Reddit reviews Epee 2.5: The New Paradigm Revised and Augmented

I've come to believe that there are two kinds of beginner foilists who actually win bouts against their fellow beginners.

1. Overly aggressive beginners who beat, "punch," and remise through everything (this type of strategy won't win in the long term). And;
   
2. Appropriately aggressive beginners who have learned to land their first action. By attacking from appropriate distance and by extending properly during their attack. (These fencers will continue to win in the long term).
   
   Foil novices who tend to lose their early matches against their fellow beginners tend to be too timid and hesitant to attack/riposte. (Beginner saber classes seems to do a better job than beginner foil at killing any timid notions).
   
   And while, I think it's important to drill the core actions (parry 4, circle-6, parry 7, advance-lunges, etc...) in order to progress, in general, I don't think beginners see much early progress by simply performing a textbook parry 4 (for example). And that makes sense ; this is a sport and not a martial art. (This is essentially the thesis of Epee 2.5, although it applies just as well to foil).
   
   I think after having a basic understanding of those core actions it becomes more important to develop an understanding of "THE GAME" ; to better understand the tempo of foil fencing, or in other words how the foilist attacks and moves on the strip. Getting better at the core actions should happen as your understanding of "THE GAME" improves. Realistically, a mastery of the basic actions won't precede your comfort playing "THE GAME." Although, the "old school" of fencing coaching used to think otherwise.
   
   So what does this mean that you (new foilist) should do? Prioritize drilling advances, retreats, lunges and thrusts ; so that you can move comfortably on the strip. And then, try to refrain from remising. If you drill with a partner do simple "attacking and distance" drills. For example:
   
   

• THE glove game: No gear, each fencer holds a glove by the cuff in their hand. Fencers go en garde at advance lunge distance. One fencer attacks and is allowed 2-advances and a lunge, the other tries to escape and is allowed 3-4 retreats. The fencers continue taking turns attacking and retreating (with no break) until one fencer scores a touch. The goal is to control distance.
  
• 1/3 strip attack drill: Fencers in full gear. The fencers stand at lunge distance on the back 1/3 of the strip ; the attack stands on their opponents en garde line. The attack holds the opponent's blade with their in 4. On the command fence the defender try to escape using only footwork. The attacker tries to follow (keeping their blade on their opponents) and score a touche with an advance-lunge (remise and failed attacks are counted for the defender), no parrys allowed.
  
• 1/3 strip beat-attack drill: Same as above however, normal en gardes (not "holding" the defender's blade). Attack scores by finishing with an advance-beat-lunge or a beat-advance-lunge only. Again, remises and misses count for the defender.
  
  For group footwork lessons, I think it's really important for beginners to just grind through the repetitions. You should be doing 30-min of mirroring drills which are led by a coach or advance fencer, every practice. Just to make the movements more comfortable and natural feeling.
  
  
• Mirroring: A coach (or advanced fencer) stands in front of the group. Fencers 'keep-distance' with the coach. If the coach advances, the fencers retreat ; if the coach retreats, the fencers advance. Same for "half-advances" and "half-retreats." And the coach should have some signal for when to lunge, advance-lunge, and fleche.
  
  Being more comfortable moving and attacking is the only way to progress at your early stage. And the best way to form a solid foundation for your fencing.

Hopefully it goes without saying that you can't learn something physical from the books.

But if you're the kind of person who likes to read a lot, and want to supplement your learning by reading about fencing theory, then here's what I would recommend.

First, read pretty much any general book about fencing. I've read quite a few books about fencing, but generally they're mostly all the same. Here's one that I've read that is indicative of most books, but there's loads

The only thing you're really trying to take away from it getting basic descriptions of the equipment, some basic nomenclature - "lunge", "fleche", "quarte", "disengage", "ballestra", etc. Maybe some basic history. You could also get all this stuff from wikipedia if you wanted, but maybe a book form might be presented in a nicer way.

A lot of these books will talk about mental game, perfect technique, and the great masters of whenever. This is mostly absolute garbage. Most of the history will be incorrect, and only semi-true 'factoids'. It often comes off as a bit of "mysticism". If you have any experience in the culture of martial arts you probably know what I mean.

So once you have a rough idea of what all the parries are, and what we call all the footwork movements, more or less, I would recommend reading Epee 2.0 (2.5 or whatever it's on now).

This book talks about a pragmatic based approach to fencing. No one makes a perfect lunge, and in fact, there is not even such a thing as a perfect lunge. Lots of moves that you learn aren't actually all that useful. etc. If you can internalize the themes of this book, that is very useful for approaching fencing in a way conducive to competitive success.

Then I would look at understanding fencing, which has a lot of very technical thoughts about fencing. E.g. Beyond just what is a step, or a lunge, he talks about different kinds of actions tactically speaking (e.g. pre-planned vs open eyes etc.).

If you read those three, you'll be in good shape

You're just starting out. As you say, some of your opponents literally have decades more experience. Some general thoughts:

• Fence as much and as often as you can. If you only fence a couple days a week, it's really hard to improve. The best way to get better at fencing is to fence.
  
• Fence people better than you are. Think about what is working and what is not working.
  
• Keep a fencing journal.
  
• Take lessons from a qualified coach. As many as you can afford. Also remember that just because someone is a good fencer does not mean they are a good coach.
  
• Are you in a class/camp at your current club? Group instruction is also good.
  
• Generally books aren't that useful, but Epee 2.5 ( https://www.amazon.com/Epee-2-5-Paradigm-Revised-Augmented/dp/0985444185 ) is actually quite good.
  

There is also the fencing based "One Touch at a time" for sports psychology based on fencing. It's quite good.

"Epee 2.5" also contains some sports-psychology, tactics and strategy from a fencing perspective.