About Fencing

Epée

Epee

The epee is the longest and heaviest of the three weapons. This sword is the closest of the modern fencing weapons to the rapier, which was the most commonly used sword for dueling. In modern epee fencing, hits are scored with the tip or end of the blade only. All epees used in competition are wired for electronic scoring & have blunted sprung metal tips.

The entire body from head to toe is considered valid target in epee. If the point of the epee is depressed on any part of the body with sufficient force (750 grams of pressure), a valid hit will be registered on the scoring apparatus.

In epee, the fencer that hits first scores the point. Should both fencers hit each other within 1/25 of a second of one another, then they are both awarded one point. Epee is the only event in fencing to allow hits to be scored to the legs and feet. The majority of hits however, are scored to the weapon arm & wrist, due to the close distance of these targets.