Blandford
Fencing Club
Affiliated to British
Fencing 
Contact:-
Please note the club is closed indefinitely. For fencing
enquiries please go to www.britishfencing.com
Training
19 – 25 July 2003. Coach Education Course, Straftofd.
26 July - 1 August 2003. Penzance
Summer training camp (sabre only, mainly cadets)
24 – 29 August 2003. Millfield Summer training camp (all weapons, all ages)
Where
to buy equipment
Second-hand. Leon Paul,
Allstar, cheap Hungarian & Russian equipment
Playcoats IMAGINATIVE
PLAY CLOTHES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
01823 270196 http://www.playcoats.com/
eBay Auctions
Competitions
Bristol Sabre
International World Cup
Competitions
National Competitions
South West Competitons
Senior & team sabre
U11-18 sabre (National Championships
qualifiers)
The Sabre Club
Information on sabre fencing in Britain
De Nahouw
Dutch sabre
fencing e-zine
Fencing Forum
Leon Paul’s forum for British fencers
About the Sport
FENCING
The sport you've always wanted to try!
What is Fencing?
Modern fencing
has retained the basic goal of duelling; hitting an opponent with your sword
without getting hit yourself. Contemporary fencers, however, use lightweight,
blunted swords to play a game of passionate, exhilarating physical chess. One
of the original modern Olympic sports, fencing provides a vigorous workout,
rewards mental agility over sheer strength & power, & is one of the
safest sports. In fact, you're more likely to be injured jogging or playing
golf.
Descended from the duelling sabres of
the late 19th century, which were in turn descended from naval & cavalry
swords, sabres have a knuckle guard. Hits can be scored with either the point
or the edge of the blade anywhere above the opponent's waist. Sabre technique
emphasises speed, feints, & strong offence. While the speed of sabre often
makes fights difficult to follow, if you focus on who starts an action (who has
"right of way"), the lively exchanges will soon begin to make sense.
Similar to the duelling swords of the
19th century, the epee has a stiff triangular blade, & a large guard to
protect the hand & the wrist. Hits are scored with point anywhere on the
opponent's body. Unlike foil & sabre, there are no rules of right of way to
determine which actions have precedence. The first fencer to hit wins, if the
fencers hit at the same time, both score a hit. Epee technique emphasises
timing, point control, & good counter-attacking.
Descended from the 18th century smallsword, the foil has a thin, flexible blade with a
square cross-section & a small guard. Hits are scored with the point only
on the torso of the opponent. With the smallest target area of the three
weapons, precision & strong defence are crucial. As with sabre hits are
awarded according to which competitor has the "right of way" when the
hit is made.
How points
are scored
Sabre
The target
area is from the bend of the hips (both front & back) to the top of the
head, simulating the cavalry rider on a horse. The sabre fencer's equipment
includes a metallic jacket (lamé or electric jacket),
which covers the target area to register a valid hit on the scoring machine.
The mask is different from foil & épée, with a
metallic covering since the head is valid target area.
Just
as in foil, there are two scoring lights on the machine; one shows a green
light when a fencer is hit & one shows a red light when the opponent is
hit. Off-target lights do not register on the machine.
Épée
The entire
body is the valid target area.
The
blade is wired with a spring-loaded tip at the end that completes an electrical
circuit when it is depressed beyond a pressure of 750 grams. This causes the
coloured bulb on the scoring machine to light. Because the entire body is valid
target area, the épée fencers
equipment does not include a lamé. Off-target hits do
not register on th machine.
Foil
The valid
target area in foil is the torso, from the shoulders to the groin, front &
back. It does not include the arms, neck, head, & legs. The foil fencers equipment includes a metallic vest (lamé) which covers the valid target area so that a valid
hit will register on the scoring machine. A small, spring-loaded tip is
attached to the point of the foil & is connected to a wire inside the
blade. The fencers wears a body wire inside his jacket
which connects the foil to a spool wire, connected to the scoring machine.
There are two scoring lights on the machine, one shows a green light when a
fencer is hit, & the other shows a red light when the opponent is hit. A
hit landing outside the valid target area (that which is not covered by the lamé jacket) is indicated by a white light. These "off
target" lights do not count in the scoring, but they do stop the fencing
action temporarily.
The Fencing Piste
Fencers
compete on a piste, 14 metres long, 2 metres wide. After each hit is scored the fencers stand in
the centre of the piste 4 metres apart behind
on-guard lines. Fencing begins when the referee calls "fence" &
stops when he calls "halt".
Etiquette
Fences salute
their opponent, the referee, & the audience at the beginning & end of
each fight; they shake their opponent's hand at the end of the fight.
Protective
Equipment
One of the
reasons fencing has such a low injury rate is the gear fencers wear. Fencers
wear breeches to at least the knee, with long socks covering the rest of the
leg.
An
underarm protector is covered by a long-sleeved jacket; women also wear
breastplates. The sword hand is gloved, with a long cuff to prevent blades from
catching in the sleeve. Foil & sabre fencers also wear lamés,
made of conductive material, covering the valid target area. A wire mesh mask
protects the head; since the head is valid target in sabre, sabre masks are also
made of conductive material.
The Referee
Each fight
has its own referee who starts & stops the action, interprets the
exchanges, & maintains order. The fencers may consult with the referee
& ask for an explanation of a decision, but may not question a referee's
interpretation of an action.
Occasionally,
the referee must exercise his or her authority to award penalties against a
fencer (or coach) for violating the rules. A yellow card is issued as a warning
for a first-time or minor offence, such as arriving on the piste
with malfunctioning equipment. A red card, which automatically awards a hit to
the opponent, is awarded for a repeat of a yellow card offence or for a more
serious offence, including refusing to salute. A black card, for the most serious
transgressions, is used only rarely & means the offender is disqualified.
Scoring
Confused by
the flashing lights? A red of green light means
that a hit has landed on a valid target area. The light on the side of the
fencers who scored the hit lights up & the referee then award the hit. When
both red & green lights flash, the referee decides who had the right of way
in foil & sabre & awards the hit accordingly. (In épée,
both fencers can score at the same time.) A white light can be an off-target
hit in foil (no hit awarded) or a fault in foil or sabre.
Right-of-Way
One of the
most difficult concepts to visualise in foil & sabre fencing is the rule of
right-of-way. This rule was established to eliminate apparently simultaneous
attacks by two fencers.
In
essence, right-of-way is the differentiation of offence & defence, made by
the referee. The difference is important only when both the red & green
lights go on at the same time in foil & sabre. When this happens, the
winner of the hit is the fencer who the referee determines was on the offence
at the time the lights went on. Épée does not use the
right-of-way in keeping with its duelling origin - the fencer who hits first
scores; if both fencers hit within 1/25th of a second, both score a hit.
Fencing FAQ
