Learn the remise in fencing: follow-up thrust without arm withdrawal, difference from redoublement and reprise, right of way under FIE rules, common mistakes.
What do I do when my attack is parried but my opponent does not answer? The honest answer: you thrust again immediately, without withdrawing the arm. That is exactly the remise. Under FIE rules it is a simple, immediate offensive action that follows the original attack without withdrawing the arm, after the opponent has parried or retreated [1]. The FIE glossary describes it as putting the point back in the same line without drawing back the arm or working on the opposing blade [2].
The remise is no magic formula. It only works if your opponent gives you time: if after the parry he does not riposte immediately or comes with a riposte that is delayed, indirect or compound [1]. Whoever recognises this turns a lost attack into a hit.
Realistically: the movement is simple, recognising the moment is not. You learn that over many bouts, not weeks – that is experience, not a study result.
The remise requires a clean first attack: extend the arm so that the point threatens the target before the lunge begins [1]. Only then do you have anything to follow up.
This is the core: the remise follows immediately without you drawing the arm back [1]. You bring the point back into the same line [2]. For you that means: no winding up, no "reloading". The blade stays in the line, and the arm just pushes again (practice standard).
The rules name several cases: the opponent has left blade contact without riposting, or he ripostes late, indirectly or in compound [1]. Against an indirect or compound riposte the remise becomes a counter-offensive according to the glossary, but keeps the right of way [2]. When in doubt: do not thrust.
If your opponent ripostes immediately, simply and within one period of fencing time without withdrawing the arm, and you thrust anyway by remise, redoublement or reprise, only you are counted as hit [1]. The Hessian Fencing Association also notes: in foil and sabre the remise only has right of way if the opponent has not used his right to riposte [3].
After the follow-up thrust you return to the on-guard position (see the recovery guide). By the way, the remise takes the name of the action it follows [2].
Milestone: if in a partner drill in which your partner randomly ripostes immediately, late or not at all you decide correctly ten times in a row (remise only against a late or absent riposte), you move on to the stop hit. That is a practice standard, not a study value.
The remise is a short, fast thrust at close range. Always wear mask, jacket and glove. The second thrust often comes when both fencers stand close together; control tempo and force. In a five-year analysis of international FIE tournaments the rate of time-loss injuries was 0.28 per 1000 competition participations, 72.4 % affecting the lower limbs [5]. The danger lies less in the hand than in the foot: warm up. This guide explains and motivates – it does not replace supervised training.
Decide before the attack, not during it. In a study with 18 fencers, reaction and movement time rose when there was doubt about whether the planned hit would succeed; prior knowledge about the opponent's possible action reduced uncertainty and sped up execution [4]. That was a lunge experiment, not a remise study. But the lesson fits: decide before the attack what you will do if the opponent parries and does not answer. Then you do not have to think when the moment comes.
The remise is a simple, immediate offensive action that follows the original attack without the arm being withdrawn, after the opponent has parried or retreated [1]. You put the point back in the same line [2].
The remise follows without withdrawing the arm. The redoublement is a new action against an opponent who parried without riposting or only evaded. The reprise is a new attack immediately after returning to the on-guard position [1].
In foil and sabre only if the opponent has not used his right to riposte [3]. If he ripostes immediately and simply, the fencer thrusting again is counted as hit [1].
In épée there is no right of way [3]; the question there is who hits first. But the remise remains an immediate follow-up thrust without withdrawing the arm there too [2].
The Stop Hit in Fencing: The Counter-Attack in Time