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Parents Guide to Fencing

The Basics

Fencing is the fastest combat sport there is. It combines speed, agility, reflexes, stamina, and strategy. Despite this, it doesn't take long to get to a level where you can enjoy fencing others at your own level, and from there, improvement is made at whatever speed your coaching and practice will allow.

Whether we consider fencing to be an art of enjoyment or a science of weapons, a method of education or a sport, its study reveals great wealth. Wealth of a thousand-year-old history, a wide range of technical skills, a laudatory record of achievements, and above all, the values created by fencing that are still taught today through the practice of this sport.

The sword is one of the oldest of weapons and, as Egyptian frescoes circa 1200BC show, fencing is one of the oldest of sports. The history of fencing often retraces that of mankind, through that of the sword, and if we were to analyse the different features of this art throughout the centuries, we would notice that they correspond to the customs of the era in which they appear. Man has sought to invent weapons to defend himself against nature and other human beings since Cain. He has utilised his strength, resorted to materials and tools, improved his dexterity and used his intelligence. The history of fencing gives a marvellous account of all that.

Fencing was an Olympic sport for the first time in 1896 and it is one of the few sports to have always been part of the Olympic programme although fencing is one of the few sports to have acknowledged professionals prior to the 1980s. In fact, the original Olympic rules, written by Baron Pierre de Coubertin (second President of the International Olympic Committee), specifically stated that professional fencers, called masters, could compete in competitions.

The modern Olympic sport requires fencers to be of the fittest of athletes and have levels of skills which require many hours of dedicated training. In learning the skills of attacking and defending with either the Foil, Epee or Sabre fencers develop good co-ordination, balance and flexibility which makes fencing training an ideal means of keeping fit for all ages and abilities. When fencing is offered as a holiday activity or at a taster session there are always large numbers of youngsters who wish to emulate their story book heroes. Fencing for those in wheelchairs is a major sport in disabled competitions and Britain has won many medals at fencing in the Paraplegic Games. Certain disabilities prove to be of little disadvantage at fencing and those who are unable to compete in other sports find that they can compete on equal terms with able-bodies fencers.

Fencing takes place on a 14 metre long by 1.5 - 2 metre wide piste.
Hits are judged by the electric scoring equipment but the referee makes the decisions on who, if either, scores. The sport is extremely fast and making those decisions can be very difficult. To aid the referee, video replays have just been introduced at major events, such as World Championships and the Olympics. Bouts are first to 5 hits in the early part of individual competitions and to 15 hits in the later knockout stages. Team matches are now normally run on a relay system with each bout picking up the score where the last on left off. For teams of 3 the winner is the first team to reach 45 hits.

Choosing A Weapon

There are three weapons used in modern fencing. In all three weapons, the aim is to score a number of "hits" or "touches" on the valid target of you opponent. Each weapon has a different target area, and the rules for scoring hits are also different.

Foil
 The first and probably most common is the foil. This started out as a practice weapon, to teach the defensive part of sword-fighting. It is the weapon on which most beginners start, because even if they eventually move to another weapon, foil fencing contains many actions which are also relevant to the other weapons.
The valid target area for foil is the trunk of the body, ending at the neck, arm and leg seams. On the back, the target goes down as far as the waist.
Hits are made with the point of the weapon only, and the fight is also stopped briefly if a hits falls off-target, although the hit doesn't count. There are rules which determine "right of way", which decide who is awarded the point if both fencers hit at the same time.


Epée

The epée is a much heavier weapon than the foil. Again, hits are scored only with the point of the weapon, but the whole body is counted as valid target. Unlike foil, there are no rules determining "right of way".
With epée, whoever hits first is awarded the point. If both fencers hit each other at the same time, they are both given a point.


Sabre
 Sabre is a weapon which evolved from the cavalry sabre, and so has a few differences from the other two. Because of its origins on horseback, anything above the waist is counted as valid target area.
Also, points may be scored in two different ways. It is possible to score with the point, as with the other two weapons, but most of the time, points are scored using the edge of the sabre, in a cutting motion. "Right of way" rules similar to those in foil are used to determine who is awarded the point when both fencers are hit.