Riposte

The Riposte

A riposte is the natural continuation of a successful defense. After a parry, the defender gains the initiative and should respond without further delay.

Retreating while parrying is acceptable, since a step back may be needed to cover distance and stay safe. If the parry happens with the first phase (back leg) of a retreat, the riposte can follow with the second phase (front leg) while still moving a bit backward. If the parry comes with the second phase, the defender should better stop retreating and riposte before opening the distance again.

If the defender keeps retreating before striking back, they lose the tempo given by the parry and invite the attacker to renew the assault. In this case it’s not riposte anymore, it's a counterattack.

In practice it is not a race where a very fast remise makes the riposte too slow. A riposte is valid as long as it clearly follows the parry without too much retreat or hesitation. Referees should look for the defender’s action to move from defense into offense in one clear sequence.

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Question to this example

Q: was this one too many footsteps for the riposte to be valid?

Answer:

Q: was this one too many footsteps for the riposte to be valid?

A: To me it looks like he ripostes as soon as possible, and he retreats afterward because the opponent is running into him.

If you look at the ‘big picture’ i think its clearer

There are a lot of definitions like that, and if we look at details it might get more fuzzy or confusing.

There are many cases like that… and some even look very different from two angles (not this but, ive had some cases like that already)

For me its a very important guide, to hold on to my first impression (which is instinctive and often has info that gets lost when you look at details and slow mo), and go back to look at the big picture even after looking at details. I think this can help make good decisions.

But it is also true that there will always be borderline cases, and some difference in how individual referees judge them. Its ok if you can be consistent… and we should keep talking and aligning, to have less differences

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