@poirotellerylane My understanding of it: epee is a sporting extension of duelling, as boxing is to brawling. The foil and the epee are very similar in concept, they are both thrusting weapons. The foil however was developed as a learning weapon, and practicing the foil was meant to be a way to learn how to stay alive if and when you ever had to partake in a real duel using the duelling epee.

in epee fencing, there is nothing stopping you other than how practical it is to do so.

They're both incredible fencers...i like!

It really depends on what you mean by a swordfight. The epee was a real dueling sword, made realistic once duels to the death were outlawed, as duels were then fought to first blood. The epee evolved from the small sword, which evolved from the rapier. The foil was mostly a training weapon for the small sword, and was not really considered a real weapon, for the most part.

Red and green lights mean a hit from that side, a white light means off-target. Depending on which weapon is being used (there are 3), points are then awarded.

not only does it put u off balance, but it leaves ur chest area more open which makes it easier for the other guy to score the touch

Just because you don't understand the subtle preparations and intricacies of epee doesn't mean it's boring. It means you're ignorant. Just because you don't appreciate the intensity and the tension between touches of epee doesn't mean it's boring. Just because the fencers don't charge off the starting line and mindlessly swing at each other, and instead choose to set traps and fake out their opponent doesn't mean that there's no action.

At 0:54, lightning fast reflexes!! A necessity in epee

@beavermonlives only in this footage the light that goes off is for the hit the fencer the other side gains, possibly because its the side the audience are facing.

traditional ( back in the times when fencing was used as a death duel) fencers would bout in narrow hallways or narrow streets... the reason we fence on strips now and days is to recreate this for tradition's sake.... yes i am an epeeist

it just confuses things, in order to show as little target area as posible to the opponent you fence side on and so sideways movement put you off balance so in the end its better this way.

that's KOLOBKOV, 5 time world champion, winner of sydney olympics individual epee, he's been fencing as long as you've been alive. i'm pretty sure if he needed to bend his knee's more he would!

Actually, you CAN dive in epee. But don't ask me any questions, I have absolutly no idea of how to anser them in english.

dude, its just not necessary. these guys are world class so they've got super good balance.

Yeah, I agree. Nobody anticipated the top 4, but I guess that's due to the dodgy nature of the weapon itself and the seeding. Most of my favorite picks were eliminated early on, and they're all top ranked in the FIE.

I do all three weapons now, but focus on epee. I find foil skilled but I know what to look for as an epeeist and sabre is very athletic but mainly in burst actions, epee takes more long term strength.

@ThePeckerwood310 In my opinion, epee by far! I started out with foil and now that i have been fencing epee for awhile i never even get my out foil equipment out because i love it so much. Epee is the most fun out of all three weapons because of the speed of the bouts and the rules; and also it lets you have your own style, more so than sabre or foil. Hope that helps!

exactly!

@ThePeckerwood310 Oh just one more thing, some salle's will have you take beginning foil and epee before letting you take sabre.

@Soldier500 really? not mean to be questioning, but im new to fencing, i thought sabre is like actual dueling, and foil is just thrusting, how do epee work?

The epee is the only real weapon that is still used. its first generation was used for dueling. the sabre was a cavalry sword so that makes no sense in why we would fence with it. foil im not sure when it originated but i know that it wasnt made to duel. so epee is the closest thing to a real duel you can get since the original rules were "first blood" thats why it has the least amount of rules.

whats the name in english of that weapon used in fencing to strike with the blade not only the top

sorry, thats what confused me. i assumed that the back close up shots were from the other side of the piste.

@superdoopertapir: Dude. Pizzo?? Verwijlen ( just turned 22 years old at that moment) is fencing Pavel Kolobkov (RUS). Kolobkov is a multiple Olympic medalist,14 years older than Verwijlen and battle-hardened beyond imagination. He won the Leipzig tournament that day. Anyway, I'm really curious about your worldranking. What did you say your current position is?

