Welcome to August’s Newsletter
Hiya Guys, due to numbers being very low on Monday Teign Fencing evenings & people away on Holiday, we must cancel Mondays at Teign on Monday 16th, 23rd & 30th August but will be back again on Monday 6th September.
I thought I would share with you the notes that I have built up over the relatively short time that I have been fencing.
Fencing
FIE- Federation Internationale Escrime
-Frustration comes about when your expectations don’t meet the reality of a situation.
To Perfect
|
Your grip on the blade |
Balance |
|
Stance |
Head & Chin position |
|
Distance between legs & footwork |
Synchronisation between legs/arms |
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Hand position |
Weight distribution |
|
Shoulder position |
Wrist position |
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SPEED |
FOOTLADDER |
|
STRENGTH |
ARM WEIGHTS |
|
ENDURANCE |
RUNNING |
|
FLEXIBILITY |
WARM UP EXERCISES |
|
CO-ORDINATION |
FOOTLADDER |
Sword Position’s
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1: Non sword, upper -Pron |
Prime |
Preem |
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2Sword arm lower -Prone |
Seconde |
Sec–own |
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3: Sword arm upper -Prone |
Tierce |
Tier–s |
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4: non-Sword, high line -Sup |
Quarte |
Kart |
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5: non-Sword, low line Prone |
Quinte |
Kant |
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6: Sword arm, upper supine |
Sixte |
Sees |
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7: non-Sword, lower supine |
Septime |
Sep–teen |
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8: Sword arm, lower -Supine |
Octave |
Oct–tav |
ABSENCE OF BLADE
when swords are not in contact
ADVANCE
to step forward
AIDS
the last three fingers of the sword hand
ANALYSIS
the process of describing actions occurring in a fight, usually a phrase preceding a hit
ANGULATION
creating an angle between the weapon and the sword arm by flexing the wrist and pronating or supinating the sword hand
ANNULMENT OF HIT
a valid hit which is disallowed because of an infringement of the rules or a technical fault
APPEL
beating the ground with the ball of the foot, either as a ‘front foot’ or ‘rear foot’ appel
ASSAULT
friendly combat between two fencers
ATTACK
an initial offensive action made by extending the sword arm and continuously threatening the opponent’s target
AVOIDANCE
ducking or moving sideways to avoid being hit
Back edge the edge of a sabre blade opposite to that of the cutting edge
Avola Steps
Starting a step forward with the back leg & developing an attack from it.
BALESTRA
a short, sharp jump forwards; usually used as a preparation.
BARRAGE
a fight-off to determine a result in the event of a tie
BEAT
crisp striking movement of the opponent’s blade creating a deflection, or obtaining a reaction; used as a preparation
BIB
a soft, padded attachment to the lower part of the mask to protect the neck and throat
BIND
taking of the foible of the opposing blade diagonally from high to low line, and vice versa
BLADE
the main component of a sword on which the hilt is mounted
BODY WIRE
wire worn under a fencer’s clothing to connect the sword terminal to the retractable spool cable, when using the electrical apparatus
BOUT
a fight for a specific number of hits
BREAKING GROUND
stepping back
BREECHES
white, knee-length trousers made of robust material; side fastening must be on the non-sword-arm side, and legs must have fastenings below the knees
BROKEN TIME
when a pause is introduced into an action which is normally performed in one movement
BRUTALITY
actions which are performed with an unacceptable level of force or violence which causes discomfort to the opponent
BUTTON
soft covering over a non-electric foil or epee point
CADENCE
the rhythm in which a sequence of movements is made
CEDING PARRY
a parry formed by giving way to an opponent who is taking the blade
CHANGE BEAT
a beat made after passing under or over the opponent’s blade
CHANGE OF ENGAGEMENT
re-engagement of the opponent’s blade on the opposite side by passing under or over it
CHEST PROTECTOR
shields the breast, sternum and ribs from strikes when fencing
CIRCULAR PARRY
deflection of the opponent’s attacking blade by making a circle with the sword point
CLOSE QUARTERS
when two fencers are close together but can still wield their weapons
COMPETITION
aggregate of individual bouts or team matches required to determine a winner
COMPOUND ACTIONS
two or more single actions performed together as one continuous action
COMPOUND ATTACK
an attack comprising one or more feints
COMPOUND PRISES DE FER
two or more consecutive takings of the blade, alike or different, with no loss of blade contact
COMPOUND RIPOSTE
riposte comprising one or more feints
CONVENTIONS
the rules governing the method of fencing for each weapon
COQUILLE
bell-shaped guard of a foil or epee CORPS A CORPS
bodily contact between the fencers in a bout
