Classic vs S-Class Hit - Fencing Tutorial [Striking Style] (Foil, Epee, Saber)

Hey guys, today we're going to talk about the difference between a classic extension and an s-class extension. Now before we continue, and we cannot emphasize this enough, we think that the classic hit certainly has its uses, which we'll talk about in future videos. Right now, we just want you guys to think about two key concepts, the tip trajectory and the hand trajectory. Basically, what path is the hand reaching to get the tip to its final destination? This allows us to ask ourselves, is my tip traveling in the most efficient path to the target? Here, we see a classic extension. Now let's take a closer look at how the tip moves compared to how the hand moves. The red denotes the starting tip position, the green denotes the ending position, and the yellow illustrates the fencer's distance from the target. Notice that my brother is able to hit in the same way even though he's not even holding the weapon anymore. He's simply driving through the palm, like in a jab. We also want to mention that holding the weapon in the classic position means that if you go straight, you may miss because your tip is cocked up, not on the target. If we analyze the hand, we can see that it actually stops at shoulder level. Most people think that this is their maximum reach. As we can see here, Eli has moved back, and now he cannot hit the target with the classic extension. Now here's the kicker. Our S-class extension is actually going to start from the bad distance of the previous hit. As it turns out, we can hit from here. He gains extra reach by raising his hand up to around face level, using his fingers to guide the tip into the target, not driving from the palm. One final note is that because the tip is already on the target, this extension has more active frames than the classic In this example, Eli does the S-class extension, leaving the arm high, allowing him a decent range of options to retake the blade if he missed or if the opponent parried. A common mistake with the classic extension is that some fencers dip their arms after the hit to finish the touch. This results in a lowered arm position, which then causes them to do windshield wiper parries. This week, we're introducing a challenge. Try to record yourself doing five classic extensions and five S-class extensions. Send us your clip via email at sclass.sport at gmail.com. If you win, we'll feature you in our next video. As always, let us know what you guys think, or if you have any questions in the comment section below. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks again, and have a great day!