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Fencing is a modern Olympic sport, which evolved from the duelling weapons used in Europe in the 18th century and 19th century. Swordplay as sport has been around since the 13th century BC, when Egyptians first competed against one another with non-lethal weapons.

In its modern guise, fencing consists of three different weapons: foil, épée and sabre. They are all used at international level, and all but Women's Sabre are represented at Olympic level. (Women's Sabre will make its debut at the 2004 Olympic Games.)

Fencing takes place on a strip, or piste, with 2 fencers, facing one another. The piste is between 1.5 and 2 metres wide, and 14 metres long. Opponents start in the middle of the piste, 4 metres apart, in the en garde position.

A president, or director, or referee, presides over the fight, called a bout. His/her duties include keeping score, keeping time (if there is no other time keeper), allocating hits and maintaining the order of the bout. He/she stands to the side of the piste, watching the bout.

The aim of each competitor is to hit the opponent on their valid target area, and timing those hits so that they are not also hit according to the rules for the weapon they are using.

The Weapons

The three weapons used in modern fencing are:

• Foil
• Epée
• Sabre

Foil used to be the first weapon taught to beginners, because it introduced the complexities of 'right of way'(see below for sabre details). The basic techniques learnt at foil also translate reasonably to épée, and the rules translate reasonably to sabre. Other reasons were that women were only allowed to fence foil, and the lightness of the weapon made it easier to handle by children.

With the advent of lighter materials, the availability of weapons in a variety of sizes and the fact that women can now fence all three weapons it is now possible to start fencing with any weapon.

Foil

The modern foil is descended from the classical foil, the training weapon for 17th century small-sword, a lighter version of the rapier (rapier foil are also known to have been used but thay were very different in terms of wieght and use). It is a lighter, smaller version of the épée, with a much more flexible blade. It is a point weapon, in that you must hit the opponent with the tip of the blade, with a force of at least 0.5 Newtons.

The valid target area at foil is limited, due to it having evolved from the practice weapon for épée. When fencing was practiced with limited safety equipment, hits to the face were dangerous, so the head was removed from valid target. The target was then further reduced to only the trunk of the body, as this was the easiest target to protect well.

Épée

The modern épée is the closest weapon to an actual classical duelling épée (descended from the 18th century smallsword) that is used in modern fencing. It is a long, straight and quite heavy sword, with a triangular blade that does not flex very much. It has a large round bell-shaped guard above the handle.

The épée is a point weapon, and in order for a point to register, you must hit the opponent with 0.75 Newtons of force using the tip. Hitting the opponent with the edge of the blade does not count.

The reason for the large guard is that the hand is valid target, as is the rest of the body. Any hit which arrives on the body counts, provided it arrives either before the other person lands a hit or up to a certain time period after the other persons hit arrives. If both competitors land a hit, then each scores a point.

Sabre

Sabres are radically different from the other weapons, in that they are edged weapons. There is no need to hit the opponent with any force at all - simply contacting your blade (the side or the point) to anywhere in the target area is sufficient to register a hit. As such, sabre fencing tends to be faster than épée or foil.

The modern saber is descended from the classical North Italian duelling saber, a far lighter weapon than the cavalry saber.

The target area originates from duelling sabre training. To attack the opponent's leg would allow him to "slip" that leg back and attack one's exposed arm or head given that the higher line attack will outreach the low line (see a classic example of the leg slip in Angelo's "Hungarian and Highland Broadsword" of 1790). The target area is from the waist up therefore, and similar right of way rules exist for sabre as they do for foil.

Right of Way

The 'right of way' principle of foil, mentioned above, moves fencing further from replicating deadly duels and more towards a sport, with rules which add to the game. The basic idea behind right of way is that the first person to attack has priority - if one fencer attacks, and the other immediately counter-attacks into the attack, and each hits the other, the first fencer gets a point, the second does not. If an attack fails, then the priority switches sides - you are effectively taking turns to hit one another.

Attacks can be made to fail either by bad luck, mis-judgement or by action on the part of the defender. Parrying (blocking the attack with the blade) causes priority to change and for the defender to have the opportunity to attack.

As with épée, both fencers will register a hit if they contact within a certain time of each other. Then the president must decide who had right of way at the time of the hits, and therefore who gets a point. If the president cannot tell, then they will declare the touches null, and restart the fight from where it stopped.

It has been suggested that, foil being a teaching tool, right of way may derive from a salle exercise aimed at developing conservative and defensive tactics rather than suicidal attack, important when training for the duel.

Protective Clothing

The clothing which is worn in modern fencing is made of tough cotton, nylon or kevlar. It includes the following items of clothing:

• Figure hugging jacket, covering groin and with strap which goes between the legs
• Half jacket (plastron) which goes underneath the jacket and provides double protection on the sword arm side
• Glove, which prevents swords going up your sleeve and causing injury, as well as protecting the hand
• Breeches (knickers), knee length
• Knee length socks
• Mask, including bib which protects the neck

This is all intended to prevent serious injury (anything worse than a small cut or a large bruise).

Electronic scoring equipment

Electronic scoring is used in all major national and international, and most local, competitions. Additional clothing is required for foil and sabre. Foil fencers wear a conducting vest which covers the torso and groin. Sabre fencers wear a conducting jacket, sleeve and mask. In both weapons, the fencers' weapons are also wired. When a fencer scores a touch on an opponent, this completes an electric circuit which sets off a buzzer and notifies the referee that a touch has been scored. The referee is, in theory, free to observe right-of-way and need not have side judges present to determine whether a touch in fact occurred.

In épée, the fencers carry special weapons with compressible tips. When a touch is scored, the tip of the ép&eacutee compresses, completing the circuit and signalling a touch. Since target area is the entire body, the fencers do not wear special clothing. However, the strip itself must be grounded, to prevent a touch from scoring when the tip of an ép&eacutee hits the strip (as opposed to striking the opponent's toe, for example).

Fencers and fencing masters

• Aldo Nadi, gold and silver medalist in the 1920 Summer Olympic Games, well-known fencing master, and author of the classic text, "On Fencing".
• Italo Santelli, the fencing master who revolutionized sabre fencing with the "Hungarian" style in the 1920s.
• Georgio Santelli, Italo's son, founder of the Santelli salle in New York City.
• Laszlo Szabo, the Hungarian master who defined a system for developing coaches
• Imre Vass, who produced the definitive guide to ép&eacue;e fencing
• Peter Westbrook, bronze medalist in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, 13-time US National Men's Sabre Champion, author of "Harnessing Anger"
• Sharon Montplasir
• Janice Romary
• Iris Zimmerman
• Felicia Zimmerman