FENCING

FENCING A Digital Sports Handbook Edrianna Angel Ognita

1 HISTORY OF FENCING The earliest evidence that has been found on the sport goes back to 1200 B.C.E., where a carving was found depicting a sport with protective weapons with tips, and masks. The Greek and Roman civilizations practiced swordsmanship but the emphasis regressed through the Dark Ages, due the collapse of the Roman civilization during around 476 C.E., when the barbarian invaders brought their heavy weapons to the area. In the beginning of the Renaissance during the fourteenth century, the introduction of fast, light weapons returned. With a few rare exceptions, the sword was still known as a heavy, clumsy weapon. It was used mostly as a weapon for dealing with armor-hewing blows, and had little point work involved. The fifteenth century was the beginning of modern fencing as we know it today. Spain was known for having the first fencers in the sport, and also produced the first two manuals for the sport in 1471 and 1474 respectively. Italians starting using the rapier, and fencing greats such as Agripa, Grasi, and Vigiani emerged. In the sixteenth century, the sport had a huge surge in popularity. The queen of France had many of the masters from Italy come to introduce the sport in 1567. Her son King Charles IX, recognized the French Fencing Academy, and started to award titles to these new men. These masters were the first to define and classify different terms to fencing attack methods. The seventeenth century brought the introduction of the foil in France as a light weapon for the purpose of training. This brought new rules to the game that gave new ways to attack and defend, and also made the game safer. In 1780, the mask was introduced to the sport of fencing by La Boessiere, another safety precaution. This made the game much more popular–less fatal and much more strategic.

2 HISTORY OF FENCING While the game was known in the old world for quite some time, it came to America in the 1860s because of immigrants from Italy and France. The first fencing school was introduced in America in 1874. The Olympics recognized the sport of fencing at the first modern Olympic games in 1896, and women's fencing was introduced in 1924. In the early times of the twentieth century, the FIE or the International Fencing Federation was founded in France. The French, Italians and Hungarians dominated most fencing competitions for the first half of the century. Then a new generation focusing on speed and quickness was introduced by the Russians and Italians. The new focus on speed and the introduction of the electronic scoring machine gave the game an even more strategic element.

COURT DIMENSION 3 The Fencing Field of Play, known as the piste, is used for fencing matches and training either in groups or individually. Five lines are drawn clearly at right angles and a centerline cuts across the whole width with each side of the centerline having two en-garde lines on each of the center. Height: .375” | 10 mm Width: 4.92’-6.56’ | 1.5-2 m (Contest) Length: 45.93’ | 14 m (Contest) Area: 21-28 ft² | 2-2.6 m² En-garde Lines: 78.75” | 2 m (from center) Warning Zones: 78.75” | 2 m (from end) Runoff Extension: 59”-78.75” | 1.5-2 m Safety Border: 9.84” | 25 cm Side Clearance: 9.84’ | 3 m End Clearance: 13.12’ | 4 m Overall Area (Clearance): 2378 ft² | 221 m²

4 EQUIPMENTS

5 BASIC, TACTICAL, AND TECHNICAL SKILLS

6 RULES OF THE GAME OBJECT OF THE GAME The object of the game is to use your weapon to strike your opponent whilst avoiding being hit yourself. Simple, ruthless and – if you get it wrong – painful. RULES OF FENCING Fencers must salute one another and the referee at the beginning and end of the bout, with failure to do so can result in the loss of a point (the winner) or even suspension (the loser). Points are scored by hitting your opponent in accordance with the specific requirements for the type of weapon being used (as detailed above). In foil, strikes outside the target area stop the contest before resuming afresh, however strikes with the blade (whilst not counting) do not stop the action; the latter rule also applies to the epée. Barging the opponent, using your hand to cover the target zone or foot faults can lead to a points penalty at the referee’s discretion.

7 RULES OF THE GAME SCORING Scoring is done differently in the three variants of fencing. When using the the foil only strikes to the torso, neck, groin and back count and points can only be won using the tip of the weapon, not the side of the blade. With the sabre strikes beneath the waist do not count, the rule originating in the cavalry days when striking an opponent’s horse was considered ungentlemanly. The hands do not register as a hit but the competitors may use both the tip and blade of the sabre to score. As with the foil, should players strike each other at the same time the referee will use the “right of way” rule, awarding the point to the competitor who began their attack first. With the epée the right of way rule does not apply and both fencers may score simultaneously, unless it is the deciding point when neither strike counts. Only the tip of the weapon may be used and the entire body is a target in epée.

8 RULES OF THE GAME WINNING At the Olympic Games matches are contested over three three- minute rounds, with the winner being either the first to 15 points or whoever has the most hits after the three rounds. Other scoring protocols exist and are usually based on the first fencer to a predetermined number of points , with a five point/three minute system quite common. PENALTIES .If a fencer steps beyond the strip’s legal side boundaries, the official will award 1 meter, or approximately 3 feet, of ground to the opponent on the restart. Stepping beyond the strip’s rear limit results in an awarded touch to the opponent. Officials may also award touches to the opponent if a fencer attacks with both hands, if a fencer doesn’t obey instructions or if a fencer displays poor sportsmanship or overly violent behavior.

HOW TO OFFICI ATE THE SPORT 9 Determination of whether or not a hit arrived (materiality) is done by a voting process involving the referee and jury. Determination of whether a hit is awarded or not (validity) is done by the referee alone by applying the rules of right of way in foil or sabre or priority in epee. For each action in a phrase the referee questions the two judges watching the fencer against whom the action is directed. The order in which the referee questions is immaterial, but both must be asked before the referee states his or her vote. The judges and the referee vote as follows: Yes - a \"yes\" vote means that the judge or referee has seen the hit arrest on the opponent on the target for that weapon. This vote is used in all three weapons. Yes, but not valid - a \"yes but not valid\" (often colloquially stated as \"off target\") means that the judge or referee has seen a hit arrest, but that the hit was not on the valid target. This vote is used in only in foil (unless you are fencing sabre under older rules with an off-target area in sabre). Hits off the sabre target area in dry bouts intended to resemble the conditions of modern fencing are \"no.\" No - a \"no\" vote means the judge or referee saw where the blade went and that it did not land with an arrest. In foil or epee, it may have slapped or grazed the target. In all three weapons it simply may not have landed at all. Abstain - a vote of \"abstain\" means that the judge or referee was not able to see where the hit landed, or if it did, because it was out of the field of view or otherwise could not be determined. Each judge has 1 vote. The referee has 1 ½ votes. There are thus a total of 3 ½ possible votes on each determination of materiality. Abstentions do not count as a vote. The voting process can arrive at the following conclusions: (1) The two judges agree on no (no hit arrived), yes but not valid (a hit arrived but off target), or yes (a material hit occurred). (2) If one judge has a definite vote and the other abstains, the referee's vote determines the materiality.

HOW TO OFFICI ATE THE SPORT 10 (3) If the two judges have a definite vote, but the votes are contrary, or if both judges abstain, the referee's vote determines the materiality. (4) If all three officials abstain the result is a doubtful hit. In this case the referee may ask the judges on the opposite end of the strip if they observed a hit if the referee believes they may have been better placed to see a hit (a hit to the back as an example). There are special cases which complicate this further. If one judge votes no, the other yes but not valid, and the referee votes yes, there is agreement that there has been a hit, but there is no agreement that the hit was on the valid target. Any following action is annulled. And if one judge votes yes and the other yes but not valid with the referee abstaining, there is agreement that there was a hit, but no agreement as to where. Again following action is annulled. The doubtful hit occupies a special place in determining materiality and validity. If Fencer A scores a doubtful hit, and Fencer B scores a material hit following, Fencer B's hit is annulled and no touch awarded in the phrase. However, if Fencer A scores a doubtful hit, no intervening hit is scored by Fencer B, and Fencer A scores on a subsequent remise or riposte, then Fencer A's second hit is allowed. As noted above, if a doubtful hit results where there was agreement that a hit arrived, but whether the hit was on valid target, all subsequent action is annulled. The voting process should be handled with a minimum of delay. Slow and hesitant action by the referee and unsure votes by the judges confuse the fencers and cause a loss of confidence in the officials. This means that anyone refereeing dry bouts must practice and practice until the process of voting becomes automatic.

11 References: Fencing. (2017, April 5). New World Encyclopedia, . Retrieved 12:16, April 4, 2022 from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php? title=Fencing&oldid=1004133 Green, W. (2010, October 23). Fencing Officiating - Refereeing Dry Bouts IV. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Fencing--­ Officiating--­-­­Refereeing-D­ ry-­Bouts-I­V&id=5256951 Lynch, W. (2018, December5) from https://www.sportsrec.com/8080890/5-main-rules-of-fencing https://www.dimensions.com/element/fencing-piste https://www.rulesofsport.com/sports/fencing.html https://www.wikihow.com/Understand-Basic-Fencing-Terminology https://pin.it/51Q458F

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