So, you’ve decided to take up fencing…

Maybe you saw a movie that inspired you, perhaps it was a video game or book, maybe it was something you’ve always wanted to do but never could find the time or place to try it. Whatever your reason for starting this journey, we welcome you to the sport of fencing! 

Where does fencing come from?

Fencing is a sport that is derived from a long lineage of European swordplay. While the art of sword fighting stretches as far back as Ancient Egypt - modern fencing is a direct descendant of the duelling era of Renaissance Europe! After the invention of gunpowder swordsmen left the heavy suits of armour and two-handed swords at home and took to the streets to defend their honour in duels with single-handed weapons which we call rapiers. During the duelling eras, fencing was a way of settling debates, self defence, fighting for your honour, or simply showing off. Oftentimes these turned into messy affairs - thankfully that isn’t the case in modern fencing. Fast forward a few centuries and this longstanding tradition eventually evolved into the modern sport that we call fencing!

Of course, there are many clubs who still practice this older style of swordplay today! Of course, now the weapons aren’t sharp but the idea is still the same; how do I hit and not get hit!

MODERN OLYMPIC Sport fencing

In the modern form of fencing, two opponents face off with the goal to score a set number of points to win the match. There are three main styles of fencing; foil, epee, and sabre. While each discipline of fencing may look similar on the outside, all three of them have a different ruleset and scoring convention.

Did you know that fencing is one of the most important Olympic sports? In fact, fencing is one of the very few sports that have been included in every modern Olympic games since the games inception in 1896!

Epee Fencing

Epee is pretty simple and straightforward! Whenever a fencer scores a point by touching the other fencer with the tip of their blade, they are awarded a point and if both fencers hit each other at the same time, they both get a point! We like to call this, scoring a touch. In epee, the target area is the whole body which means you can score a touch anywhere on your opponent however you can only do so with the tip of the blade.

Some consider epee the most similar to historical rapier fencing since anywhere is target area and the weapon itself has a large guard to protect the fencers hand. Epee is also the easiest to watch since the rule system is very simple and the bout is typically fenced at a slower pace. So oftentimes when you see fencing in a TV show or movie, you will most likely see epees being used!

Sabre Fencing

 Unlike in epee where you can only score a point with the tip of the blade, in sabre you can score a point using the entire length of your blade! Where epee takes its rule system from renaissance duelling, sabre comes from a military horseback tradition where cutting motions were most useful. As such, in modern sabre fencers typically score most of their points with the side of blade with cuts! Unlike epee, you can only score a touch in sabre on the designated target area; above the waist so if you hit the legs of your opponent you are not awarded a point. Additionally, sabre also has a different scoring system!

In sabre, only one fencer can score a point at any time. This is decided based on a system we call priority; essentially the fencer who attacks first has priority (right of way) and the other fencer must defend the attack before starting their own attack. This can be pretty difficult when you also consider how fast sabre can be. Where epee is slow and patient, sabre is fast and explosive! Sabre is like a game of rock, paper, scissors but with swords.

Foil Fencing

Last but not least, foil! Back in the early days of fencing, foil was once seen as the beginners weapon because it has transferable skills for sabre and epee. Similar to epee, you can only score a point with the tip of the blade. However, just like with the sabre, only one fencer can score a touch at a time and you can only score a touch on the designated target area - the torso!

What started as the introductory weapon quickly evolved into one of the more technical and physically challenging types of fencing. Epee requires patience and careful strategies, sabre requires speed and power, and foil has all of the above! Biased as we may be since we are primarily a foil club, we find that the weapon of foil has some of the greatest depth since there are so many different ways to approach winning a foil bout! Do you want to be patient and careful, or do you want to rely on athleticism and out-speed your opponent. Both are valid ways of scoring points in foil!

Is fencing safe?

Funny enough, it is one of the safest sports you can do. In 2008, a study was compiled, ranking common injuries in Olympic sports, and fencing was ranked safer than badminton. In fact you’re more likely to get hurt doing track and field then you are fencing!

Why fencing?

Simply put, playing with swords is cool and it also happens to be one of the most unique sports! Get ready for everyone to say “wow, that’s so cool! I have never met anyone who’s fenced before!” every time you mention that you took up fencing. Aside from scoring bragging rights, it is also an incredible workout for the mind and body! Fencing is like you are trying to solve an ever evolving puzzle while sword fighting! How do you score a touch on your opponent, while not letting them score a touch on you.

Unlike many other sports where a specific body type or skillset is advantageous, there are no dominant advantages in fencing. You can adapt your style to how you want to fence! If you’re tall you may have more reach, but you also have more target area. If you are short, you have less reach, but less target area! Are you fast? Use that to your advantage and out speed your opponent. Maybe you want to play a slower more deliberate game? Let your sword do the talking and score points with technical blade work!

The best part? All of these are valid approaches to winning a bout, and the better you get at fencing the more complex the game becomes and the more fun fencing is!