Fencing

WHAT IS FENCING?

The sword is one of the oldest of weapons and many different types have been used throughout history. There are pictures of Egyptians practising with swords in about 120OBC and the Romans used short swords for hand-to-hand combat.

Suits of armour and shields were used by medieval knights and their swords were so large that they required both hands to wield them.

As gunpowder and muskets came into use swords became smaller, and in the 17th and 18th centuries duelling with rapiers settled 'matters of honour'.

Modern fencing is an Olympic sport and fencers spend many hours developing the skills, speed and fitness required to succeed in national and international competition

There are three types of sword used in modern fencing:

The Foil - A Light, flexible sword and hits can be scored by thrusting the point at the opponent's trunk of body. Hits on the arms, legs and head do not count.

The Epee - A heavier thrusting sword and valid hits can be scored with the point on any part of the opponent's body.

The Sabre - Valid hits can be scored with the point or with 'edge' cuts on any part of the opponent's body above the waist.

THE LANGUAGE OF FENCING

On Guard - How fencers stand while they are fencing.

Lunge - The stretching forward to score a hit.

Parry - Method of defending against an opponent's attack.

Riposte - Hitting back after parrying.

Piste - The area used by two fencers while they are fighting each other.

METHOD OF SCORING 

Fencing is a very fast sport and electrical apparatus is used for registering hits. Red and green lights show valid hits and at foil white lights show non-valid hits. In competitions a fencer wins when 5 hits are scored, or sometimes 8 to 10 hits have to be scored to win.