Fencing

History

In ancient times a more basic form of competitive fencing was very popular already. The development of fencing found its’ climax in when duels were an accepted way to solve conflicts. Today fencing is a well-established sport.

Introduction

The weapons (foil, épée and sabre) have a hilt and a blade. The hilt consists of a grip and a guard (coquille/bellguard). The guard is made out of metal and prevents the hand from getting injured. Fencing is carried out on a piste, which is around 14m long and 1,5m to 2m wide. Nowadays it is common to fence with electronic equipment in competitions.

• Épée

The épée is a light thrusting weapon, not any longer than 110cm and with a maximum weight of 770g. In this discipline the whole body represents the valid target area. The minimum force for a hit to be registered is 750g (7,35 newton).

• Foil

The foil is also classified as a thrusting weapon and the maximum length is 110cm and the maximum weight is 550g. In this case the only valid target area of the body is the torso. The minimum force for a hit to be registered is 500g (4,9 newton).

• Sabre

The sabre is a light cutting and thrusting weapon, which means that every touch (with point and blade) within the valid target area is taken into account. The sabre isn’t allowed to be any longer than 105cm and the maximum weight is 500g. The valid target area here is the torso plus the head and arms (but no hands!).

The game

The aim in fencing is to score a certain amount of touches before the opponent does. In general fencing bounds are limited to either three or up to nine minutes, in which a maximum of five or fifteen touches can be registered. If there is a tie at the end of the fence , the last fencer with priority wins.

Governing bodies

• Fédération Internationale d’Escrime (FIE)
• American Fencing League (AFL)
• Association for Historical Fencing
• Australian Fencing Federation
• Australian Historical Swordplay Federation
• British Fencing Association
• Canadian Fencing Federation
• Chilean Fencing Federation
• Dutch Fencing Association
• French Fencing Federation
• Italian Fencing Federation
• Italian Historical Fencing Federation
• Sala d’Arme Achille Marozzo
• U.S. Fencing Association
• Wheelchair and Amputee Federation (IWAS)

Common fencing expressions

salute	a gesture of respect performed with the weapon
riposte	immediate attack after a parry of the opponents' attack
passé	attack misses target
parade	defence against an attack using the weapon

Penalties

• Yellow card
• Red card
• Black card

Well-known fencers

• Ramón Fonst: first person to win the Olympic Gold Medal in épée, 1900
• Eugène-Henri Gravelotte: first person to win the Olympic Gold Medal in foil,1896
• Ionnis Georgiadis: first person to win the Olympic Gold Medal in sabre, 1896
• Edoardo Mangiarotti: Italian fencer, who won the most Olympic medals and World Champion Titles ever; he used to fence with the épée and the foil
• Laura Flessel-Colcovic: successful, contemporary French épée fencer
• Christian d’Oriola: french foil fencer, who won many titles between 1948 and 1956