This week’s unintended hilarity comes from the TV detective reboot wherein Magnum foils the plot.
Season 4, Episode 14 sees our new Thomas Magnum (Jay Hernandez) bait partner Julia Higgins (Perdita Weeks) into a duel with foils that is part Three Musketeers and part Dogtanian. …
Robin Catling
In the highly technical sport of Modern Olympic Fencing, stepping up from the club to competition can seem a daunting, baffling prospect – but no longer.
This newcomer’s guide sets out the requirements, formats, rules, etiquette and the all-important technical language. All you need to take your first steps into competition without looking like a wide-eyed novice.
Ideal for the club fencer, parents of fencers or partners of fencers, the Newcomers’ Guide is based on thirty years experience from a competitor and coach.
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 4183 KB
Print Length: 192 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Proactivity Press; 1 edition (12 July 2020)
Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
Language: English
ASIN: B08CVNQNYB
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Paperback: 150 pages
Publisher: Proactivity Press (13 July 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1916119425
ISBN-13: 978-1916119420
Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 0.9 x 22.9 cm
The second edition of The Art of Foil Fencing by Roy Stocks, edited by Robin Catling, is now 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 is available Internationally for the first time.
We still have some copies of the lay-flat paperback First Edition available for UK customers from Proactivity Press at the reduced price of £5.00 plus postage.
…
Our kick-off activity for this year’s Summer Holiday activities proved a popular draw; for the first time, OCRA and West Devon Swords staged a Family Fencing and Archery session, with parents and children side-by-side and face-to-face in a test of martial prowess. …
A busy period through the Spring term of 2018; we’ve run multiple sessions for Beavers and Scouts in the Okehampton district with more to follow over the Summer, leading into our Get into Sports sessions and Sports and Fitness Festival events. …
By Robin Catling.
Teaching foil and sabre is never as easy as you’d like it to be, chiefly because in modern sports fencing, we have the challenge of ‘fencing time’ and the rules which make foil and sabre ‘priority weapons’.
I took up most of a group lesson with the following examination of the priority weapons and the circle of attacks. …
There are three weapons in modern fencing, each with different rules and target areas:
• Foil is the foremost training weapon
• Epée is descended from the a duelling weapon
• Sabre is a former cavalry weapon
Foil: Descended from the 18th century smallsword, the foil has a thin, flexible blade with a square cross-section and a small bell guard. Hits are scored with the point on the torso of the opponent, including the groin and back. Foil technique emphasizes strong defence and the killing attack to the body.
Epée: Similar to the duelling swords of the mid-19th century, épées have stiff blades with a triangular cross-section, and large bell guards. Hits are scored with the point anywhere on the opponent’s body. Unlike foil and sabre, there are no right-of-way rules to decide which attacks have precedence, so double hits are possible. Épée technique emphasizes timing, point control, and a good counter-attack.
Sabre: Descended from duelling sabres of the late 19th century, which were in turn descended from naval and cavalry swords, sabres have a light, flat blade and a knuckle guard. Hits can be scored with either the point or the edge of the blade anywhere above the opponent’s waist. Sabre technique emphasizes speed, feints, and strong offense.
The oldest of the three competitive weapons is the foil. The foil is a thrusting weapon, up to 500 grams (1.1 lbs). It has a circular, curved hand-guard. The target area for foil fencing is the torso except for the back below the hipbones; only hits which arrive on the target area score. Hits which arrive off-target stop the action but don’t score a touch.
A set of rules referred to as ‘right-of-way’ determine which fencer scores if both are hit. The basic principle of right of way is that when attacked, you need ensure that you are not hit before attempting to hit your opponent back. If neither fencer has right-of-way and both are hit, then no touch is scored.
Target area: for Foil, as a former training weapon – the trunk of the body only (shown in red)
The respective target area for each weapon reflects its’ origins:
