The fleche occurs when the drive and control is from the front leg and foot. A lunge occurs when the drive and control is from the rear leg and foot (the first part of a step forwards).
The relative position of the front and rear foot determines the difference in reach available to the fencer from the lunge vs fleche. In the fleche the drive comes from the front leg, through the front foot-ground contact. In the lunge, the drive comes from the rear leg, through the foot ground contact. The fleche can often start with the fencer moving the front foot rearwards, behind their centre of gravity and driving off their front foot, generating the forwards instability which then requires the rear foot to move forwards (cross) in order to regain balance. The cross-over assumes the fleche starts (traditionally) with a cross-step forwards, which creates the forwards loss of balance and requirement to cross the legs followed by a recovery forwards. Absolutely correct with the hit occurs on or before the cross over leg touches the ground, the earlier the better. What do you think of this definition of a fleche? Sound off in the comments below. An intentional crossover lunge is all but irrelevant in today’s fencing meta, mostly due to the fact it doesn’t have the same kind of speed and power as that of a fleche. However, in nearly all of the thesis research I’ve done, few to no actions end in a pure “crossover lunge” with exceptions of infighting and/or unplanned actions. You might be thinking: “this definition is almost identical to that of a crossover lunge,” and you’d be correct. “A crossover attack in which the rear foot completely passes the front foot as the hit lands.” So, I submit the following definition of a fleche: This definition, combined with components of Imre Vass’s “attack with crossover” definition I like. So to decide when an attack becomes a fleche, look to the FIE Sabre rules (t.101.5) which forbids: “movement in which the rear foot completely passes the front foot.”
FENCING TOUCHE VS FOIL FULL
A fleche that breaks out into a full run before the hit lands has likely been executed from out of distance, or it’s done in desperation as time is expiring at the end of a bout. We’ve established that the “running” component of the fleche occurs in the follow-through of the action. So if it’s not a Running Attack, then what is it? Spoiler: it’s occurring usually the moment the back foot eclipses the front foot, or the moment the back foot crosses over and hits the ground:īardenet: Pre-Fleche Bardenet: Hits as Back Foot Crosses Over Take a look at the following video examples of the fleche with some visual annotations included below to illustrate my point, and pay close attention to when the touch is scored. In a fleche, running really occurs in the follow-through of the action when executed properly.
To me, the incorporation of the word “running” in the definition implies some form of a hearty jaunt in the attack as the attack is initiated. NBC Sports Engine: “A short running attack towards the opponent.”
Imre Vass: In his book Epee Fencing: a Complete System, Imre Vass defines a fleche as a “running attack or attack with crossover.” (Vass, 1965) USA Fencing: “Explosive, running attack (Foil and Epee only) ” Take a look at the following glossaries below and their definitions of the fleche, and you’ll see “running” as a common thread: Nearly every piece of fencing literature references the fleche as a “running attack” in some way, shape, or form. In modern fencing, it remains one of the most important pieces of one’s repertoire, but there’s an opportunity to revisit how we define it. According to my 4000+ touches of thesis research, a fleche is occurring on 16% of actions at the highest levels of international fencing.
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