INTRODUCTION
The sport of fencing is a uniquely classic sport. It has history, drama, romance, style, art, plus all the advantages of an active physically demanding sport. Mentally it is mind consuming, allowing not a moment's break. Fencing is also fast and athletic, a far cry from the choreographed bouts you see on film or on the stage. Instead of swinging from a chandelier or leaping from balconies, you will see two fencers performing an intense dance on 1.5 – 2 meters wide and 14 meters long foot strip. The movement is so fast the touches are scored electrically - more like Star Wars than Errol Flynn.
Fencing is an exciting, wonderful, and productive sport that will give your child realistic life experiences, maturity, and physical and mental training for life! Come prepared, enjoy the process, and encourage your child to keep trying.
The mind is the most powerful weapon that any fencer can wield. The ability to control the mind and your body’s response to a situation is fundamental. Imagine standing there facing your opponent who is holding a sword just like you. Suddenly they dart toward you with the tip of that sword pointed at your chest. What to you do? How do you react? Tell your feet to retreat, your hand adjusts your grip on your sword tightly to block the oncoming attack, you tell your mind to stop racing and focus on what it’s going to take to stop this attack, and what you're going to do after you do?
As a fencer, you will learn to have the self-control over your body to react to these actions all at the same time. (Now we're talking multi-tasking!) If you compare this to other sports where the child merely tries to kick or hit the ball, the strategy and self-control is an afterthought. In fencing, self-control and body-control come first. And most importantly, it’s what keeps you from getting hit by that attacker.
By fencing, your child will gain greater self-control and increase concentration. Soon enough, this self-control will begin to extend to other aspects of their life.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS
There are many benefits to participating in youth fencing. Children learn good sportsmanship and self-discipline. They learn to compete independently as well as for a team; they learn to enjoy winning and profit from defeats, while becoming physically fit and healthy; and, most importantly, they learn to make complex decisions, analyze problems, and think fast. These ideals help children reach their potential in many areas other than fencing.
Remember that the primary motivating factor for entering sports, particularly among adolescents, is the desire to have fun. The following pages will help you assist them in reaching this goal. Don't forget, Olympic Champions have fun too.
RIGHTS OF YOUNG ATHLETES
We believe youth have the right to:
Ø be treated with dignity by all involved.
Ø fence as a child and not as an adult
Ø fence
regardless of skill level
Ø fence in a safe and healthy environment
Ø have proper preparation for fencing
Ø have qualified adult leadership
Ø share in leadership in fencing
Ø have equal opportunity to strive for success
Ø have fun fencing
THE STRIP (PISTE)
Fencing is played on a metal strip, or piste, which measures approximately 1.5 to 2 meters wide and 14 meters long. Each fencer starts at the on-guard line, 2 meters from the centre line and has a distance of 5 meters for retreating. In addition, the last 2 meters of the piste before these rear limit lines must be clearly distinguished - if possible by a different colour of piste - to make it easy for the fencers to be aware of their position on the piste.
Points (or touches) scored in a bout are registered on an electronic scoring machine. The machine receives an electrical impulse when the spring tip of the foil or epee is depressed or, in Sabre when there adequate contact with the opponent by the blade. The strip is grounded to prevent touches being accidentally scored on the playing surface.
THE GAME (HOW IT IS PLAYED)
Fencers come on guard when the Referee gives the order ‘On Guard’, followed by ‘Ready” and the command to commence with the word ‘Play’ and/or ‘Fence’, all with their respective hand sign. (See below)
Fencers are always put on guard, whether at the beginning of the bout or, subsequently, in the centre of the width of the piste. When placed on guard during the bout, the distance between the two fencers with their arms extended straight and the blades in line, the points of the two blades do not make contact.
After the scoring of a
valid hit the fencers are put on guard in the middle of the piste. If no hit is awarded they are replaced in the position which they occupied when the bout was interrupted.
The bout stops on the word ‘Halt’. Directly the order ‘Halt’ has been given, a fencer may not start a new action; only the movement which has begun before the order was given remains valid. Everything which takes place afterwards is entirely non-valid
In the preliminary rounds, each fencing bout is fenced for five touches, with a time limit of 3 minutes. In the later rounds, for all events except the Youth events, each bout is fenced to a maximum of 15 touches. The bout is separated into three rounds of three minutes, with a one-minute rest period between rounds. In the event that the score is tied when time has elapsed, the referee will randomly determine priority (with a coin toss or equivalent) for one fencer. Fencing will continue for one additional minute. The first touch to score ends the bout. If the score remains tied at the end of the additional minute, the fencer with priority will win.
In Youth events, the later rounds are fenced best two out of three 5-touch bouts, of three minutes each, with a one minute rest period between bouts. In the event of a tie score at the end of time, the bout will proceed as outlined above. After the preliminary rounds, the fencers who are promoted will be seeded into a direct elimination table. In some formats, the winner advances, and the loser is out. In other formats, it requires two losses to be eliminated. In the format that is most common in National competition, the direct elimination continues until 32 fencers remain, and then, two losses are required to be eliminated.
THE SKILL
There are five lines painted on the strip. Two meters on either side of the
center line are the on guard lines. The fencers begin each touch of the bout behind these lines. Three meters behind the on guard line is the beginning of the warning area. This two-meter area is brightly marked and serves to remind fencers they are approaching the end line of the strip. A fencer passing the end line with both feet is counted as touched. The Three Skills The sport involves three skills: blade work, footwork, and tactics. These skills can be learned at any age and a good fencer is always striving to improve them. Physical size is not considered an important factor due to the nature of the game and the variety of ways in which touches can be scored. Successful fencers come in all shapes and sizes.
1. Blade work is perhaps the most difficult of the essential skills to maser. It permits a skilled fencer to deceive his opponents and reach the target despite the opponent's attempts to defend himself.
2. Footwork, the most physically demanding of the skills, is the one which permits a fencer to move into appropriate positions and distances to allow him to effectively utilize blade work to touch the opponent and to allow him to "get away" to avoid the opponent's attack. 3. Tactics consist of the plans and counter plans utilized by fencers to coordinate use of blade work and footwork against the fencing style of opponents.
TOURNAMENT / COMPETITION
Individual Event
At an individual event, all of the entries are seeded based on past performance, usually the last five (5) competitions. They are divided into pools of between five and seven fencers, which are balanced for strength and club separation based on the seedings. Each fencer in the pool will fence a bout of 5 points or 3 minutes against each of the other members in the same pool. After completion of the pools, a predetermined number of its members will be elevated to the next round (Direct Elimination). The promoted fencers will be organized from best ranking to worst into an elimination table of 16, 32, 64 or 128 fencers. This may be fenced in a single elimination tableau. The fencer losing against an opponent is eliminated form the tournament. Fences will have to fence 3 bouts. Each bout will last 3 minutes followed by a 1 minute rest.
Team Event
In the team event, three fencers with 1 reserve forms a team. Seedings are based on the strength of the fencers comprising the teams. The preliminary round(s) are fenced under the pool format and the later rounds are usually fenced with a single elimination format. In a team match, each of the fencers on the team fences each of the fencers on the other team. Scoring is "relay" style. In Relay, the first thee minute bout is fenced until one fencer has 5 touches. The second bout is fenced until one fencer has ten touches, and so on, until a final score of 45 is reached. It is possible for one fencer to score more than 5 touches in a single bout. Should the score be tied at the end of the final bout, priority is determined by the referee, and an additional minute is fenced.
THE RULES
The rules are divided into four basic categories:
1. The strip rules dealing with the position of the fencers. All fencing action takes place on the fencing strip, as described earlier. The director will stop the bout each time a fencer crosses the lateral boundaries of the strip with one or both feet, or passes an opponent while remaining on the strip. When a fencer leaves the strip with one or both feet, that fencer is penalized one meter of distance, the opponent advancing one-meter from the point he or she occupied at the moment the infraction occurred. If this distance penalty caused the fencer to retread beyond the end line of the strip, he or she is counted at touched. 2. The rules of right-of-way, which determine priority in foil and sabre if both fencers make a touch during the same action. - The rules of right-of-way in judging the priority of hits made in foil and sabre fencing are based on the generalized theory that an individual being threatened with a real sword will first defend himself before initiating his own offensive action. The following order of priority: -A point in line is a fully extended arm - pointing toward the valid target of the opponent and must be in place prior to initiation of an opponent's attack and has the highest priority. The valid target in foil is the front and back of the torso and in sabre, the body above the hips. An advance or retreat by an individual who has established a point in line has no effect on the priority. - An attack is an offensive action made with the arm extending and the point threatening the valid target of the opponent. The attack continues to have priority until it misses the opponent, the opponent parries, or the weapon arm is retracted. - A parry is the defensive action made by deflecting the blade of the attacker away from the target. After successfully parrying the attack, the defender has the right of way to attempt a touch in turn. - A riposte is an action technically executed in the same manner as an attack, but which must be preceded by a parry. - A defender may also respond to an attack by making a counter attack. Although a counter attack is technically executed in the same way as an attack, the counter attacker does not initiate the action but is merely responding to the attacker. The counter attack does not have priority over the attack. Therefore, if both fencers arrive on the target, only the action of the attacker will be considered. If, however, the attacker fails to hit either valid or invalid target, the action of the counter attacker will be counted, and, if it arrives on the valid target, he will be awarded the touch. - In sabre fencing, off-target hits are not registered on the machine and therefore do not stop the bout. - In epee, there is no right-of way or limited target area. The point simply awarded to the first fencer that hits the opponent, anywhere on the body. If both fencers hit simultaneously, a point is awarded to both fencers.