COULE
the action of extending the sword arm and grazing lightly down the opponent’s blade, maintaining contact throughout
COUNTER-ATTACK
the offensive action made while avoiding, or closing the line against, an opponent’s attack
COUNTER-DISENGAGEMENT
an indirect action which deceives a change of engagement
COUNTER-OFFENSIVE ACTION
see counterattack
COUNTER-PARRY
see circular parry
COUNTER-RIPOSTE
a riposte following the successful parry of the opponent’s riposte or counter-riposte
COUNTER-TIIME
an action made by the attacker into a counterattack which is provoked by the opponent
COUPE
see cut over
CROISE
the taking of the foible of the opposing blade from high to low line, and vice versa, on the same side as the engagement
CROSSE GRIP
a moulded grip with finger protrusions, used on foils and epees
CUT
a hit at sabre made by striking with the edge of the blade
CUT-OVER (COUPE)
an indirect action made by passing the blade over the opponent’s point
DEFENCE
not being hit by the opponent’s offensive actions, either by parrying, avoiding, or moving out of distance
DELAYED
actions made after a pause; usually attacks or ripostes
DEROBEMENT
evasion of the opponent’s attempt to beat or take the blade while the sword arm is straight, and the point is threatening the target
DETACHMENT
when both blades break contact
DEVELOPMENT
extension of the sword arm accompanied by the lunge
DIAGONAL PARRY
deflecting the opponent’s attacking blade by moving from a high line guard to a low line guard on the opposite side and vice versa
DIRECT
actions made without passing the blade under or over the opponent’s blade
DIRECT ELIMINATION
method of competition organisation where winners are promoted to the following rounds and losers are eliminated after one fight
DISCIPLINARY CODE
by taking part in a fencing competition, fencers ‘pledge their honour’ to observe the rules for competitions and the decisions of judges and to be respectful towards the president and the members of the jury
DISENGAGEMENT
indirect action made by passing the blade under or over the opponent’s blade
DISPLACEMENT
turning or ducking to remove the target area from its normal position, resulting in the non-valid target being substituted for the valid target
DISQUALIFICATION
to be eliminated from a competition due to cheating or bad behaviour, or by default, eg late arrival
DOUBLE
a compound attack which deceives the opponent’s circular parry
DOUBLE ACTION
when both fencers choose exactly the same moment to make an offensive action
DOUBLE DEFEAT
in epee only, after the time has expired, if both competitors have received the same number of hits (or neither has scored a hit), they are counted as both having received the maximum number of hits being fought for, and a defeat is scored against each, except in direct elimination where the fight goes on without limitation of time until there is a result
DOUBLE HITS
in epee only, when both competitors register a hit on each other simultaneously, the difference of time between the two hits being less than 1/25 of a second
Double prises de fer loss of contact between the first and second prise de fer
DRAW
seeding of fencers to determine the bouts in a competition
DURATION OF BOUT
actual fencing time allowed during a bout, i.e., a stop clock is started at the beginning of a bout, stopped each time the president halts the fencers and started again when the bout is restarted
EARTHING OF GUARD
guards of electric weapons must be earthed correctly so that weapon hits do not register on them
EARTHING OF PISTE
when using electrical equipment, metal pistes must be correctly earthed so that hits do not register on them
ELBOW GUARD
a pad worn on the fencer’s sword-arm elbow for protection
ELECTRICAL APPARATUS
an electric box with red and green lights to register valid hits at foil, epee and sabre and white lights to register non-valid hits at foil. The apparatus is mounted centrally, adjacent to the piste and connected by floor leads to spools with retractable cables placed at both ends of the piste, to which the fencers connect their body wires
ELECTRIC WEAPONS
foils, epees and sabres suitable for use with electrical apparatus
ENGAGEMENT
when both blades are in contact
ENVELOPMENT
the taking of the foible of the opponent’s blade by making a complete circle and maintaining continual contact throughout
FEINT
threatening movement of the blade made with the intention of provoking a parry or similar response
FENCING LINE
when fencers are fencing each other, it should be possible to draw a theoretical straight line running through both leading feet and rear heels
FLANK
the side of the trunk of body on the sword-arm side
FLOOR JUDGES
two judges who watch for floor hits when electric epee is used without a metal piste
FOIBLE
the flexible half of the blade further away from the hilt
FORTE
the half of the blade nearer to the hilt
FROISSEMENT
deflecting the opponent’s blade by opposition of ‘forte to foible’ while blades are engaged
GUARD (OF WEAPON)
the part of the hilt to protect the sword hand
