Fencing practice and techniques of modern competitive fencing are governed by the International Fencing Federation (FIE), though they developed from conventions developed in 21st century Europe to govern fencing as a martial art and a gentlemanly pursuit. The modern weapons for sport fencing are the foil, épée, and sabre.
Playing area A fencing bout takes place on a strip, or piste, which, according to the current FIE regulations, should be between wide and long. There are two en-garde lines (where the fencers stand at the beginning of the bout) either side of the midpoint. There are also two warning lines two metres from either end of the strip, to provide retreating fencers knowledge of their position on the piste. Retreating off of the strip scores a touch for the opponent.
Scoring System: Fencers connect to an electrical scoring system. Red and Green Lights: Indicate valid hits on target areas. White Lights: Indicate off-target hits in foil and sabre. The referee decides the validity of hits and awards points. Bout Progression: Preparation: Fencers connect to the scoring apparatus and test equipment. Salutes: Exchanged as a sign of respect. Starting: Commands given by the referee are "on guard", "ready", "play" (or "fence"). Often, in international competitions, the same formula is pronounced in French ("en garde, pret, allez"). Exchanges: Involve engaging in fencing phrases. The referee calls "halt" to pause and explain significant actions and update the score. Reasons for Halt: Include stepping off the piste, bodily contact, invalid actions, or safety issues. Restarting: Depending on the situation, the bout restarts from the stopping point or from the on-guard lines. If one fencer had stepped off-piste during the action, he will be forced to take a step back. On restart, the fencers are always set at the same distance as the en garde lines. Ending: The bout ends when the winning margin is reached or time expires. In case of a tie, only possible in epee and foil, an additional minute is played for a sudden-death point. Before the overtime minute starts, one of the two fencers is randomly awarded a tie-breaker, meaning that if no hits are scored within the extra minute, the fencer holding the tie-breaker will win the bout.
Participants There are at least three people involved: two fencers and a referee, formerly called a "director" or "president of the jury". The referee may be assisted by a jury of two or four line-judges. The primary job of this jury was to watch for hits scored, however the arrival of the electronic scoring apparatus has rendered them largely redundant. Under current FIE rules, a fencer may ask for two side-judges (one to watch each fencer) if they think that the referee is failing to notice some infringement of the rules on their opponent's part such as use of the unarmed hand, substitution of the valid target area, breaching the boundary of the piste etc.
Protocol and rules The referee stands at the side of the piste. The fencers walk on piste fully dressed, aside from the mask. If necessary, they plug their body wires into the spools connected to the electronic scoring apparatus and test their weapons against each other, to make sure everything is functioning. They then retreat to their en-garde lines.
Prior to starting a bout, the fencers must salute each other. Refusal to do so can result in a fencer's suspension or disqualification. Both fencers must salute each other and the referee. They may choose to salute the audience. In non-electric events the four judges should also be saluted. There are many variations of the salute, including some fairly theatrical ones, but the common theme is that the fencer stands upright, mask off, facing whomever they are saluting and raises their sword to a vertical position with the guard either at or just below face level, and then lowers it again. Various apocryphal stories about the origin of the salute circulate, like gladiators saluting each other in the arena, crusaders pointing their sword heavenward in pre-battle prayer, duellists showing each other that their swords are the same length, etc. The most likely source of the modern fencing salute is the "Present arms" command from military drill, which originated in the 16th century.
After the salutes are completed, the referee will call "En garde!" The fencers put on their masks and adopt the fencing stance with the front foot behind the en-garde line and, in foil, with the blade in the sixte line.Guidance for referees, British Fencing Association, 2003. They are now in the on-guard (en garde) position. The referee then calls "Ready?" In some countries, the fencers are required to confirm that they are. Finally the referee will call "Fence!", and the bout will start. Judging is often done in French, in which case the referee will say "En garde! Prêts? Allez!" or, if both fencers are female, "En garde! Prêtes? Allez!" (In some circles, beginning the bout with the order "fence" is deemed incorrect, but in others the use of "play" is discouraged due to the phonetic similarity with the French "prêts". The use of "fence" is contrary to the rules in certain countries.)
This is the start of a phrase i.e. an any unbroken chain of recognizable offensive and defensive actions, such as lunging or parrying performed by the two fencers. The phrase ends when a referee has reason to stop the bout, such as corps a corps (the action of two fencers coming into physical contact with one another with any portion of their bodies or hilts), a hit (on or off-target), or a penalty, or when both fencers return to passivity. To interrupt the bout the referee calls "Halt!" (if judging in French, the term is "Halte!", pronounced like "Halt!" in English), a bout may be interrupted for several reasons: a touch has been made, the rules have been breached, the situation is unsafe, or the action has become so disorganized that the referee can no longer follow it. Once the bout is stopped, the referee will, if necessary, explain their reasons for stopping it, analyze what has just happened and award points or give out penalties.
