Footwork Basics, or "How not to suck at footwork"

Footwork is the basis of your fencing, it is almost always, at at least should be, the first thing you learn. As the basis of fencing, it serves naturally as the inaugural article to Online Fencing Coach. The reason the wording in the title is so strong, besides from my own brand of humor (mixed with hanging around overly critical coaches, only to become one), is that in my experience, at least 50% of all lost touches can be avoided with improved footwork. Now, assuming that you know, and are familiar with, the details of your en guard position, there are a few points that each fencer should focus on while practicing footwork. Begin with about a strip's length (14 meters).
Your first drill will be to advance down to the end and back. While doing this, focus on making your steps as even as possible; make sure you're not rushing your advances and lagging on your retreats or vice versa. Do not, for now, try and blur your steps together to go faster, as this will lead to bad habits later. Try and make each step look the same, and have them follow a nice even timing, this is not a race. A good way to do this is to concentrate on simple things, such as your front foot landing on the back of your foot before the front, and maintaining the distance between your steps.
This, while essential, is going to get pretty boring after a while. Change things up by doing two advances to one retreat. Keep in mind that you should still strive for a very methodical approach for this, especially if you are trying to clean up your footwork. Maintain a constant tempo. You will find it much more difficult to maintain your tempo in this drill than the last one due to the constant changes in direction. Here are some helpful tips:

• Keep your knees bent, and keep your feet underneath you.
• Moving too quickly displaces your center of balance, slow down at first.
• Maintain your tempo! Initially practicing slow and methodically will help you in the long run.
• Once again, keep your knees bent.
• Land on your heel, not your toes.
• Make nice, defined steps.
  

Once you feel comfortable with this, change the number of advances/retreats. Remember, don't blur your footwork actions together. Let me say it again, do not blur your footwork actions together. This is an awful habit that I see a lot of in highschool fencing, and honestly, it makes me cringe every time I see it. That being said, eventually you will have to speen up what you are practicing, but it is essential that I note that while you may be moving more quickly, you are not changing the movements that you make. I promise you that if you work on improving your footwork, and really work on it, you will see an improvement in your fencing and that will translate into less touches recieved, more touches scored, and more bouts won.

--Tim