Fencing is a unique sport in the sense that it blends yoga, chess and martial arts together, all while retaining a certain old world charm. The craft is built upon foundations of honour, discipline and chivalry which in the intensely competitive modern era of sport are rather arcane concepts.
Mankind has flirted with swordsmanship for millennia, and fencing developed as an extension of this ancient practices. Without dwelling too much on history, fencing originated in the 15th century with the rapier being the predecessor to the fencing swords, favoured for its thrusting and goring ability. It was organised into a sport in Europe at the same time and in the 17th century the rules of modern day fencing were penned, and the fencing foil became the popular weapon of choice.
A word on HEMA
Table of Contents
Today, fencing is divided into 3 schools: Foil, Epee and Sabre-These schools differ in the weapons they use and the strike areas of the body, as well as priority rules. Most beginners start learning with foil as it is the lightest weapon. An offshoot of fencing is HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) which is a revivalist sport that focuses on recreating and teaching Medieval fighting techniques and sword skills.
HEMA incorporates a range of different weapons including the longsword, rapier and dagger and uses innovative and highly decorated armour-harkening back to the roots of fencing in the 15th Century. Unlike traditional fencing, HEMA is still a fairly amateur sport and although growing in popularity it’s main practitioners are enthusiasts and volunteers.
Firstly, here’s some basic Fencing Etiquette….
- Keep Equipment and kit in good condition and per competition regulations
- Begin all bouts with a salute
- End all bouts with a salute and a handshake
- Do not speak through your fencing mask
- If you have a query or issue raise your hand and speak to the judge/referee
- Do not turn your back on your opponent
A fencing duel is known as a bout and typically begins with both competitors standing at opposite ends of a piste(pronounced pee-st), a playing strip which in accordance with the rule book is 14 metres long and 1.5 metres wide. Each fencer stands behind a horizontal line, known as the En garde line, which marks the starting point of the bout. After exchanging pleasantries and saluting the referee and each other (once again the honour aspect) the referee will call “On guard, ready, fence!” and the bout commences.
Fencing bouts can either be 5 touch (first to 5 points) or 15 touch (first to 15 points) where 5 touch bouts last 3 minutes and 15 touch bouts last 9 minutes. Professionally organised bouts are mostly 15 touch and are split into 3 rounds of 3 minutes to allow the fencer a break (one minute). In foil and epee fencing strikes are made with the tip of the blade, but in sabre (the most aggressive form) slashes are also permitted.
We use the term distance to denote the position of one fencer in relation to another. There are generally 6 forms f distance:
1)Critical Distance- Where you are close enough to your opponent that you can hit him before he can respond
2)Closed Distance- Your opponent is close enough that you must withdraw your weapon arm and bring the tip of the foil to target surface.
3) Short Distance- You are close enough to your opponent that you can touch his target surface by extending your arm.
4) Middle Distance- You need to lunge forward to be able to touch your opponent’s target area.
5)Long Distance- You can reach your opponent’s target area by advanced lunging, fleching or jump lunging.
6) Out of Distance-You are beyond long distance.
Notice the two solid blue lines behind each fencer on the piste diagram-these are the en garde lines, from where each fencer begins the bout. The dotted marker in the middle is known as the center line and is about 2 metres from each en garde line. After a valid hit is scored both fencers return to their en garde line.
Stepping off the back end of the piste (into the dark blue section, or past the rear line marker) results in the opponent being awarded a touch. Stepping off the side line of the piste with one foot results in the referee stopping the bout and bringing both fencers back to the centre to restart. Stepping off the side with both feet will stop the bout and the referee will penalise you by moving you back one metre upon resumption!
GETTING STARTED-THE En Garde STANCE
To take en garde position, place your dominant leg forward with a low knee and keep your back leg at a 90 degree angle. Raise your blade arm (dominant arm) with the tip of your blade forward and tilted upwards. Bend both knees and have your knees point the same direction as your feet. Your non sword arm should be bent behind your body with an open palm at roughly shoulder height. Keep your shoulders relaxed.
