Fente
Fente
Literally: lunge
The fencing lunge: an attack with the back leg extended and the landing on a bent front leg, the basis of attack in foil, épée and sabre.
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Fente is the French and modern fencing term for the lunge, an attack in which the fencer extends the back leg and lands on a bent front leg, thereby extending the reach of the attack. It is the basic attacking technique in all three weapons of modern fencing, foil, épée and sabre, and one of the main ways to attack an opponent from a distance. The term fente belongs to French and modern fencing terminology. The Italian school of fencing, for instance the rapier treatise of Ridolfo Capo Ferro from 1610, is a separate tradition with its own terminology. Who introduced the term fente and since when it has been used in French fencing, we have not been able to document.