Fencing

The Basics of Fencing

Fencing is the art of fighting that has come to be known with cutting, stabbing, and bludgeoning using weapons in the hand. This is instead of throwing objects like knives or clubs. In our times it is most notably associated with the modern Olympic sport. There are three broad areas of this and they are competitive fencing, fencing as a martial art, and other forms of fencing. Many people do not understand the exact rules of the sport so an explanation of exactly what it is will follow.

There are three main weapons for fencing that have survived through time and they are the foil, epee, and saber. The foil is the light weapon that was created in the 17th century as merely a training weapon for swordsmen because they did not want to kill all their training partners to this was a safe alternative. Hits that happen with this weapon can only count towards a score when the target area, which is the torso, is struck by the tip of the foil. With technology being as effective as it is, there are electric tips on foils now that are used to calculate the ratio of hits and scores without having to manually keep this up.

Epee is a type of weapon and form of fencing that has origins even further back than the foil, the 16th century in Spain. To score with this weapon, just as with the foil, the tip must strike the target area on the opponent. The difference here is that anywhere on the body can targeted for points in this form of the sport. There are double points awarded if there are multiple hits within a fraction of a second of each other. This means that each player will receive a point instead of just one player for this and not just one player.

There is a cutting style weapon in the world of fencing and it is known as the saber. It has a curved guard and a triangular shaped blade. With this weapon and the electronic scoring mechanism, any part of the sword to touch and opponent will give the player a point. The saber that is used today took its origins from the cavalry one that was used hundreds of years ago. For fencing that uses a saber, the target area that can be hit for a point is anything above the waist.

There are protective clothing pieces worn for this sport. It is made with tough cotton or nylon. In recent years, Kevlar has been added as part of the top pieces, such as the mask. It is now being replaced by other fabrics that can withstand various temperature changes. In most traditional fencing situations, the uniform that is worn is a white color one. This color aids the judges when they are scoring a match.