From the en garde stance we can advance, retreat or lunge forward to attack. Moving forward or back is done by moving both feet together in unison and keeping balance by grounding the heel.
FENCING TECHNIQUES
THE LUNGE:The most iconic move in the sport, the lunge is one of the first techniques fencers are taught. From an on guard position, the fencer extends his dominant foot forward as far as possible (without losing balance) and allows him to engage his opponent with a stab or slash. The forward momentum of the lunge comes from the back leg and the force of the strike should come mainly from the elbow. To achieve this, try to keep your head and body upright and the back foot firmly on the ground, otherwise….
In a correctly executed lunge, as seen on the right, the knee should never cross forward beyond the ankle line-this can lead to injuries further down the road. The lunge is the most pivotal technique in all forms of fencing and and is has a variety of variations.
Fencing Style: All
Difficulty: Beginner
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THE ADVANCE LUNGE (French:marche-fente, Italian:Patinando)
This two step extension of a lunge, which involves the fencer starting in on guard position, then advancing forward before extending into the lunge. Very effective as a long range attack as it quickly closes distance and presents a scoring opportunity.
Fencing Style: All forms
Difficulty: Beginner
2. THE BALLESTRA LUNGE (Sudden Leap Lunge)
On it’s own, a balestra is a short jumping hop that is an attacking manoeuvre in fencing. Combined with a lunge, it forms an elegant offensive technique that allows a fencer to cover more ground when attacking. From an on guard position, the fencer jumps forward (either leaping from the front foot or back foot) with both feet off the ground and then extends into a lunge after landing. The technique is faster than the advanced lunge and is used by many fencers at the highest level.
Fencing Style: All forms
Difficulty: Higher level
3.L’APPEL
A bluff tactic used by fencers that involves stomping the front foot to get a response from their opponent-the aim of the this technique is to throw the opponent off or induce a mistake such as a parry, possibly leaving the opponent exposed.
Fencing style: All forms
Difficulty: Beginner
Tip: One of the most important aspects of fencing is footwork-remember not to drag your feet and keep them as light as possible.
What is a beat attack?
This involves knocking your opponent’s blade off line by tapping it aside with the foible of your blade, after which you can establish priority and lunge forward to score a touch. Beat attacks involve tapping the forte (middle part) of your opponent’s blade to knock it out of line. It is important to note that a beat attack is an offensive action designed to establish right of way, while a parry is a defensive action.
What is basic start position in a fencing bout known as?
The French Term “En Garde” is most commonly used to describe the start base position in fencing.
On What Structure is a Fencing Bout Played?
A Piste is the area upon which a fencing bout is played.
What Colour are Fencing Uniforms?
All competitive fencing utilises white uniforms.
4.Flèche
A flèche, or arrow attack, is an advanced fencing attack, where the fencer leans onto their front foot, and uses their rear leg to push forward while extending their arm in a charge attack. As the fencer drives forward the back leg crosses over the front leg. Flèches are used in foil and épée. A traditional flèche is outlawed in Sabre as the back keg cannot cross in front of the front leg-however a variation known as the Flunge, which is similar to flying lunge with a prominent leap forward (but without the rear leg crosses the front leg).
The Parry and the Disengage
Now that we’ve covered the basic attacking techniques, lets touch upon the defensive skills in a fencer’s repertoire. The Parry is a simple action designed to deflect an attack from an opposing fencer and requires good point control. Parrying involves striking the foible of your opponent’s blade with the forte of your own weapon, when the opposing fencer is in an attack (threatening) position.
There are 8 basic parries in fencing, out of which four are termed primary parries. Each parry is divided into two groups of inside and outside. For a right handed fencer, the inside line is to their left and the outside line is to their right. These 8 parries take their names from the eight hand positions in fencing-so the position of the blade in the stance represents the quadrant of the body it is designed to protect. Each position is depicted on the diagram to the left, e.g. a parry 6 will generally be executed from a Sixte (number 6) position if it is a normal simple parry.
