My épée years are long past, I’m 77. This very interesting analysis has made me realize how much épée fencing has changed while remaining the same, as Guiseppe di Lampedusa would have said. What has changed is that épée is much faster and more athletic; It would seem that there is much less contact between the blades, except at the last moment where a simple ‘opposition’ often replaces the ‘contres’ (parade-riposte) of yesteryear; There is no longer a premium on defense; Many attacks are simultaneous and happen too fast for fancy ‘prises de fer’. What remains is the management of distance and the timing: a sudden rupture of distance after a preparation (or preparations) aimed at deceiving the opponent. Thanks for this video. I have not understood all of the comments (there were some specifically American fencing expressions I could’nt catch) but the gist of your analysis has come through. The mention of a ‘plan’, though, is somewhat cryptic to me: épée is an adaptative sport; what worked yesterday may not work today, and one may have to change the ‘plan’ by drawing into one’s bag of tricks; Cannone is specially good at that. But your recommendation to work extensively on a restricted number of moves is quite valuable: muscle memory counts for much in fencing. I particularly appreciated your total disregard for the score: forgetting about it helps concentrate on the technique displayed. But, still, the score matters: if one of the fencers is behind by more than a couple of ‘touches’, he will try to avoid doubles and his tactics won’t be the same. Both fencers are exceptional. Borel is older (33) and has a very distinguished record: many individual gold medals (1 World Champ., 1 World Cup, 3 European Champ.) and countless team gold medals. He has long been a role model for the French épée team. Cannone (24) has just blossomed; he is the living proof that height and ‘allonge’ are not everything in fencing. His not conceding anything and winning the bout in Petit-Bourg (the hometown of Borel) has been a mark of respect for his opponent. ___ .

You have the best fencing channel on youtube. It's a niche community so I'm not sure how much it'll blow up but all of your videos are a pleasure to watch and you are appreciated!

Oh my gosh yes!!! I am U.S. fencer so I appreciated the shout-out about the October NAC! Awesome analysis! Great resource for fencing nerds!!

Thank you for the service you provide for the fencing community! Nice to have the picture in the lower corner with the commentary.

Brilliant video thank you!

Just found your channel and love it. I was very excited to se Analysis of Cannone after his Olympic gold. Such an exciting fencer to watch.

Good luck for the NAC this weekend bro, great video.

At 6:30, Borel's hand went low and C. just aimed right at the wrist waiting for it to come back up. At 7:06, Borel moves forward with a short arm as C. has stopped stepping back, B is caught en garde elbow close to the body as C. triggers his lunge. C has an incredible sense of distance and knows how to create confusion in his adversary's mind. C is not afraid to take a few hits in order to analyse his opponent. I believe the move by C at 13:28 is actually a "batter quarte" followed by straight attack, after a miraculous lunge backwards ...

Great stuff! Love all this tips that I can practice in my own bouts

Nice meeting you at the NAC yesterday! I'm going to try to follow your advice here about practicing really specific actions, thanks!

I love ur videos

nice video

I fence sabre but want to fence a bit of epee sometime. Your channel is so nice and helpful even for sabre fencers. Lmk when you're in Germany! Cheers.

Awesome, thank you so much for the analysis. I was wondering why they don't ground the piste during competition ? Wouldn't it avoid floor touches ?

Very good analysis! So if Borel do less blade actions and more direct fleches( because he's much taller), would the result be different?

Cannone seems to lunge with his left hand in the front instead of pushing it to the back, what is the reasoning behind that?