00:02Combining agility, grace, and muscle control, fencing is an unassuming sport that requires
00:07enormous skill. Often overlooked, this Olympic sport is a combination of physicality and mental
00:13focus. While highly athletic, strategy is key. Success depends on reading your opponent perfectly.
00:19Let's see what it takes to be a badass at fencing. What exactly is fencing? There's three different
00:31kinds of blades in fencing. There's epee, foil, and saber. Today we're learning foil. You go at it
00:36and first to get a touch gets the point. So what kind of training goes into fencing? You have to
00:43have really great agility. You have to have great footwork, coordination, reflexes. You have to be
00:48strategic, and it's a very mental and physical sport. So they call it physical chest.
00:54Well, I see the ladder is out, which I actually love doing footwork. So what are we going to be
00:58doing here? Right. So we're going to use the agility ladder and do some plyometrics. So what's great
01:02about plyometrics is you want to be able to coordinate your feet, but also keep your posture up. So you're
01:07pretty much telling your two parts of your body to do different things, which is great for fencing,
01:11because you have to remember your blade work and your footwork.
01:18All right, so fencing footwork. There's a few basic moves. The one we know is a big word. You shout
01:24it,
01:24you go on guard, and on guard's your ready position. So when we do on guard, we want to put
01:28our more
01:29dominant foot, our right foot, in front of us. Our back foot, we're going to turn it 90 degrees from
01:35our front foot and have a point towards the left wall. Our first move we're going to learn how to
01:42do is
01:42called the advance. And when we advance, we move forward with our front foot first. So we're going
01:47to go heel, and as we move to toe, we take a step with our back foot. Great. Perfect. And
01:53when we move
01:54backwards, we're going to do a retreat. We're going to move with our back foot first and go toe and
01:59roll
02:00off, toe to heel with our front foot and go step, step. So now we want to hit someone, right?
02:10So the first
02:11thing that always leads our body is our fingers. So we push our fingers out and push from behind the
02:16elbow, and that's called a thrust. So sometimes we can't just hit someone by thrusting our arm.
02:20They're a little farther away, which is why we have to do our fencer's lunge. So there's a few parts
02:25to the
02:25ledge. First is the arm. And then when your front arm comes out, your back arm shoots in the opposite
02:31direction. You're going ta-da. Excellent. I can feel the inner thigh already starting to burn. You
02:39definitely work off your butt and your glutes and your hamstring. How common is it for women to fence?
02:47You know, I think it's getting more and more common. I feel like there needs to be more of an
02:51empowerment drive to get these young girls who want to pick up a sword and go at it.
03:00So let's say we're both across from each other. I take an advance and you take a retreat and we
03:07both hit each other. Who do you think gets the point? You win. I win because I'm establishing the
03:12attack by coming forward. Yes, for the offense. Yep, I'm the offense. But there's a way for you to get
03:16the
03:17point. And that's by blocking my blade. So now, let's say we both hit. You would get the point now
03:22because you took the right-of-way from my blade. Retreat, carry, exhale. Good. Advance. Boom. Retreat.
03:31All right. So the next move you're going to learn is an offensive move. You did a defensive move before,
03:35but now you're going to be coming at me. You're going to do a feint. It's where you come out
03:39only
03:39halfway. You're just faking me out. When I come to pair, you can do a little b with your fingertips
03:44and go and
03:45square the point. Advance. I can confidently say that attempting to learn how to fence was one of
03:57the hardest things I've ever done. I definitely felt fierce upon immediately putting on the mask
04:04and the jacket. It's awesome.