The most famous parry is parry 4 (quarte) and is usually the first taught. When an attack is directed toward the body of a fencer, a quarte allows them to deflect the attack across their own body and past their inside line (if they are a right handed fencer). A quarte is characterised by a deflection to the inside line, with the thumb up (supinated) and the parry finishing with the tip of the blade pointed up in the high inside line (head/chest) of the body.
A variation of the quarte is contre quarte (circular parry 4) which uses a circular motion by twisting the wrist.
In Foil and Sabre Fencing, a successful parry establishes right of way for the defending fencer, whereby he may execute a riposte or take the blade of his opponent (pris de fer) which we will cover later.
A parry 6 (Sixte) works in the opposite manner: it involves deflecting the attack to the high outside line (to the right for a right handed fencer). This could also be done as a circular parry 6, by dipping beneath the attacking fencers blade in a circular motion and deflecting to the outside line. In Épée, where the parries have to be small and quick, parry 6 is the dominant parry used.
A parry that fails to prevent an attack is known as a Mal-Parry.
The Disengage
A simple one tempo technique taught early to fencers.Say we have two fencers in a bout ( We’ll call them fencer A and Fencer B). Fencer A lunges forward in an attempt to score a touch, and fencer B gets in a position to execute a parry 4. If fencer B telegraphs this and fencer A notices in time, he can dip his blade underneath fencer B’s blade and circle around, changing the line of attack and scoring a touch. This is known as a disengage and also works equally well against a parry 6.
A cutover is a variation of the disengage which is inverted by flexing the wrist and the forearm slightly raised, allowing the tip of your blade to pass above your opponents.
Parries 7 and 8 Are also useful defensive parries for a beginner to be acquainted with. Both these parries finish with the tip of the blade pointing downwards (just above the knees) with the parry 8 (Octave) deflecting to the low outside line (the right side of right handed fencer) and the parry 7(Septieme) deflecting the attack to the low inside line (to the left side of a right handed fencer). Both Parry 7 and 8 are semi circular and are executed by dropping the tip of the blade from a 4 or 6 position so it is pointed downwards above the knee roll.Prime (parry 1) typically has the blade pointed downwards to the inside line with the wrist pronated -you’ll see fencers use this when defending against a flèche attack. It is also an effective way of gaining control of your opponent’s blade if they use a strong parry 6.
A Tierce is an awkward parry to execute and in épée used to block against wrist flicks. Besides that, the most important parries in épée are the 6, circle 6, 7 and 8.
THE OTHER PARRIES AND SABRE EXCLUSIVES
As the diagram above shows us, there are variations of parries in fencing where a fencer may not begin in the guard position for the required parry but may parry horizontally across the same line to deflect an attack. These are known as lateral parries, and include:
- Moving from the inside high line to the outside high line (4th to 6th)
- Moving from the outside high line to inside high line (6th to 4th)
- Moving from the inside low line to the outside low line (7th to 8th)
- Moving from the outside low line to the inside low line (8th to 7th)
- Outside low line to outside high line (8th to 6th)
- Outside high line to outside low line (6th to 8th)
- Inside low line to inside high line (7th to 4th)
- Inside high line to inside low line (4th to 7th)
Similarly, we have diagonal parries, which cut across the body from the high line to the low line:
- Inside high line to outside low line (4th to 8th)
- Outside low line to inside high line (8th to 4th)
- Outside high line to inside low line (6th to 7th)
- Inside low line to outside high line (7th to 6th)
There are two types of circular parry, the circle 6 and the circle 4. The circle 6 is used when a blade is attacking the high outside high line is deflected in a tear drop motion to the inside high line. The Circular 4 works in the opposite way, moving the blade from a inside high line to the outside high line. A Feint Parry is a when the fencer make a motion to execute a parry, forcing his opponent to commit to the final part of an attack.
