#Fencing touche vs foil series

Parry : Defensive action in which a fencer blocks his opponent’s blade. Lunge: Most common attacking technique, in which the fencer launches themselves at their opponent by pushing off from the back leg (which generally remains stationary). Guard: Part action in which a fencer blocks his opponent’s blade. Evolved recently after the FIE modified saber rules in 1992 to prohibit running attacks.

one that the referee will acknowledge), the fencer’s hand must be clearly extending towards their opponent’s valid target in a threatening manner.īeat: Sharp tap on the opponent’s blade to initiate an attack or provoke a reaction.Įngagement: Contact between the fencers’ blades – often as the prelude to an attack.Įn Garde: Position taken before fencing commences.įeint: A false attack intended to get a defensive reaction from the opposing fencer, thus creating the opportunity for a genuine attack (“feint‐disengage attack”)įleche: Explosive, running attack (Foil and Epee only)įlunge: Action unique to saber – a combination of a lunge and a fleche. In foil and saber, the fencer who attacks first acquires the “right‐of‐way.” In order to execute an attack properly (i.e.

#Fencing touche vs foil series

And a leaping, running attack is called a flÃ¨che.Advance: Taking a step towards one’s opponent.Īttack: Movement or series of movements by which a fencer tries to score a point. One that starts before a stoppage in play but lands after is called a coup lancÃ©. An attack that strongly grazes the opponent's blade is a froissement. For instance, the strip on which the bouts take place is the piste. Like ballet, fencing is of (mostly) French origin and uses a list of French words longer than the average baguette. First, the edge of the saber can be used as well as the point, so slashes are valid hits and second, the bout does not stop after an off-target hit, so the opponents will whack and slash at each other until a legal hit is registered, making it a hoot to watch. But two big differences make saber the most frenetic of the disciplines. The target area is anything from the waist up (the parts you'd be swinging at if you and your opponents were both on horses). The fencing saber is heavier and has a large, curved hand guard. The last discipline is saber, an incredibly fast-paced whack fest that's a hand-me-down from the days of cavalrymen slashing away on horseback. Like foil, Ã©pÃ©e touches must be made with only the tip, and both disciplines require the fencers to stop after each touch is made, whether on a valid target area or not.

In Ã©pÃ©e, a person's whole body is fair game, including the head. And that's the origin of the Ã©pÃ©e, a heavier, more rigid version of the foil, with a triangular blade and a larger, 'bowl-shaped' blade guard (to protect the hand). If you are really dueling with a seriously sharp rapier, any touch anywhere on the body would smart. Basically, foil fencing is a modernized form of what was, traditionally, sword-fighting practice-like, if someone made a sport out of hitting tackling blocks. The arms, legs, and head are no good, and only hits with the foil's tip are counted. In foil, the only valid target is the opponent's trunk (roughly from the top of the collar to the crotch in front, and to the top of the hipbones in the back). The first is foil, the lightest and most flexible of the fencing weapons. To begin with, fencing can be broken down into three major categories.

For instance, in modern fencing, the touches are registered electronically but there's still a referee (also called a president) who can call hits that didn't register electronically or overrule ones that did. The Explanation: To the uninitiated, fencing can be a bit baffling.