About Fencing

Equipment List:


Mask

Masks come in XS, S, M, and L. If you land between sizes, you may want to consider ordering the larger size mask with the removable liner that adds padding and can be taken out once the fencer grows into the mask. The mask should fit snuggly. You don't want the mask to "wobble" when moving your head up and down or side to side.


Gloves

They come in XS, S, M, and L. You only need one for your dominant hand.


Electric Epee

  • Size of blade: size 5 blade for fencers Y12 & up.
  • Make sure to order a wired epee with German tip, German wire and German screws.
  • Type of grip: There are several types of "pistol grips" and "French grips". Try out different grips to see what feels best and check with your coach. Specify left or right handed.
  • Bell Guard: The standard bell guard should be fine, or if you prefer for a few dollars more you can purchase the ultra-light titanium bell guard.
  • Pad for the bell guard: There are many colors to choose from and it is personal preference, however the clear pad offers easy visibility to the weapon's wiring for referees.


Body Cord


Knickers


Jacket

Either a cotton or stretch material jacket. Make sure to specify left or right handed.


Cotton Plastron

Make sure to specify left or right handed.


Chest Protector

These come in XS, S, M, and L. They are available in men's or women's style. Hard chest protectors are only required for female fencers.


Knee Length Socks (provided by MHS fencing club)


Shoes (for beginner, any sport shoes is sufficient)


Protective Sheath for Weapons

We recommend you have a sheath for each epee to protect the fine-tuned mechanism of your epee tip as well as protecting the people around you. You can easily make one yourself. Check out this Reddit post to find instructions. https://www.reddit.com/r/Fencing/comments/1ajlm1/sheath_for_my_epee/


Carrying Bag (optional)


IMPORTANT: Two weapons and two body cords are required to fence at tournaments.



Fencing is a tactical sport. It combines both athletic ability with mental ability, as while you duel it is also a mind game against your opponent as you try to predict you opponent's next move while you prepare your own attack. The goal of the sport is to score a touch against your opponent. There are three types of weapons in the sport: foil, epee, and saber, which each have a unique set of skills, rules and equipment. At Milton, we only fence epee. All practice and competition weapons are blunt, and protective clothing and masks are wore at all times. 


Common Tactics:

Fencing can be broken down to very simple components.

  • En garde position: the fencer’s resting stance. It allows minimal exposed target area without compromising movement.
  • Advance: a step forward.
  • Retreat: a step backward.
  • Lunge: the most basic and quintessential attack. It consists of extending your sword arm while pushing off your back leg.
  • Attack: an offensive and threatening action directing towards an opponent.
  • Parry: moving your opponent’s blade away from target area.
  • Riposte: an attack followed immediately after making a parry.
  • Remise: an attack followed immediately after making an attack.


How does a usual fencing tournament go?


An individual fencing tournament is broken down into two main parts: the pools and the direct elimination. In the pools, fencers are broken down into pools (around 6-7 people) and fence against everyone in their pool through 3-minute, 5-point bouts. Their performance in the pools will determine their seedings for the direct elimination. Direct elimination is conducted just like any other sport – fencers must defeat their opponent in order to move on. These bouts are 15-point bouts broken down into 3 3-minute periods. Last one standing is crowned champion of the tournament!


Team fencing tournaments also exist. Pools and direct elimination function similarly to individual tournaments. However, instead of everyone for themselves, a team of 3 fencers individually fence against each member in an opponent’s group, swapping out with each other after attaining a certain amount of points. The team must collectively earn 45 points (depending on the tournament) to win against the other team.