Andrew is back again with another video mashup. This time it is Marti of Spain and his slow attack that receives a bit of analysis. This video focuses on Marti’s sabre attacks from the first zone (in the en garde "box") and how he uses changes in his own action tempo to make the slow attacks effective.
Being able to change from a high intensity, frantic set of actions to slow and controlled and back again is akin to having a killer change-up to keep a batter off of the fastball. When a fencer gets very effective at changing their actions up, it puts their opponents into the guessing game.
Once a fencer has their opponent guessing, then the bout becomes more about their own game and not about their opponent’s, and that sets the odds for the bout accordingly.