One parry not seen in foil and épée-Quinte, or parry 5, is a Sabre exclusive parry which is designed to defend against cutting blows to the head. Sabre has 6 parries:
COUNTER ATTACKS-RIPOSTES AND COUNTER PARRIES
A successfully executed parry, while also establishing right of way, provides a means for a fencer to subsequently perform an attack of their own. This is known as a Riposte, and is a valuable scoring option as it presents a chance to score a touch while your opponent may be off guard. Parrying will knock your opponent’s blade out of line and allow you to thrust forward with a riposte. Parry and riposte are very useful fencing techniques where you can invite your opponent and lure them into a trap, and are vital for setting up second intention (feint) attacks. We can divide the riposte technique into 3 types: The direct, indirect and compound.
The direct riposte can be performed directly after a fencer has executed a successful parry and reclaimed right of way-if he is close to his opponent he can initiate a direct riposte. A direct riposte involves parrying, attacking and executing the riposte all within the same line of attack. This is the most common form of riposte, and usually manifests as a straight thrust in foil and épée, or a direct cut in sabre. A direct riposte relies heavily on speed to score a touch.
Indirect ripostes can be used from lunging distance-they are performed via disengaging the blade before an opponent is able to parry, dropping the blade below theirs and subsequently lunging forward to score a touch. These ripostes start in one line and will finish in a different line of attack. Disengagements work in similar ways to parries, so we can have lateral disengages (e.g. a position 4 to a position 6 or vice versa) vertical disengages (6 to 8 or 8 to 6) or diagonal disengages (4 to 8 or 8 to 4). A riposte can be executed following any of these successful disengagements. There are also counterdisengage ripostes which is a circular riposte executed by circular disengaging from a 6 to 4 to outfox a circular parry.
A compound riposte is a more complexed action that is consists of more than one tempo movement-a single tempo action would describe a simple attack-parry-riposte are one tempo sequences, however in unusual scenarios, such as the if the opponent fencer was to retreat while you are attempting a riposte, this sequence is broken. If you attempt a direct riposte after a parry and your opponent retreats, you can rely on a feint to convert this into a disengage in the second act-again this must be done in fluid fashion as the referee will otherwise interpret the first failed riposte as a miss.
Remise
Any delay in executing a riposte can allow your opponent to perform a remise (an attack that immediately follows a parried or missed attack), whereby his attack will then have priority. A remise requires that the arm still be extended at the time of execution.
COUNTER PARRIES AND RIPOSTES
Some Honourable mentions……….
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- Ceding Parry- A parry that results from giving way to a fencer who is taking your blade. Most often seen in response to a move known as a bind. If fencer A has lunged and had his attack parried by Fencer B, he (fencer A) will keep his blade engaged and in contact with his opponent as he shapes to perform his next attack.
- Derobement-A counter attack performed with a straight sword arm, when attempting to avoid a bind.
- Ceding Parry- A parry that results from giving way to a fencer who is taking your blade. Most often seen in response to a move known as a bind. If fencer A has lunged and had his attack parried by Fencer B, he (fencer A) will keep his blade engaged and in contact with his opponent as he shapes to perform his next attack.
- Displacement- An evasive tactic, normally dodging or ducking out of the way to protect the target area, or even stepping off the piste or retreating.
THE TIES THAT BIND (ENGAGEMENT)
Pris de Fer is a tactic in fencing that literally means “taking the steel” and occurs solely when the blades are engaged with each other, and is very useful against a straight thrust. There are four forms of Pris de Fer:
OPPOSITION: Taking an opponent’s blade and holding it in a non threatening (opposite) line. In foil this is done primarily to gain right of way while in épée and sabre it is used to intercept attacks. In Italian fencing it is known as a glide.
CROISE (Semi bind): The taking of a fencer’s blade from a high line to a low line or vice versa, in the same line as the engagement.
