes very, very little pressure to depress the tip of a foil to register a hit. So, for example, if you're throwing a punch, you want to develop power from the hips. But fencing doesn't care about that; you want finesse and speed.
4. Fencer on the left has NOT completed their attack: you can see this because their arm is still bent and not at full extension. Since they are still moving forward, at full extension they would in fact have a chance at a first-level target (= closest and easiest to reach) target for foil, which is the nearest shoulder (fencer-on-the-right's right shoulder). Legal target for foil consists of the lamé area (roughly, the torso/shoulders). (By way of contrast, the whole body is target in épée, so the usual level one target is the sword arm's forearm, although technically the toe and top of the knee are possible, just much harder to hit. Toe shots huuuuuuurt.)
5. Fencer on the right has PARRIED. Can't tell from the photo - since this is left-hander (attacker) vs. right-hander (defender), this may be a straight-up parry in six (sixte); if it were a right-handed attacker, it would generally be a circular six. If you look at the reference photo, the fencer on the right is also in motion (their feet), either about to retreat or just completed a retreat to maintain measure (distance). The bladework is important but footwork is foundational because of measure. :)
6. Note the relative blade positions. Fencer on the left (attacker) has their blade meeting (or about to meet) the opponent's near the tip (the foible/weak part of the blade). Fencer on the right (defender) has their blade meeting the opponent's near the center/more toward the guard (toward the forte/strong part of the blade). This means that if there's any funny business with gaining [leverage on] the blade, the defender has the advantage for physics reasons.
7. Minor note - the slight upward curvature on the blade of the fencer from the left is correct/preferred (and may be exaggerated by blade contact or motion). Foils have whippy enough blades that there's a FLICK technique where you "whip" the blade so it hits the opponent at the BACK of the shoulder - this is legally target, just very hard to carry off, but also annoyingly hard to defend against. I don't know about sabre, but while this is theoretically possible (and legal) in épée, that weapon has a heavier/thicker/less flexible blade so it's just more difficult to do at all, and not common.
(Corrections welcome! I'm out of practice - I normally fence épée.)
Artist:
yhleeRating: general
Fandom: original art
Characters/Pairings: two foilists
Content Notes: sketch in Procreate (digital) based on this Pexels reference photo by Tima Miroshnichenko.
Preview:
Image and fencing neepery/notes behind cut. :)
Fencing neepery for the curious! I'm on medical leave but I've fenced foil and épée recreationally.
1. They're both fencing foil (the three weapons in sport fencing are foil, sabre, and épée) - you can tell by the guard shape and by the lamé (the silvery torso layer, which will register hits electrically when the fencers are wired, which they both are).
2. The fencer on the left is LEFT-HANDED; the one on the right is right-handed. This is one of THE most important things to notice when going up against an opponent, because it affects the angles/guards/parries/etc. due to the geometries involved.
3. Fencer on the left has launched an attack, which means in foil they have right of way [1] - I'm guessing from the footwork that this is an advance-lunge or similar. My recollection is that for a straight-up lunge, one extends BEFORE lunging, so I'm a little dubious of the technique here but???
[1] Foil and sabre have right of way rules dictating whose touches "count" and when; the gross oversimplification is whoever starts attacking has right of way until the attack fails (or they score a touch, in which case we reset); after the attack fails, the other party then has a chance at right of way. So you can't have "tied" points where both parties hit: only one person has right of way at a time, and only that person's touch counts. (Epée has no right of way, so "tied" points, called double touches, are in fact legal.)
Why extend first? Sport fencing relies on finesse, not power. It takes very, very little pressure to depress the tip of a foil to register a hit. So, for example, if you're throwing a punch, you want to develop power from the hips. But fencing doesn't care about that; you want finesse and speed.
4. Fencer on the left has NOT completed their attack: you can see this because their arm is still bent and not at full extension. Since they are still moving forward, at full extension they would in fact have a chance at a first-level target (= closest and easiest to reach) target for foil, which is the nearest shoulder (fencer-on-the-right's right shoulder). Legal target for foil consists of the lamé area (roughly, the torso/shoulders). (By way of contrast, the whole body is target in épée, so the usual level one target is the sword arm's forearm, although technically the toe and top of the knee are possible, just much harder to hit. Toe shots huuuuuuurt.)
5. Fencer on the right has PARRIED. Can't tell from the photo - since this is left-hander (attacker) vs. right-hander (defender), this may be a straight-up parry in six (sixte); if it were a right-handed attacker, it would generally be a circular six. If you look at the reference photo, the fencer on the right is also in motion (their feet), either about to retreat or just completed a retreat to maintain measure (distance). The bladework is important but footwork is foundational because of measure. :)
6. Note the relative blade positions. Fencer on the left (attacker) has their blade meeting (or about to meet) the opponent's near the tip (the foible/weak part of the blade). Fencer on the right (defender) has their blade meeting the opponent's near the center/more toward the guard (toward the forte/strong part of the blade). This means that if there's any funny business with gaining [leverage on] the blade, the defender has the advantage for physics reasons.
7. Minor note - the slight upward curvature on the blade of the fencer from the left is correct/preferred (and may be exaggerated by blade contact or motion). Foils have whippy enough blades that there's a FLICK technique where you "whip" the blade so it hits the opponent at the BACK of the shoulder - this is legally target, just very hard to carry off, but also annoyingly hard to defend against. I don't know about sabre, but while this is theoretically possible (and legal) in épée, that weapon has a heavier/thicker/less flexible blade so it's just more difficult to do at all, and not common.
(Corrections welcome! I'm out of practice - I normally fence épée.)
no subject
Date: 2024-03-31 05:09 pm (UTC)I only tried fencing (with a foil) once at school - I'd really wanted to learn as a fan of historical novels, but unfortunately the face mask didn't fit over my glasses and without them I was blind as a bat without its sonar! I was so disappointed 😂
no subject
Date: 2024-03-31 05:13 pm (UTC)Oh no! Yeah, I have to have a large mask partly because I have a big head apparently lolsob AND glasses.
I am also blind as a bat but because I'm the dumbass who keeps forgetting the glasses strap, I have LEARNED to fence without glasses when my glasses get knocked off my head BEHIND MY MASK mid-action. (At my very out of practice level, it doesn't make me that much WORSE lol.) If you can see their hand position (blade angle), and you know the length of the blade AND the length of their sword arm, then you can work out the measure. It's a PITA though and of course legal blade length varies, arm length varies, etc. XD But I refuse to quit mid-action!!!!
no subject
Date: 2024-03-31 05:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-03-31 05:27 pm (UTC)...in real life I would be killed in World 1-1 but you know. :D
no subject
Date: 2024-03-31 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-03-31 07:44 pm (UTC)Delightedly seconded!
no subject
Date: 2024-03-31 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-03-31 09:30 pm (UTC)Honestly, I should ask my fencing coach if I can sit in and sketch some of the historical classes. Coach is also SUPER happy to talk about this stuff with anyone who will stand still. :D I've been on medical leave and I fence electric épée (sometimes foil), but I've wanted to take up historical someday. XD
no subject
Date: 2024-03-31 10:19 pm (UTC)