On Guard

Author: Sky Alton

​

Fencing is one of the sports that has been featured in every Modern Olympic Games. However, there are a lot of misconceptions about what actually happens during a bout. When I became a fencer, it meant leaving behind a lot of the romantic notions I’d had about the sport. While fencing is fun and exhilarating, it is very different to the swashbuckling battles of fantasy and historical films that had attracted me to it.
 

First of all, modern fencing is actually three sports gathered together under a banner term and each named for the weapon you use. Foil fencing is the most carefully disciplined and involves the greatest amount of etiquette. It is the lightest weapon and you score touches with the tip alone; in addition, points only count if they land on your opponent’s torso (not their arms, legs or head). Epee is another thrusting weapon (where points are scored with the tip) but is substantially heavier than foil. Any part of your opponent’s body is fair game so it can be quite brutal. Sabre is the style that’s most like what you might see in the films. This is the only modern fencing type where you can use the edge of your blade to score points so it has a much more slashing action than either of the other two. For sabre, the target range is anything above the waste, including the head (though not the hands).
 

Fencing gear is several layers of reinforced cotton and other tough fabrics. While women can choose to wear a chest plate, there isn’t actually any armour plating or extra padding involved. The most ‘armour’ like aspect is the heavy metal and plastic mask that protects the entire head. The fencing swords aren’t the elegant, flat blades Godric Gryffindor would have been used to either. They are very thin and flexible; they’re also designed to bend when they make contact for safety. The epee has a large, dome like guard to protect the fighters hand as that is part of the target area. In sabre and foil, the guards are smaller. The grips beneath also vary. In epee and foil a ‘pistol grip’ is often preferred; this has prongs for you to wrap your fingers around for a tighter hold and more subtle finger control. Alternatively, a straight French grip can be used for any weapon, most particularly sabre.
 

In competitions or even friendly bouts, electric equipment is used to measure touches and keep score. A fencer will wear a cable down their sleeve that is connected to the scoring box on a reel, allowing them to move forward and back. In epee, this cable plugs into a socket on the guard of the weapon which leads to a very narrow wire down the length of the blade that connects to a spring in the tip. When the spring is depressed, a point is registered. For foil and sabre, fighters must wear an extra jacket known as a lame which is connected
to their blade and also to the scoring box. The jacket will register any contact from the opponent’s blade.
 

Fencing is also a lot less fluid than it seems. Each fighter must start on the ‘on-guard line’ and advance towards their opponent. Once they’ve engaged, they will be aiming to get in a touch before their opponent. Once a valid touch has been registered, the referee will pause the bout and the fencers must resume their starting positions. While individual ‘phrases’ can go on for a while and be a thrilling clash of parrying blades, modern fencing doesn’t have the same kind of brutal continuity that you’d expect from a duel.