On the Five Schools of Fencing: a High Level Analysis of French, Russian, Italian, Hungarian, and German Fencing

This article will be published in the upcoming Summer 2024 issue of the United States Fencing Coaches’ Association Sword Master Magazine

As part of my United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) thesis that evolved into my data and analytics role with team USA, I’ve now analyzed over 7,000 touches and studied 166 different fencers from 36 countries (and 340 bouts, but who’s counting?). “Don’t you get bored?” I’m often asked. Not in the slightest.

What’s been fascinating to me about this project is the uniqueness of every fencer, the limitless number of tactics and approaches to every bout, and better understanding the game with every field of metadata that comes in. More importantly, understanding the global fencing scene is critical in helping the United States close the 100 year drought we’ve had since we last won an individual Olympic medal in Epee.

While I’ve assessed fencers from 36 countries in great detail, I’ve found that tactically and technically, for the most part, the ideas of fencers boil down to five origins (perhaps six, if you include Poland): France, Italy, Russia, Hungary, and Germany.

These are, admittedly, high-level generalizations of national styles. While many countries have a particular teaching style and pedagogy, none are monolithic in nature, and coach to coach, styles will of course vary. Further, the students under one coach may even differ stylistically as well.

This article is intended to be a qualitative articulation of how styles and tactics generally look country to country, with an acknowledgment that these ideas are not uniform and may evolve.

France

Timing, Punishment, and Simplicity

The French have a style that emphasizes low risk in the preparation, high reward in the finish. The typical French fencer is making subtle movements with their tip as opposed to drastic invitation with the blade (e.g. Koreans, Russians), often maintaining blade position in octave with the tip always oriented to the target, even when changing lines. They use the beat to disrupt and force the opponent to change lines, never letting them get comfortable in the prep.

Footwork-wise, the French are energizer bunnies, moving with the grace of ballerinas and the efficiency of dark matter, always on the balls of their feet with economic movement to be one step and one tempo ahead of the opponent at all times. If the half advance is the most important preparatory staple of the modern game, the French are peerless in using it. On the push, they thrive at stuttering the tempo with their feet to manipulate distance and create openings.  On the pull, they are devastating at using the half step to sucker opponents into distance and go.

It’s their management of distance, timing, and capitalizing on the mistakes of the opponent that makes them special. They operate with a concept of “do not enter distance unless you intend to attack.” You take one step too big into their distance, especially changing direction (temps perdu) and boom, they’re going right into your preparation and closing your line with a subtle and firm single tempo opposition. You overcommit in the preparation and they’re going right in for that punishment touch, especially when you go to the foot, which amounts to a free touch for a Frenchman.

When the preparation au fer fails, they can easily shift to preparation sans fer (deplacements corps, feinte) interchangeably.

Russia

Power & Aggression

The modern Russian style of fencing is meant to pressure, overwhelm, and close on the opponent on the blade with the strength of a thousand oxen. The short targets are always a threat, and you will not find better fencers on the flick than the Russians.

When they beat the blade prior to the flick, it’s a creating a massive opening due to the power on their blade, and their point control is almost always going to land the tip exactly how they want it. And while most of the fencers on the circuit have gotten away from a pure multi-tempo beat attack, the Russians seem to defy that convention and can clear the opponent’s blade and finish before the opponent’s tip can return to target.

Whereas many of the modern epee styles look to parries as a last resort, the Russians are stellar at using the short targets to draw the opponent’s attack and then finish with a strong second intention parry-riposte. Physically, they cannot be outworked. The movement is constant, the power is palpable, and the highest-level athletes get more finesse as the day goes on.

It’s the pressure game that makes them special, though. They’re in your face constantly, and even if you try to back away, break distance and breathe, they’re right back in your face pressuring your short targets like murder wasps. The Hungarians play the pressure game with the tip, oriented to the foot tempo, in contrast to the Russians who are on the blade with disruptive beats, and in and around the opponent’s guard with flicks that quickly retract the arm, giving them the opportunity to put forth lower-risk preparations. Doesn’t matter that they’re mostly multi-tempo fencers. It works. The technique makes up for it.

