Fencing

General Rules

Bout Duration

The bouts are started with the command of the referee "Fence" and stopped when he/she calls "Halt".

The bout ends after three minutes of fencing or after eight touches in sabre fencing.

In 15 points bout, the fencers get a one-minute break after every three-minute.

If nine minutes are elapsed in a 15 touch bout or three minutes in a five touch bout, then the bout is considered to be over and the current scores are taken as the final scores.

Right Of Way (Priority)

It is a decision making criteria used in sabre and foil fencing to determine which fencer should be given a point if both land a valid attack/hit at the same time. In epee fencing, both fencers receive a point if they both land valid hits at the same time.

Penalties

In the case of rule infringements, penalties are awarded and indicated by a penalty card. A yellow card signifies a warning with no further action, a red card to a fencer awards his/her opponent a touch and a black card signify that the fencer is excluded from the competition. The main offenses are:

• Group 1- Making bodily contact with the opponent, removing equipment, delaying a bout makes a fencer penalized with a yellow card.
• Group 2- Showing any kind of violence, not getting proper inspection marks on the equipment makes a fencer penalized with a red card.
• Group 3- Disturbing the order of bout, falsifying inspection marks makes a fencer to be penalized with a red card with any subsequent offense results in a black card penalty.
• Group 4- Breaching of protocols such as refusal to salute, doping and manifest cheating makes a fencer penalized with a black card.

Officials

Referee

A referee directs the bout, directs the judges, scorers and timekeepers, penalizes faults, awards the hits and maintains order.

Judges

Judges assist the referee and watch for the use of unarmed hand or arm of the fencers, check substitutions of the valid target and hits scored on the floor in epee events and check for any other offenses defined in the rules.

Events

Foil Events

Foil fighting offers the smallest target area which is the opponent’s torso. The scores are given only when a hit is landed in that area.

Épée Events

In épée fencing, a hit can be registered anywhere on the body, but most attacks are made on the closest parts of the body like arms, hand or front foot.

Sabre Events

In sabre fencing, the whole upper body (above the waist) is a target area including the head (and except the sword hand). Sabre fencing is lightning fast and usually consists of attacks and feints.

Techniques

Offensive Techniques

The techniques that are performed with the purpose of landing a legal hit on the opponent are the offensive techniques. The major ones are:

Attack- In this technique, the fencer extends his/her arm and continuously threatens the opponent’s target.

Riposte- Fencers use this technique after a successful parry. After parrying an attack, the fencer has the opportunity to make an attack and take right of way.

Feint- It is a false attack with the purpose of provoking a reaction from the opponent.

Lunge- This technique is executed by extending the front leg by using a forward kicking motion and pushing the body forward with the back leg.

Defensive Techniques

Defensive techniques are used to protect oneself against a hit or to acquire the right of way. The majorly used defensive techniques are:

Parry- It is a technique used to deflect or block an incoming attack and is executed by deflecting the blade away at the time of the execution of an attack by the opponent from the fencer’s valid area and is used to obtain the right of way.

Point in line- In this technique, fencer’s sword arm is kept straight and the tip/point of the sword continually threatens the opponent’s target area.

Participants

Male and female fencers compete separately in bouts either in individual or team competitions.

Playing Area

The playing area for fencing is known as “piste” which is a narrow raised platform, usually 14 meters long and 1.5-2 meters wide.

The area consists of five lines at right angles to its length in which one is a center line which is drawn as a broken line, two on-guard lines at 2 meters on each side of the center line and two lines at the rear end of the piste which are 7 meters from the center line. At the last two meters of the piste at each side before the rear limit lines, the area must be clearly distinguished (by a different colour) to indicate the closeness from the rear end.