Learn the fencing retreat: rear foot first, front foot follows, guard stays intact. Technique, distance tactics, mistakes and the piste end – all weapons.
How do I escape an attack without running away? The honest answer: with a clean retreat where you stay in your guard and win your distance back. The rear foot moves back, the front foot follows by the same length – that is the basic move that increases the distance (Mensur) [1].
The federation counts full evasion – step back, jump back or sidestep – among the defensive actions: you let the attack run into nothing and then start your own action [2]. This works in foil, épée and sabre. But careful: if you try to evade and fail, you get hit. The FIE rules state explicitly that in foil and sabre only the attacked fencer counts as hit if he tries to avoid the hit and does not succeed [4].
Realistically: the mechanics are learned quickly. Catching the right moment takes months – that is experience.
Take your guard and look at your partner's upper body and weapon hand, not at your feet. You are about to move backwards – the space behind you must be clear.
The rear foot goes about one foot length back and lands on the ball of the foot. In the retreat the peak load shifts to the big toe on both feet [3] – so your weight rolls over the forefoot, not the heels.
The front foot glides back the same distance. At the end everything is as before: heel line, knee bend, foot spacing.
With a partner: they step forward, you step back – the distance stays the same. Then they take two steps, you take two. You keep the distance without giving up your guard.
In a full evasion you let the attack end without a hit and then start your own action [2]. Practise slowly first: your partner lunges, you retreat one step, then you touch them with an extended arm.
Milestone: when you can do ten steps back in a row without your torso tipping backwards and without your foot spacing changing, move on to the lunge and the parry.
Drill (practice): shadow fencing in front of a mirror. Three rounds of ten steps back and forth alternately; freeze the guard for one breath after each step and check heel line, knee bend and head height. Then the same with changing step length: one short, one long, one half step. This teaches you not only to hold the distance but to dose it deliberately – and you notice early whether your torso tips back again on the fast step.
The piste is 14 metres long [4]; if you cross the rear limit completely with both feet, a hit is scored against you [4]. In the hall this means: check beforehand where your line ends and how much room is behind you. Walking backwards without looking at the wall or other fencers is a classic fall moment.
As with every fencing movement, the injury risk sits in the leg: in international FIE competitions 40.8% of time-loss injuries were sprains and 20.1% strains, 47.1% without opponent contact [5]. The overall rate was 0.28 per 1000 starts [5] – just under three cases per 10,000 starts. Warm up. This guide explains and motivates – it does not replace supervised training. You always fence with a mask.
The retreat is not a withdrawal but an offer: whoever evades lets the opponent run into the lunge and then stands with free space for their own action [2]. So first practise "retreat and return": one step back, hold the guard, immediately forward again – that is the bridge to every later counter situation. Be aware that your opponent may follow up at once: the FIE calls this the redoublement, a new action against an opponent who merely avoided the first action by retreating [4].
As a starting value about one foot length – that is a practice guideline. More important than the length is that the front foot follows by the same distance and you finish in your guard. Evading a lunge later often takes two short steps.
If you cross the rear limit completely with both feet, a hit is scored against you [4]. If you leave the piste at the side, the action is stopped and under the rules you are placed one metre back [4]. You learn both best in training with a marked line.
Yes, the basic movement is the same in foil, épée and sabre (practice). Tactically, what happens afterwards differs: in épée there is no right of way and both fencers can hit at the same time [2]; in foil and sabre it matters who carries out the attacking action correctly [4].
You can, but it is riskier: if the evasion fails, the hit counts against you [4]. That is why you learn evasion and parry as a pair.
Learning the Fencing Lunge: Technique, Reach and Common Mistakes