Learn the riposte in fencing: the immediate counter-attack after a successful parry. Direct, indirect, delayed – with FIE rules for foil, épée and sabre.
How do I go from defender to point scorer? The honest answer: with the riposte – the counter-attack straight after your successful parry. Under the FIE rules the riposte is the offensive action of the fencer who has parried the attack [1]. In foil and sabre the parry gives you the right to riposte [1][2] – you then gain right of way. For it to count, it must come immediately, without indecision or delay [1].
That is the core: the parry alone scores no points, the riposte does. In épée there is no right of way [2]; whoever hits first scores, and the riposte is still the natural way to a hit. The riposte applies to all three weapons, but right of way only to foil and sabre.
Realistically: you learn the form in one evening. Calling it up at speed in a bout takes months – experience.
Defence first: quarte or sixte, point on the opponent. Without a clean parry there is no riposte [1].
The riposte starts the moment the opponent's blade is caught. Under the FIE rules a simple riposte must be carried out immediately and without hesitation or pause to annul any further action by the attacker [1].
The simplest form: you hit in the same line in which you parried [1]. The arm extension begins, the point threatens the target, lunge or step follows [2].
The opponent closed the line? Then you change it: disengage (under the blade) or coupé (over the point) [1]. Both build on the disengage guide.
If you wait with your answer, the FIE rules speak of a delayed riposte. If your riposte is delayed, indirect or compound, the opponent may answer with a follow-up thrust (remise) [1]. So practise the immediate riposte first; the delayed one comes later as a deliberate tactic.
Milestone: when you parry ten slow attacks from your partner in a row and hit with a direct riposte without the answer visibly hesitating, move on to the disengage and the feint.
Drill (practice): in pairs, three stages. First your partner attacks at half speed, you parry quarte and riposte directly to the target. Then he switches between inside and outside, you answer with quarte or sixte and a direct riposte. Finally you add an indirect riposte. Count aloud: “parry – hit” – there must be no audible pause between the two words. That is your test for the immediate answer.
When practising the riposte, speed and control matter more than force: both partners wear mask, glove and jacket. Agree beforehand who attacks and who parries – otherwise it quickly gets hectic at high speed. The overall risk in fencing is low: 0.28 time-loss injuries per 1000 starts, just under three per 10,000 starts; most are sprains and strains of the leg [4]. This guide explains and motivates – it does not replace supervised training.
Even if your riposte lands directly, the attacker can still try a follow-up thrust. Under the FIE rules: if an attacker follows up after a parry with remise, redoublement or reprise and you answer with an immediate, simple riposte in one fencing time, the follow-up fencer is hit – in sabre the rulebook says so explicitly [1]. In other words: a fast, simple riposte beats a clever but late one. So first practise the simplest variant – direct, in the line of the parry – and only then add the disengage and coupé. Whoever tries to learn everything at once hesitates in the bout exactly where speed matters.
The riposte is the offensive action of the fencer who has parried an attack [1]. It is the counter-attack straight after the parry and can be direct, indirect or compound [1].
In foil and sabre the parry gives the right to riposte – but only if it follows immediately and without hesitation [1]. In épée there is no right of way [2]. There the first hit counts.
In the direct riposte you hit in the same line in which you parried. In the indirect riposte you change line, for example with a disengage or coupé [1].
Yes, if you hesitate: if you pause after the parry, he has the right to renew [1]. If you answer immediately and simply, his follow-up does not count – the sabre rulebook says so explicitly [1].
The Disengage (Cavation) in Fencing: Changing Line and Dodging the Blade