At the recent Plovdiv Cadet World Championships, Los Angeles International Fencing Center’s (LAIFC) Justin Yoo lost a heartbreaking 15-14 priority bout for the Gold medal to Hungary’s Patrik Esztergályos. During the bout, the FIE managed to capture a photo of a beautiful flèche from Yoo that highlighted the qualities of a perfect flèche. These qualities include:
- The start
- The extension of the back arm
- The clean extension of the front arm
- The lateral burst
- The timing
- The finish
With the help of Olivia Weiss, Fencing.net has made the following image to illustrate and describe all of the components that go into a quality flèche attack. Read this closely, New Jersey High School Fencing, because it’s pretty stupid that you still ban this harmless move.