Fencing

Posts about modern sports fencing

Understanding Priority or ‘Right of Way’

Final - Challenge International de Paris 2013-01-26 Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia CommonsIn foil and sabre, the priority or ‘right of way’ is one of the most difficult concepts in fencing to understand. For these two weapons, there is no such thing as a double hit; only one fencer can score at any moment in the bout.

If only one light comes up for one side or the other, no one has to worry about priority. The priority rule determines who is the attacker and who is the defender when lights for both fencers come up on the scoring box. …

How to Watch a Fencing Bout

Final - Challenge International de Paris 2013-01-26</a> Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia CommonsWhen you watch a fencing bout, what exactly are you looking at?

Newcomers to competition, including parents, partners and even some of the new fencers may find it confusing to watch and, more importantly, understand fencing. It is a fast sport fought in short bouts (fights) according to strict technical rules with little time to analyse or find explanations.

For this non-fencer and newcomer, this is, in summary, how fencing ‘works’. …

Fencing: priority over oncoming traffic

Priority rules: foil double hitIn a previous post, we looked at the priority weapons, foil and sabre, attempting to untangle the issues of fencing time and what constitutes priority over oncoming traffic.

In short, priority (or right-of-way as it is also known) is the set of rules used to determine who is awarded the point when there is a double hit in foil or sabre (that is, when both fencers hit each other in the same period of fencing time). …

What defines a parry?

Cadot vs Baldini, Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia CommonsAccording to Article t.7 (old 10) of the FIE Rules of Competition, “the parry is the defensive action made with the weapon to prevent the offensive action from arriving”.

Prevent is the key word. A successful parry deflects the threatening blade away from the target. Most referees are listening for the contact, giving the benefit of the doubt to the fencer making the parry, and few these days will declare a mal-paré. …

New cover design for The Art of Foil Fencing

Book: The Art of Foil FencingUploaded today, we have a svelte new cover design for the second edition of ‘The Art of Foil Fencing’ by Roy Stocks, edited by Robin Catling, available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Updated and re-formatted for easier reading on paper and on screen, this edition of The Art of Foil Fencing became available Internationally for the first time in the Autumn of 2019. …