Learn to fence
What is fencing?
Fencing was one of five sports in the first Modern Summer Olympics in 1896. It’s often described as “physical chess” to reflect its element of strategic thinking and physical challenge. There are three weapons in fencing, ie foil, epee and sabre, each with different styles of play.
Fencing tradition places a high value on courtesy and respect and is an excellent sport for children to learn positive sporting spirit.
Today, people fence for enjoyment, fitness and the competitive challenge. Fencing is a sport for everyone – regardless of gender, age or ability.
THE THREE FENCING WEAPONS
Foil is a light and fast weapon. The target area is your opponents’ torso, front and back. Only hits in this area count. Foil is a ‘point weapon’ with hits scored with the point of the blade. Foil is also a ‘priority weapon’ which means you can only score a hit if you have earned the right to do so by taking priority. Priority is taken by initiating an attack or by blocking an attack with a parry then counter-attacking with a riposte (reply).
Epee is also a point weapon, but not a priority weapon. You can attack at any time and hit any part of your opponent’s body, including the mask and feet. The modern epee is closest to the rapiers that were used in duels in centuries past. While epee is the heaviest weapon and bouts tend to take longer, it is a weapon of finesse often with deft scoring touches on the opponent’s wrist and arm.
Sabre is not a point weapon as hits can be scored with any part of the blade but it is a priority weapon. As with foil, in sabre you take priority by initiating an attack or by parrying your opponent’s attack and responding with a riposte. The target area in sabre is the upper body, including the torso, arms and mask. While all fencing is energetic, sabre is particularly fast and furious – so fast that the bouts are not timed.
Scoring is done by electronic equipment hence the conductive jackets, made of woven metallic material that are worn by foil and sabre fencers. Epee doesn’t need a metallic jacket as all parts of the body are targeted.
THE FENCING GAME
Fencing is conducted on a metallic piste 14 metres long by 1.5 metres wide – fencers move rapidly up and down the piste as they strive to attack their opponent and defend themselves against attack. Bouts are conducted in 3 minute sessions.
In the preliminary (ranking) round you fence each other fencer in your group or pool, usually of 7 fencers, in bouts of up to 5 hits.
For the direct elimination round, fencers are ranked according to their results in the pools round. Then higher ranked fencers compete with lower ranked fencers in a knock-out competition until the winner is decided.
Find a club
There are many great fencing clubs across NSW where you can learn and practice fencing – a current list is here.
Most clubs are members of NSWFA, and some are not. If a club is a member of NSWFA, this means that their fencers can represent the club in NSWFA competitions, and that the club is bound by NSWFA policies. Clubs should also provide child safe environments – if you’re the parent/guardian of a fencer aged under 18 years, some guidance is here.