GUARDS
fencing positions – see prime, seconde, tierce, quarte, quinte, sixte, septime, octave
HIGH LINE
the position of the target above a theoretical horizontal line mid-way through a fencer’s trunk
HILT
the assembled parts of the sword excluding the blade, i.e., the guard, pad, grip and pommel Hit: to strike the opponent with the point of the sword clearly and distinctly and with character of penetration. A cut with a sabre
INDICATORS
a system used in competition to determine a fencer’s seeding after the first rounds. The first indicator is expressed as a ratio of the number of victories and the number of fights, and the second indicator is the number of hits scored minus the number of hits received
INDIRECT
an offensive action made by first passing the blade under or over the opponent’s blade
LINES
theoretical divisions of the target, corresponding to fencing guards
LOW LINES
position of the target below a theoretical horizontal line mid-way through a fencer’s trunk
LUNGE
a method of getting closer to an opponent with acceleration to make an attack and while maintaining balance and making it possible for a rapid recovery to On Guard
MANIPULATORS
the index finger and thumb of the sword hand
MARTINGALE
the loop of tape or leather attached to the grip and held to prevent a non-electric foil from flying out of the hand in the event of being disarmed
METALLIC PISTE
electrically-conductive material covering the piste in order that hits on the floor do not register on the electrical apparatus
OCTAVE
low line, semi-supinated guard on the sword-arm side
ON GUARD
the stance adopted in fencing
ONE-TWO ATTACK
a compound attack which deceives the opponent’s simple parry
‘OPEN EYES’
starting a movement with no prior knowledge of how it will finish, relying on reflexes to adjust and make the correct ending
OPPOSITION
blade movement maintaining constant contact with the opponent’s blade
ORTHOPAEDIC GRIP
general term for moulded grips of various designs used on foils and epees
PARRY
defensive action to deflect an opponent’s attack by opposing ‘forte to opponent’s foible’
PART-WHOLE
the teaching of a movement in parts, i.e., isolating the parts of the movement demanding most skill and practising them in isolation; then putting the parts together to make a whole movement
PATINANDO
a step forwards with an appel from the rear foot at the same time as the front foot lands
PHRASE
a sequence of fencing movements performed without a break
PISTE
the field of play on which a bout takes place
PLASTRON
a half-jacket with no underarm seam, worn for extra protection on the sword arm under the fencing jacket; also, a padded over-jacket worn by a fencing coach when giving individual training
POMMEL
a metal cap screwed to the end of the blade which locks the parts of the weapon together and provides a counter-balance to the blade
POOL (POULE)
the grouping of fencers or teams in a competition
PREPARATION OF ATTACK
the movement of blade or foot to obtain the best position from which to make an attack
PRIME
high line, pronated guard on the non-sword-arm side
PRINCIPLE OF DEFENCE
the execution of a parry by the defender’s forte opposing the attacking foible, i.e., ‘opposition of forte to foible’
PRIORITY
the right of way gained by the fencer at foil and sabre by extending the sword arm and continually threatening the opponent’s target
PRISES DE FER (TAKINGS OF THE BLADE)
see bind, croise, envelopment
PROGRESSIVE ACTIONS
actions made with the sword point continually moving towards the opponent’s target
PRONATION
the position of the sword hand with the knuckles uppermost
QUARTE
high line, semi-supinated guard on the non-sword-arm side
QUINTE
low line, pronated guard on the non-sword-arm side at foil and epee; and a high guard at sabre to protect the head
RASSEMBLEMENT
the bringing of both feet together, either forwards or backwards, so that the heels are touching with the feet at right angles and the body in an upright position
RECOVERY
the return to the On guard position
REDOUBLEMENT
the renewal of an action after being parried by replacing the point on the target in a different line to the original action
REMISE
the renewal of an action after being parried by replacing the point on the target in the line of the original action
REPECHAGE
the competition formula which gives losers of a direct elimination bout a second chance to stay in the competition
REPRISE
the renewal of an action made with a lunge by first returning to guard forwards or backwards
RIPOSTE
an offensive action following a successful parry of an attack
SECONDE
low line, pronated guard on the sword-arm side
SEPTIME
low line, semi-supinated guard on the non-sword-arm side
SIXTE
high line, semi-supinated guard on the sword-arm side Successive parries
two or more consecutive parries made to defend against compound attacks
SUPINATION
the position of the sword hand with the fingernail uppermost
TANG
the part of the blade on which the hilt is mounted
TIERCE
high line, pronated guard on the sword-arm side
