In fencing, an attack is "the initial offensive action made by extending the arm and continuously threatening the opponent's target". In order for an attack to be awarded successfully, the fencer must accelerate their hand and feet towards the target. If the fencer does not accelerate the hand or foot, this is a preparation.
The purpose of an attack is either to make a hit or to provoke a defensive reaction. In order to do either, the attacker must create a threat. A fencer launches an attack by extending his weapon-carrying arm in such a way that the point threatens the opponent's target area. The attack may be delivered with the aid of appropriate fencing footwork. In weapons governed by priority rules, the attacker getspriority. He retains this priority until his attack either misses, falls short, or is parried. In foil, the attack must threaten the opponent's target with the point, while in sabre, an attack may threaten with either the point or the edge of the weapon.
Classification
Simple attack: An attack executed in a single movement with no overt intention other than to hit the opponent. Simple attacks may be
* 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 feints designed to misdirect the opponent's defense. The final motion of a compound attack is called a trompment. To retain priority throughout a compound attack, the attacker must avoid breaking time or letting his opponent find the blade.
* Breaking time: Drawing the arm back at the end of a feint. 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: the attacker establishes contact with his opponent's blade and maintains control over it, until he makes a hit, or until the opponent commits to a parry.
Feint attack: An action which has all the attributes of a real attack apart from the intention of hitting the opponent. Feint attacks aim to provoke a specific reaction, which the attacker can then counteract to his own advantage. In other words, one does not attack with the first movement or intention, but, rather, attacks with a second intention, the goal of which is to provoke a specific reaction from the open end. It is analogous to counter-punching in boxing or martial arts.
Stop Thrust or Stop Cut: An attack by thrusting or cutting into an open end's attack that is done during the open end's preparation, prior to them establishing right of way in foil or saber, or executing a quick one-tempo attack in épée.
Any attack may be prepared by footwork or by bladework . Most elite fencers do not attempt to simply overpower their opponents with speed, but rely on the guile of the second intention to manipulate their opponents, thereby controlling them. A direct thrust is sometimes known as "foining".
