About the sport
Fencing 101: weapons, equipment, and scoringMeet the weapons
Modern day fencing is composed of three different disciplines: the foil, the épée, and the saber. Each discipline specializes in a different weapon and rules. Our club offers members the opportunity to practice disciplines and members are free to specialize in any or all of them.
Epee
Target Area: full body
Contact: only with the tip
No Priority
Foil
Target Area: Only torso
Contact: Only with the tip
Unique Priority
Sabre
Target Area: Above the waist
Contact: Whole blade
Unique Priority
Equipment
An introduction to the protective clothing worn by fencers. New members can borrow equipment from our armory or order their own in our yearly gear order. Those interested in learning more about electric equipment and different weapons can read wikipedia’s fencing article.
Jacket (upper body protection)
Plastron (underarm protection)
Chest protector (worn under the jacket & plastron)
Knickers (upper leg protection – ending just above the knees)
Mask (face and neck protection)
Glove (sword hand and upper arm protection)
Long socks (lower leg protection)
Sleeve (extra arm protection – useful if you get hit often)
Competition
All official tournaments use electronic scoring. Fencers connect their blades to a scoring box that will tell the fencers who scored. In collegiate tournaments, bouts are first to five touches and each school fences each person in the other school once.
New members who want to know more about tournament formats can contact the squad captains.