Techniques and Rules for Fencing

Fencing is an elegant and demanding sport in which players lunge, thrust and parry with one of three types of swords, scoring points by touching their opponent with their weapon. The game has been compared to chess because it is extremely strategic. Outwitting an opponent, while maintaining near-perfect form, is the objective. The rules of fencing, set by the Federation Internationale d'Escrime (FIE), are complex and differ slightly for each weapon: foil, epee or sabre.

  1. The Foil

    • The foil is a light weapon originally designed for training. The tip of the foil is thin, flexible and the very end is flattened or, for competition, tipped with an electronic sensor that records a "touch" or score. Valid touches in foil fencing occur when the tip makes contact with the opponent's torso. The arms, legs and head are out-of-bounds and invalid. When fencing with foils, you must interrupt and deflect your opponent's attack before you may counterattack. This rule is called right-of-way or right-of-priority and derives from early rules of swordfighting. Protecting yourself before attacking is common sense; rushing in to attack while leaving yourself unprotected is poor form and foolhardy. Fencing is supposed to be a strategic sport---not a rash flailing for points.

    The Epee

    • The epee blade is a triangle when viewed head-on. It can whip up and down but not sideways. It has no sharp edges---it is made purely for sport and competition. An electronic tip signals a touch. The epee may touch any part of the fencer's body to score: head and mask, arms, legs and all of the torso. The first player to hit an opponent scores. There is no right-of-way in epee fencing so you may attack while being attacked without first deflecting your opponent. If both players land a touch simultaneously, both players score.

    The Sabre

    • The sabre has a flat blade and derives from swordfighting on horseback. So the rule of the sabre is that a touch, with either the flat or the tip of the blade, is permitted only above the waist, although the arms and the head and mask may be touched. This came from the practical rule when fighting on horseback which protected the horses from being stabbed with weapons during a duel. On horseback, it was difficult to extend the arm and thrust a sabre---more of the action was swinging the weapon. Sabre fencing, therefore, permits any part of the blade to contact any part of the upper body---although it is no longer staged on horseback. As in foil fencing, sabre awards the point, when both players touch simultaneously, to the one who holds the initiative for the attack. This right-of-priority is governed by complicated rules of play and positioning, set by the FIE.

    The Piste

    • A fencing bout is played on a 46-foot long piste, or marked strip. Competitors must remain on the piste---if one is forced off the back of the piste by an opponent's moves, the opponent scores a touch.

    The Salute

    • Fencing protocol requires that the competitors salute each other and the referee at the beginning and the end of the bout. Failure to do this earns a penalty. If a loser fails to salute at the end of a bout, he or she can be suspended. If a winner fails to salute after the bout, a point is deducted.