In fencing

Fencing

Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...

, an attack is the first offensive movement of a phrase.

Tactical significance

The purpose of an attack is either to make a hit or to provoke a defensive reaction. In order

Order

-Ordinality:*Collation, the sequencing and ordering of text**Alphabetical order**Lexicographical order*Order of precedence-Philosophy:* Natural order * Implicate and explicate order according to David Bohm-Science and mathematics:...

 to do either, the attacker must create a realistic threat

Threat

Threat of force in public international law is a situation between states described by British lawyer Ian Brownlie as:The 1969 Vienna convention on the Law of Treaties notes in its preamble that both the threat and the use of force are prohibited...

. A fencer launches an attack by extending his weapon-carrying arm

Arm

In human anatomy, the arm is the part of the upper limb between the shoulder and the elbow joints. In other animals, the term arm can also be used for analogous structures, such as one of the paired forelimbs of a four-legged animal or the arms of cephalopods...

 in such a way that the point (in any weapon)threatens the opponent's target area (except in sabre where the blade need not be threatening the target when the arm is extended, the right of way can still be given). The attack may be delivered with the aid of appropriate fencing footwork.

In weapons governed by priority rules

Priority (fencing)

Priority or "right of way" is the method used in foil and sabre fencing to determine which fencer receives the point if both fencers land a valid hit at the same time...

 (foil and sabre

Sabre

The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...

), the attacker gets priority

Priority (fencing)

Priority or "right of way" is the method used in foil and sabre fencing to determine which fencer receives the point if both fencers land a valid hit at the same time...

 (as a reward for his initiative). He retains this priority until his attack either misses, runs out of momentum

Momentum

In classical mechanics, linear momentum or translational momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object...

, or is parried

Parry (fencing)

A parry is a fencing bladework manoeuvre intended to deflect or block an incoming attack.-Execution:To execute a parry, fencers strike the opponent's foible, or the area near the tip of the blade, with their forte, or the part of the blade near the handle of the sword...

.

According to the FIE rules, no footwork on its own can be called an attack, unless it is accompanied by an extending sword

Sword

A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...

-arm.

Classification

• Simple attack - An attack executed in a single movement with no overt intention other than to hit the opponent. Simple attacks may be

• direct - the attackers point or edge proceeds in a straight line to the target;
• indirect - on its way to the target the attackers blade passes over or under the defender's.

• Compound attack - An attack which includes one or more feint
  Feint
  Feint is a French term that entered English from the discipline of fencing. Feints are maneuvers designed to distract or mislead, done by giving the impression that a certain maneuver will take place, while in fact another, or even none, will...
  
  s designed to misdirect the opponent's defense. The final motion of a compound attack (which delivers the hit) is called a trompment. To retain priority throughout a compound attack, the attacker must avoid breaking time (see below) or letting his opponent find the blade
  Parry (fencing)
  A parry is a fencing bladework manoeuvre intended to deflect or block an incoming attack.-Execution:To execute a parry, fencers strike the opponent's foible, or the area near the tip of the blade, with their forte, or the part of the blade near the handle of the sword...
  
  .

• breaking time - Drawing the arm back at the end of a feint (either to avoid a parry or to preserve balance). The attacker's priority is based on the creation of a continuous threat. Retraction of the arm corresponds to a receding threat and, consequently, to loss of priority.

• Attack by prise de fer
  Prise de fer
  Prise de fer is a movement used in fencing in which a fencer takes the opponent's blade into a line and holds it there in preparation to attack. Translated from French, the phrase prise de fer means "taking-the-blade" or "taking-the-steel." Alternate spellings include the plural Prises de Fer or...
  
  - the attacker establishes contact with his opponent's blade and maintains control over it, until he makes a hit (if it is a simple attack), or until the opponent commits to a parry (if it is a feint).

• Feint attack - An action which has all the attributes of a real attack (either simple or compound) apart from the intention of hitting the opponent. Feint attacks aim to provoke a specific reaction (such as a parry
  Parry (fencing)
  A parry is a fencing bladework manoeuvre intended to deflect or block an incoming attack.-Execution:To execute a parry, fencers strike the opponent's foible, or the area near the tip of the blade, with their forte, or the part of the blade near the handle of the sword...
  
  -riposte
  Riposte
  In fencing, the riposte is an offensive action with the intent of hitting one's opponent, made by the fencer who has just parried an attack....
  
   or a counterattack), which the attacker can then exploit to his own advantage (to keep with earlier examples, through a planned counter-riposte or counter-time respectively). In fencing, this type of "longer run" tactics are known as second intention
  Second Intention
  Second Intention is a game development consultancy based in Wellington, New Zealand.Second Intention specialises in high-end graphical technology for both video game console and PC games, such as post-processing effects, as well as algorithm optimisation, and performance tuning. Additional to...
  
  .

Any attack may be prepared by footwork (e.g. a step forward to bring you within range) or by bladework (e.g. a beat intended to upset your opponent's control over his weapon, draw a convenient reaction or confuse him into inactivity).

A direct thrust is sometimes known as "foining." [Middle English foinen, from foin, a thrust, from Old French foine, pitchfork, from Latin fuscina, three-pronged fish spear.]