CMA blade Theory

[dre]

You don't cut in fencing - you stab (unless you are some saber freak) And at a distance, lunges generate the power and distance.

This isn't a fist fight, stronger dosen't matter if you get stabbed first.

I meant that you don't do the whole body twisting thing that you do in CMA.

[joedoe]

The aim of sport fencing is not to cut your opponent open, but to register a valid hit against your opponent. Hence, power generation is not as big a concern.

[Edit] Doh. dre beat me to it

[joedoe]

Thanks for the tips. I have actually noticed the difference in my fencing when I am tense and when I am relaxed. My problems occur because I try to stick to my opponent's blade and this slows down my parry-riposte. I am slowly learning that the parry only has to be a deflection, not a full stopping action.

[dre]

The Joe Doe is correct.

[Stacey]

yes, it also changes if you have one or two knives and your grib.


In mantis, you can throw people with knives, grab and trap....grab...into the bone. followed by a neck slash. Sure beats grabbing and punching.


A lot of snake Palm application.

[dre]

Originally posted by Kumkuat
I've sparred using taiji sword, but I have never fenced so I can't really make a comparison. But the taiji sword has 3 methods of attack: pointing, stabbing, and cutting/slicing. The main objective that I found out is to be inside while the opponent is outside. This means that to be inside, you only need one movement to hit your opponent. To be outside, you need usually 2 movments to hit (since the opponent's sword is in the way). To be inside, you need to stick to the other guy's sword. If you stick with good neijia, you'll automatically be inside. Funny thing is that if you get two people with the same skill, they'll start sticking and parrying to get to a better position, it looks like they're pushing hands with sword. Anyway, in the sword form, you see a lot of circling with the sword and stuff. That's simulating sticking, parrying, and slicing.

Huh - binding is somthing we try to avoid in Fencing. Anyway, that sounds like it might work - controlling distance in your favor- interesting.

[GeneChing]

Did I ever mention I was a prevost master of fencing? I'm sure I did.

Anyway all you need to do is sharpen a foil or epee and thrust it through something and you'll see the power in fencing. The lunge delivers sufficient force to poke that blade through flesh and puncture your tender vitals. Remember that modern fencing descends from formal dueling, so you only had one opponent and you could do wacky stuff like throw dirt in their eyes, spit or (gasp) kick and punch. There lies the essential difference in say broadsword and saber. Now I find a lot a parallels in straight sword and epee/foil. The foundation is very similar, once you subtract the kicking/finger-poking/multiple opponent stuff. There are lots of jian moves that can be used for feints, parries, transports, envelopements, etc. And while there are some more powerful cuts, a lot of the art of jian is in it's accuracy, akin to fencing.

One point is that you have to look at pre-WWII fencing, prio to the electrification of the sport. Then many things were still preserved that had more martial intention, more similar to kungfu. For example, pushing or pulling the cut in saber was standard to inflict damage until the hungarian "a la candela" style moved in where you "popped" the hit to make it more audible to the judges. While that was not a direct result of the electrics, you get my point, so to speak. Fortunately, there are many books that preserve the ancient methods of fence, if you intend to research this academically.