A Wise Athlete Sport and education. Both.
Get the app

The base at home, the sport at a club

Fencing at home

A mask, a blunt weapon, a partner and a coach; at home, the rules, the words and the footwork without a weapon.

5 cards at home 6 for the club

What should we practise today?

Tell us where you are and who is playing. You get one card and the reason.

Where are you?
Who is playing?

Start a session

New to fencing? The game in a minute

Read this once before the first card.
The sport in short

Two fencers face each other on a long, narrow strip and try to touch each other with a blunt sword, while stopping the other's touches. Both wear a mask, a padded jacket and a glove. A light on the scoring machine shows each touch.

How a touch scores

There are three weapons. With the foil, only the tip counts, on the body from the neck to the groin. With the épée, only the tip counts, anywhere on the body. With the sabre, the tip or the edge counts, anywhere above the waist.

How a bout is won

The first to 5 touches wins a short bout, and the first to 15 wins a longer one in the knock-out rounds. In foil and sabre, when both fencers hit at once, the referee gives the touch to the one who had the right of way: the one who attacked first, unless the other blocked it first.

Rules children break first
  • Never point a weapon at anyone who is not wearing a mask.
  • Start only on "fence", not on "ready".
  • Stop at once on "halt".
  • Carry the weapon with the tip pointing at the floor.
  • Salute before a bout and shake hands after it, win or lose.
At home you learn without a weapon

The referee's words, the grip with a wooden spoon, the fencing stance, stepping forward and back, the lunge, the target areas and keeping the distance. Everything with a weapon is at a club.

Words you will hear (31, in plain language)
Strip
The long, narrow floor area where fencers fence; 14 m long.
Bout
One fencing match between two fencers.
Touch
Landing the weapon on the other fencer's target; one touch is one point.
Target
The part of the body where a touch counts.
Foil
The three weapons. Foil and épée score with the tip; sabre with the tip or the edge.
Mask
The helmet with a mesh front that protects the face and head. The bib at the bottom covers the throat.
Plastron
A padded half-jacket worn under the jacket on the weapon-arm side.
Salute
Raising the weapon to the face toward the other fencer and the referee before a bout.
Referee
The person who starts and stops the bout and decides who scored.
En garde
The referee's calls: take your stance; get ready; start fencing; stop.
En garde (stance)
The fencing stance: feet apart on a line, front foot pointing forward, back foot across, knees bent.
Advance
A step forward: front foot first, back foot follows.
Retreat
A step back: back foot first, front foot follows.
Half step
A small step, or two steps joined quickly.
Lunge
A long reach forward: the arm extends, the back leg pushes, the front foot lands far ahead.
Recover
Pushing back from a lunge into the en garde stance.
Distance
The gap between two fencers, measured by how far each can reach.
Right of way
In foil and sabre, the rule that the fencer who attacked first gets the touch, unless the other blocked the attack first.
Parry
Blocking the other fencer's blade with your own.
Riposte
An attack made straight after a parry.
Lines
The four parts of the target, each with a number: 6 high outside, 4 high inside, 8 low outside, 7 low inside. Outside is the side away from the body.
Disengage
Moving the blade under the other blade to attack on the other side.
Cut-over
Moving the blade over the top of the other blade to attack on the other side.
Feint
Pretending to attack in one place so the other fencer moves, then hitting somewhere else.
Beat
Ways of touching the other blade before attacking: a sharp tap, a push, or crossing blades.
Counter-attack
Attacking into the other fencer's attack.
Second intention
An action done on purpose to draw a reply, so the fencer can score from that reply.
Fleche
A running attack in foil and épée.
Body cord
The wire under the jacket that connects the weapon to the scoring machine.
Tip
The blunt point of the weapon.
Armoury
Where weapons and kit are tested and repaired.

Try it, nothing to buy

Mark the space once. Every card starts from it.
A suggested first ten sessions (optional)
  1. b1 · Safety words and the referee commands
  2. b2 · The grip and en garde, without a weapon
  3. b3 · Advance, retreat, lunge
  4. b4 · The four lines and distance
  5. b6 · Mirror and keep the distance

The cards, level by level

Nobody is late. A beginner of any age starts at Basic.
Basic 6 cards · show· hide Safety rules, the grip and en garde, the four lines, advance and retreat, the lunge, distance, and the referee words. Group lessons with partner work and small groups, no competition yet.

Move on when the child can do the footwork on calls and keep balance after each movement.

Intermediate 3 cards · show· hide Simple attacks (straight, disengage, cut-over), parries and ripostes, preparations (engagement, beat, press), compound attacks, the fleche, and setting up actions. Electric scoring and basic tactics come in here. All with a coach.
Advanced 2 cards · show· hide Steady competing focused on the process, many hours a week of fencing, a personal style and a support team; commitment, courage and self-discipline. What to learn for each weapon is set by the coach.

Teaching this at home

Movement, safety and the words at home. The sport itself needs water, a boat, a horse or a coach.

You do not need to know the sport. Each card tells you where to stand, what to say and what to look at. Pick one thing to say in a session and say only that. The first week looks messy; that is normal. End every session on one that works.

Cards marked At a club are taught by a coach. They tell you what the coach teaches, what is safe at home, and what to ask the club before your child joins.

How to warm up before playing is at workonfitness.com. The rules of the game are at sportsmaze.com.

Read next