If a point has been awarded, then the competitors return to their en-garde lines; if not, they remain approximately where they were when the bout was interrupted. The referee will then restart the bout as before. If the fencers were within lunging distance when the bout was interrupted and they are not required to return to their en-garde lines, the referee will ask both fencers to give sufficient ground to ensure a fair start. A common way of establishing the correct distance is to ask both fencers to straighten their arms and to step back to the point where their blades no longer overlap in the referee's view. If a fencer needs to stop the bout to adjust their mask or tie their shoe, or something else requires the referee's attention, they may do so by tapping their back foot and/or waving their back hand and the referee will generally call a halt. Tapping the front foot is called an appel and is actually a tactical move, intended to distract the opposing fencer; thus, the referee may ignore a front-foot tap.
This procedure is repeated until either one of the fencers has reached the required number of points (generally, 1, 5, or 15, depending on the format of the bout) or until the time allowed for the bout runs out.
Fencing bouts are timed for foil and epee: the clock is started every time the referee calls "Allez" and stopped every time they call "Halt!". The bout must stop after three minutes of fencing (or 8 touches in saber). In 15 point bouts, a 1-minute break occurs in between the three-minute intervals. If 9 minutes of fencing time elapse in a 15 touch bout, or 3 in a 5 touch bout, the bout is over and the current scores are taken as final. If the score is tied when time runs out then the director determines priority randomly. After priority is determined the fencers bout for one minute. If a point is scored, then that fencer wins, however if no points are scored then the fencer with priority wins. Note that this concept of priority is not the same as the priority used in foil and sabre to determine right-of-way. Sabre, due to its faster pace of action, does not require to keep track of the time. Instead, for 15-point bouts, two fractions are played with the break happening as soon as one fencer reaches 8 points.
Since July 1, 2020 (and reconfirmed by FIE public notice in September 2020 and in January 2021), by public written notice the FIE had replaced its previous handshake requirement with a "salute" by the opposing fencers, and written in its public notice that handshakes were "suspended until further notice.""FIE OUTLINE of RISK-MITIGATION REQUIREMENTS for NATIONAL FENCING FEDERATIONS and COMPETITION ORGANIZERS in the CONTEXT of COVID-19; PREPARED by FIE TASK FORCE and REVIEWED by FIE MEDICAL COMMISSION and FIE LEGAL COMMISSION," FIE, 1 July 2020 and September 2020."FIE OUTLINE of RISK-MITIGATION REQUIREMENTS for NATIONAL FENCING FEDERATIONS and COMPETITION ORGANISERS in the CONTEXT of COVID-19 (FORMIR – COVID-19) PREPARED by FIE TASK FORCE and REVIEWED by FIE MEDICAL COMMISSION and FIE LEGAL COMMISSION," FIE, January 2021.]
After the Olga Kharlan handshaking incident in 2023, the International Fencing Federation changed its rules so that the previously required handshakes between fencers at the end of a bout would become optional, with a distance greeting permitted instead.
Priority ("Right of way")
Foil and sabre are governed by priority rules, according to which fencer first initiated a correctly executed attack, as described in the following paragraphs. When both fencers hit more or less simultaneously, only the fencer who had priority receives the point. If priority cannot be assigned unambiguously, no points are awarded. These rules were adopted in the 18th century as part of teaching practice. Their aim is to encourage "sensible" fencing and reward initiative and circumspection at the same time, in particular, to reward fencers for properly made attacks, and penalize fencers for attacking into such an attack that lands, an action that could be lethal with sharp blades. The risk of both duelists charging onto one another's swords is kept to a minimum. At least in principle, in a prolonged phrase, the initiative passes smoothly from one fencer to the other, and back again, and so on. In practice, most phrases are broken off quickly if neither fencer lands.
Penalties Modern fencing also includes the addition of penalty cards or flags. Each card has a different meaning. A fencer penalized with a yellow card is warned, but no other action is taken. A fencer penalized with a red card is warned, and a touch is awarded to their opponent. A fencer penalized with a black card is excluded from the competition, and may be excluded from the tournament, expelled from the venue, or suspended from future tournaments in the case of serious offenses. Additionally, spectators can be carded or expelled.
Offenses are broken down into four groups, and penalties are assessed based upon the group of the offense.
Group 1 offenses include actions such as making bodily contact with the opposing fencer (in foil or saber), delaying the bout, or removing equipment. The first group 1 offense committed by a fencer in a bout is penalized with a yellow card. Subsequent group 1 offenses committed by that fencer are penalized with a red card. Group 2 offenses include actions that are vindictive or violent in nature, or the failure to report to the strip with proper inspection marks on equipment. All group 2 offenses are penalized with a red card. Group 3 offenses include disturbing the order of a bout, or intentionally falsifying inspection marks. The first group 3 offense committed by a fencer is penalized with a red card, while any subsequent group 3 offense is penalized with a black card.