The Appel (also known in English as Call) is one of the misunderstood actions of classical fencing. An instructional tool to ensure proper balance in the guard position, it has also been claimed that it can frighten opponents and increase the effectiveness of attacks, even in modern fencing. So we have to ask ourselves, how was the Appel described during the classical period?

1877 – French Ministry of War (Fencing Manual) – two light blows with the leading foot on the ground. The body remained motionless. The Call was used as part of putting on guard.

1890 – Heintz (Theory of fencing with the foil) – the double Appel with the front foot slightly elevated to strike the ground in the same place twice to test the balance of the fencer.

1890 – Pollock, Grove and Prevost (fencing, boxing and wrestling) – a blow to the sole of the front foot. They point out that it had been abandoned by elite fencers and comment (page 42):

“In the days when idiocy played such a large part in fencing, the Appel was thought to frighten the opponent. Of course, it never frightened anyone over the age of five, and served no more than to put the opponent on guard and delay the attack. of the fool who did it”.

The authors describe fencing masters in displays beginning from the guard with an Appel and a cry of “Voila Monsieur”, presumably for dramatic effect. The suspicion that this was a performing art is reinforced by his note that the Appel was the crowd’s favourite.

1892 – Rondelle (foil and saber) – the call strikes the ground sharply once or twice with the lead foot without changing the position of the body to test the balance of the fencer.

1898 – La Marche (L’Epee, translation of House) – use of the Appel in the flying guard, short advances with the Appels, and finally with a forward gain and a shout, to alarm the opponent.

1908 – French Ministry of War (Fencing, translation of the Amateur Fencing League of America) – action of striking the ground with the lead foot to: (1) confuse the opponent, (2) reinforce the effect of a false attack and ( 3) make sure students’ bodies are properly balanced.

1920 – Manrique (Illustrated fencing foil class work) – the call as one or two stamps of the forward foot, with the body still, to control the balance of the fencer or to signal an opponent to stop the match.

1930 – Cass (The Book of Fencing) – The call made after the guard is assumed with two stamps of the forward foot as a test of balance.

These sources agree; the Appel is a footwork move that makes a distinctive sound with a strike of the front foot on the court from the guard position. When making the call, the fencer does not move the torso. This can only be done by lifting the toes of the front foot and striking from the knee. To avoid additional impact to the knee, do not do this as a stamp.

There is wide variation in descriptions of how the technique should be employed:

• All agree that the Appeal is made to check the balance of the shooter on guard. Attempting to execute the Call with your weight forward provides an instant answer that your weight is not evenly distributed. The Appel is consistent with the formal guarding process taught in the classical period.

• The Call to Emphasize a False Attack draws attention to the action. However, to be effective, enough real attacks should be made with Appels to prevent opponents from immediately recognizing an Appel as a fake action.

• Appeals to alarm, disconcert or scare the opponent can work against unduly nervous or inexperienced opponents. However, Pollock, Grove, and Prevost were correct in their assessment that it alerted opponents to the intent to attack. The extra pace in the attack for the foot strike would add time for the opponent’s reaction. If done as an accelerator to break momentum at the start of a lunge, the Appel can actually increase speed. However, descriptions of use in the classical period do not include speed as a goal.

• There are better ways to tell an opponent to stop than to call; it is an ambiguous signal. As late as the 1960s, a sequence of Appel, back foot stomp, and Appel was taught to signal the referee to stop.

• However, if you put on classical fencing displays, a loud Appel and the cry of “Voila Monsieur” were a crowd pleaser at the time and would add a definite color to such events today.

Use the Appel in the role for which it was designed, as a training tool. As for its use in combat, perhaps the most telling thing about the Appel is its absence from a wide variety of highly respected fencing texts from the classical period.