Italy

Finesse, Agility, and Tempo

In summary, what I think makes the Italian style special is control: control of the blade (and every line), control of spacing, control of tempo. Whereas the French have an emphasis on more subtlety and feints in prep, the Italians tend to have more drastic invitation and aggressive, pushing style.

Second intention is a big part of their game, showing “A,” eliciting reaction and finishing with “B” instead.

With the feet, they’re nimble, though not as “bouncy” as the French, they are very deceptive in how they manage distance, especially when it comes to the Italian advance, which leads with the back foot at opposed to the front. The flexibility in leading with the back foot deceives when their torsos are moving forward, often baiting their opponents into out of distance attacks in preparation.

But to me, the most special part of their game is how well they close out lines. They draw your counter and you’re already dead because they’ve taken an opposition and pushed your tip into the shadow realm. You think you’ve found a moment to attack in prep (because they’ve just trapped you) and just before your tip lands, you’ve been taken in a deep 4 and you’re not even getting a double out of that.

The creativity is usually through the roof with the Italians and they possess a long line of innovators that includes Milanoli, Galasi, Navarria, Tagliariol, Pizzo, and others.

The Italian game has provided a perfect answer to the French school by stifling opportunities to attack in prep, deceiving when they enter distance, and using ferociously powerful on-blade strength in both the prep and closing action.

Hungary

Technique, Tactical Diversity, and Simplicity

The Hungarian fencers remind me of Terminators. Very physical style, tactically methodical, EXTREMELY patient and hard to bait, strong on blade, more oriented to the foot tempo both of themselves + their opponents in the preparation, and more binds/engagements in prep than other schools.

Unique to the Hungarian school is their idea of having two lines of defense, looking first to defend with the tip, followed by a barrage of parries. It’s why you see fencers like Koch and Szasz-Kovacs fence with their arm out more, first to pressure with and respond with the tip, and then being able to retract the arm following the counter to respond with parries. It’s often hard to see with the naked eye just how strong the Hungarians are on the blade and how subtle their preparation is, but if you fence one, you’ll feel it.

Further, the Hungarians excel at a pressure game at closer distances like few other styles. Attempts to break distance and reset the preparation are often met with stifling response, as Hungarian tactics excel at close distance and suffocating the opponent.

The tactical diversity is what I believe sets the Hungarians apart. They can transition between an offensive game, counter-offensive, or defensive game with ease depending on the context of the bout. While they’re not likely to get many highlight reel touches, the timing, the technique, and tactical prowess set them apart.

Germany

Automation, Technique, and Control

If the Russian style emphasizes bold aggression, often through the blade, the traditional German style seeks to invite, draw the opponent out, and firmly close the line in defense.

Epee fencing has transitioned largely to a game that favors proactivity and taking initiative. Yet the traditional German system emphasized repetition, defensive actions, and finishing through the blade.

The relevance of a pure German Beck-influenced Epee Fencing in the modern meta is endangered, but manifesting in the styles of other Western European fencing countries through the Dutch, the Austrians, and elements of the Swiss (who have also adopted French ideas into their fencing).

I asked a top ranked German fencer how much Beck’s ideas remain in their fencing, and he responded: “I have no idea what his ideas are.”

Beck, who largely favored the pistol grip over French grips might be rolling in his grave to know that many of the German epee contemporaries (Ehler, Bodoczi, for instance) have excelled with the French grip.

But unlike typical French grippers which lead with absence of blade first, the German French grippers haven’t shied away from a blade brawl and can interchangeably switch between on and off blade fencing. They’re a country currently rediscovering their fencing identity while still incorporating ideas from their dominant past.

Keeping an Open Mind

The beauty of epee fencing is that there’s no “right” and “wrong.” The game is cyclical, and the fencers that dominate the world today may be figured out tomorrow. Each national idea has strengths and weaknesses, and the best coaches in the world find ways to integrate the best of all worlds. Take Sasha Gorbachuk, the Japanese national coach for instance, and you will find close to zero tactical overlap between Kano, Yamada, Minobe, Kamata, and Matsumoto.

The Japanese are a nightmare to fence in teams because of their ability to play different roles interchangeably and their sheer unpredictability in incorporating Russian, French, and even Italian ideas into their game.

To evolve our game as coaches, we must keep an open mind and adapt styles from every country in order to help our students thrive, and perhaps even end our 100 year Olympic individual medal drought.