- In all three weapons, the bout is over when one fencer reaches 5 or 15 touches, or time expires.
3. The penalty rules list the infractions for which touches may be added to the score of the opponent or annulled from the fencer who scored while committing an infraction. More severe sanctions may be awarded for serious offenses. 4. The organizational rules regulate the manner of conducting a competition.
PENALTIES
Penalties are divided into four categories. Category 1
penalties are interdependent. Upon the first occurrence of an offense during a bout, the fencer is warned and receives a yellow card. Committing any additional offense during the bout will result in the offender receiving a red card and the opponent receiving a penalty touch. Category 2
penalties are also interdependent. A fencer is given a red card upon first and any subsequent infraction during a bout. Both Category One and Two infractions result in the annulment of a touch made by the offending fencer while committing the offense. Category 3 penalties may be assessed for infractions against safety or the order of the competition. Such infractions can result in penalty touches (red card) or expulsion (black card) from the competition. Category 4 penalties involve unsportsmanlike conduct, using fraudulently modified equipment, collusion or brutality. The infractions result in automatic expulsion (black card) from the competition.
A complete listing of infraction and penalties is found in the FIE Rulebook.
Warning
Cards issued are as follows:-YELLOW CARD
Leaving piste without permission
Simple corps à corps
Corps à corps to avoid being hit
Turning back on opponent
Use of non-sword arm/hand
Covering/substitution of valid target
Leaving the piste to avoid being hit
Interruption of a bout without valid reason
At foil, reversing line of shoulders
Deliberate hit not on opponent
Refusal to obey the Referee
Jostling, falling, disorderly fencing*; taking off mask before the Referee calls
‘Halt’; undressing on the piste
Unjustified appeal
RED CARD
Dangerous, violent or vindictive action, blow with guard or pommel
Fencer disturbing order when on piste
Dishonest fencing*; refusal to salute before the beginning of the bout
(* Annulment of any hit scored by the fencer at fault.)
BLACK CARD
Manifest cheating with equipment Offence against sportsmanship
Deliberate brutality, refusal of both fencers to salute; before the bout; after the final hit scored
Profiting from collusion, favoring an opponent
HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Fencing is physically and mentally demanding, where speed, strength, footwork, finger-work and psychology are essential to winning. For those new to fencing, it is difficult to follow the lightning speed of the fencers' actions. These following hints should be helpful in giving you an eye of the game:
Ø Do not try to watch both fencers, focus on one fencer only (maybe cheer for them)
Ø The fencer who moves forward first with his/her sword arm extended straight is consider the attacker; this is usually accompanied with the blade point being directed towards the opponent’s target area.
Ø The opponent’s defends himself by use of a parry, a motion used to deflect the attacker's blade or push the blade out of the line of attack. He will than make a riposte (attempt to hit the attacker). Thus, the two adversaries keep changing between offense and defense. Whenever a hit is made, the referee will stop the bout, describe the actions, and decide whether or not to award a touch. The referee will also stop the actions if there is an off target attack.
Ø A fencer is defending when taking steps back or when parrying and riposting.
Ø Watch the footwork, and notice how fencers try to maintain distance in order to either launch an attack with a lunge or to assure their defense if the opponent attacks.
Ø Fencers seek to maintain a safe distance from each other, that is, out of range of the
Ø Other’s attack. One will try to break this distance to gain the advantage for an attack.
Ø At times, a fencer will make a false attack to gauge the types of reactions by the opponent in the real attack. (Fencers with good footwork have the advantage)
Ø Try to recognize the split second in which the fencer you are watching tries to provoke a counter action or a reaction from the opponent.
Ø To follow the actions in Foil and Sabre watch also the referee’s hand actions.
Ø Watch also the small controlled movements of the fencer’s hand as the tiny movements they make can take you years to learn
As you become accustomed to the speed of the game, the tactics and strategies become more apparent, and you will gain a better understanding of the finesse and fascination of fencing!
For more
information kindly contact
PJ Lim at 012 482 3255 or email pjlim_2000@yahoo.com
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