Fair enough. Very unexpected top 4 though, was quite the spectacle..

epee is by far the best fo fence =]

Epee is the best for guis like me, i'm kinda slow for foil and i don't like just to go and brake the blade on my oponent, you can think, find opens and its more real cause all the body is a hitting area just like a real duel!!!

Why dont fencing include any sideways movement? Why are opponents restricted to just forward, backwards movements?

Intense

bas is me friends!! I love you bas!!! kiss bye...

@priapus56 each side has its own color light the light goes off on the side that got the point

@ThePeckerwood310 Well in sabre almost attacks happen within 20sec of the directer saying fence, so it is really really fast paced but its more stab stab oh i hit you good. Vs foil and epee you still have fast attacks and quick bouts (epee being the faster of those two) but with those weapons you really take more time to set things up and feel out your opponent. So sabre is the fastest but there is more luck, so long answer short when you take out luck i would say epee. :)

What does the red dot mean?

Not very well prepared attacks by Bas, but there's no reason why he still can't win the match.

I'm sure there are better fencers than Bas who don't compete at that level.

Interesante. En izquierda la guardia es muy baja en defensa y ataque

damn epee fencers are tall, think I'll stick with my sabre

Height has almost nothing to do with your ability to succeed. A short fencer can totally wipe out a taller fencer if he's good enough. Watch Avdeev vs. Abajo in Worlds. Avdeev wrecks him so hard, and Abajo is at least a head taller than him, probably more.

@pureintellectual if you can swing a baseball bat you can fence sabre. epee actually takes SKILL

turgay arkadsıma eskrım sporunda basarılar dılıyorum

Who vs who?

Where's the rest, this was a D.E. fight wasn't it?

Very likely. Just a shame that they don't compete so we will never know.

kolobkov is the man

very nice!!! HI five!

Give me Foil over Epee any day it limit your target area but it's way more interesting than trying to stab your opponent in the foot.

@michael17415 you think either take skill? Foil is the most skilled way of fencing, with epee you can hit anywhere which isnt "real fencing"

people are so ignorants when they look at this they said its no thing they donot know fencing have a big reflex and alot of things go ask abot it

Their both incredibly good fencers, but in this match verwijlen was just screwing about. Kolobkov was way better. I wish I'd done this well against verwijlen when I fenced him:P ah well, 5-2 isn't that bad:p

they don;t need to be, just they get a yellow card if they try to block with a hand.

its a flesche you can dive.

Wouldn't it be smarter to post that comment @ the video of the 2011 Finals then? Bit silly to post it here. And this "I'd love to fence him to see if it's actually possible to hit him past his bladework after he's standing off-balance." Do you actually think that you could get him to the point where he'd be off-balance and that you'd be able to hit him? Really?! You must be up in the best #100 of the worldranking. Otherwise that remark is even sillier.

@ThePeckerwood310 SABRE SABRE SABRE

Aahh, the Eloquence and Whit in your verbal Parade. If your fencing resembles your replies you'll never amount to anything. You lose.

Guess not.

@pureintellectual you obviously know nothing about the weapon of sabre and the art of fencing.

Funny comment westhog! Obviously some people have no sense of humor...

@Friendguystarcraft isn't real fencing? im sure if i had a REAL foil and was ACTUALLY fencing you and stabbed you in the face you would still die even though it wasn't on the torso. epee is more realistic

no

too bad you couldn't like make up your own moves and do like a dive onto the floor and then thrust upwards into his stomach.

Wow, even at the olympic level, epée is a dull and boring poking contest. You could go dump your ass in the time it takes someone to score. At least they're making good use of their feet though, and that was a nice fleché at 3:40.

Haha it's only epee. watch foil

this is so damn disappointing to watch

fencing is so booring

Dunno why you're trying to turn this on me, but all you've done so far is demonstrate how shallow your insights into epee are. You fail to show understanding of anything beyond the face value of the fencers' actions. This isn't even a matter of taste, you actually just lack understanding of the very nature of epee. Nothing against you, just stating facts.

Verwijlen is getting the gold in London, you'll see

Bored, best foil :]

@pureintellectual you obviously know nothing about the weapon of sabre and the art of fencing.