Fighting multiple opponents is difficult, but can be managed. You have to be able to out think, and out maneuver your opponents. This can be used in conjunction with harrying, but not fully recommended. Sometimes you want to just be engaged enough with opponents to keep them fighting you while your team can use their numbers to destroy the other team. The best method to fight multiple opponents is to not fight all of them at once.
Points of safety
You have to be aware of all your surroundings, and not get overwhelmed, and know when you should and shouldn’t keep fighting. With fighting multiple opponents you also have multiple different ranges, and how they fight to be cognizant of.
- Maneuver Safely: You’ll be moving quickly to isolate a potential target. Be mindful of where you’re moving and any terrain hazards you might encounter.
- Stay Calm: Being outnumbered is stressful. Don’t be outrageously aggressive or wild in your attempts to survive.
- Losing Light, Get in the Fight: There may come a point where you just need to accept defeat because running away ruins the fun for everyone else. Be aware of your fellow fencer’s experience as you fight.
General Points
Because fighting multiple opponents will vary drastically between who is fighting, what weapons are currently being used, and what terrain you are on we can give general points of how to fight them. Knowing range, and how your opponents fight will give you a great advantage to be able to overcome their number. This takes a lot of time, and knowledge to be able to use their natural fighting against them working together.
- Isolate Your Target: Your main objective is to reduce their number advantage. Through sly maneuvering and other tactics try to isolate a single fencer, even for a moment, so it becomes a one-on-one.
- Stop Moving and Die: This is not a moment for a duel. Keep moving, be prepared to retreat, and use angles to your advantage.
- Wait for the Perfect Moment: Keep your sword and your body out of the fight until you are ready to strike. Snipes and fading shots are your friends. Staying alive and waiting is more beneficial than risking your life for a so-so opportunity. Be patient.
- Terrain is Your Friend: Without other fencers to help you, the terrain can be your ally. Use trees, rocks, and difficult terrain to split, distract, and neutralize your opponents as you look for every advantage and opportunity.
- Sometimes It’s Not about the Kill: In certain situations, it’s more beneficial to distract and pull fencers away from their goal in their attempts to kill you. The longer they are focused on you, the longer they’re not doing their job or helping their team.
Training Ideas
- Isolation: Go through ways to isolate an opponent. i.e. circling, utilizing the offset of when they are attacking or retreating.
- Terrain is your friend: Go to different terrains and see how you can use them to the advantage of the one. Is there a choke point you can use? Use a tree to block one of the attackers? etc
- Remain calm: Fight multiple people effectively without going into excessive blocks or footwork. Fighting multiple opponents is tiring, try to conserve energy.
Assessment
We want all our fencers to be able to understand the basics of fighting multiple opponents, and to be able to do it safely. This lesson is not something that can be fully taught in one day, and will take multiple weeks, and months to even start to master. We want to ensure no one is getting injured from hard shots, tripping, or getting angry/upset when fighting. With fighting multiple opponents the stakes can be high, but we need to remain calm and enjoy fighting with our friends.
As we fight multiple opponents we want to see the fencers fighting trying out different strategies to fight. Each strategy may work in one fight, but not the next. You need to be able to adapt to each different scenario that you may find yourself in. A basic understanding of how to be able to isolate and fight one of your opponents at a time is absolutely necessary.