BIND : Taking an opponent’s blade diagonally so it is held in a opposite line. Binds are achieved by taking the blade of a fencer who has their arm extended already or drawing them into extending their arm with a feint.
ENVELOPMENT: A circular movement that takes the opponent’s blade in a round motion and then returns it to the same line without losing contact between the two blades.
TEMPO
The Tactical Wheel shows the progression of a fencing bout and how tempo represents each individual part.
Tempo is the way that we describe speed and timing in a fencing bout. It is the process of making a move, having your opponent react to your move, and how the bout progresses. Good tempo is akin to having good speed, however it is as much about control as other factors, and perhaps most importantly not being predictable.
Tempo can be used to measure movements within a bout-for example, a single thrust or lunge is regarded as one tempo, regardless of the time taken to complete that move. Compound attacks can consist of up to 4 or more tempos. Tempo is very useful for referees in breaking down different segments of a bout and how to determine right of way, and also with coaches and analysts helping fencers improve their craft. Good rhythm and tempo can be built with exercises such as footwork drills.
Right of Way Explained
Right of way, or priority, is an essential component of foil and sabre fencing and dictates many of the manoeuvres we see in a fencing bout. Put simply, a fencer gains right of way when he or she extends their sword arm and holds their blade in point of line of the target area-the fencer can be stationary or moving forward at this point but must be showing intent to attack-bending the arm will forfeit right of away. So how does the opponent respond? They have several options:
- They can parry (or deflect) the attack
- They can counter attack and strike before the fencer with right of way completes their action
- They can take their opponent’s blade (prise de fer)
While the advancing fencer still has right of way, they are the only duellist capable of scoring a touch-the opponent must, either parry and retaliate (riposte) and once the initial move has been fended off, they may establish right of way and proceed to make an attempt to score. When two fencers move to attack at the same time and strike each other at the same time, right of way is used to decide who gets the point (the fencer who commenced their initial attack first)
In the second scenario, if a fencer(We call him fencer A) is moving to attack and their opponent is defending(fencer B), Fencer A has right of way as they have initiated their attack first. If fencer B is able to parry fencer A’s attack or the attack misses, right of way goes to fencer B who may be proceed to advance to score a touch. Complicated right!
In Sabre fencing, right of way is even more strict- it has to be as there are more options in Sabre with how to score a touch (Slashes/cutting). Right of way is established once a fencer begins his attack (moving forward, lunging, extending his arm) and is forfeited if he stops moving. This of course results in a very fast paced bout. Ultimately, the right of way rule serves as a way of differentiating which fencer would have sustained the greatest injury (hypothetically) if both fencers struck each other at the same time-the fencer to initiate his attack first would likely have more momentum in their strike than the fencer who is reacting to his attack. It helps a a fencing bout run smoothly and efficiently while preventing an excess of simultaneous touches (where fencers tag each other at the same time) where neither fencer gains a point.
Fencing Referee Signals and Penalties
Fencing penalties are generally broken down into 4 groups depending on their severity of the offence.
YELLOW CARDS: Group 1 offences such as removing protective equipment, touching the other fencer or halting the bout unnecessarily. The first instance of a group 1 offence results in the fencer being issued a yellow card
and a warning.
RED CARDS: Usually issued for discriminatory language, violent actions or not reporting or failing to report correct sign marking on equipment (all group 2 offences).More than one group 1 offence also results in a red card penalty.
BLACK CARDS: Reserved for the most serious group 3 or group 4 offences such as doping, cheating, refusing to honor the game by saluting, abusing the referee and brutality-the result is immediate ejection from the competition.
If you are looking to familiarise yourself with fencing and understand the techniques, I would recommend watching epee duels on the FIE Youtube channel (link inserted):https://www.youtube.com/user/FIEvideo/videos
Epee is a slower, more defensive style of fencing that is easier to follow for someone who is new to the sport and allows learners with untrained eyes to identify the different techniques.