About Fencing

Foil

Foil

The foil is the lightest of the three weapons. In the history of fencing it was used as a training weapon to practice sword-fighting techniques before trying a real duel. In modern foil fencing, hits are scored with the tip or end of the blade only. Practice foils have rubber tips, while those used in competition are wired for electronic scoring & have blunted sprung metal tips.

The valid target area in foil is defined as the torso of the body including the chest stomach & back. A special electric jacket is worn to define the target for competition. The electric jacket is made of a metallic conductive material. When the tip of the foil is depressed on the jacket with sufficient force (500 grams of pressure), a valid hit will be registered on the scoring apparatus. Only hits made to the valid target area can score points. Hits scored to other parts of the body are referred to as ‘off-target’ hits, and do not score points.

Scoring in foil is governed by the rule of ‘priority’. The fencer who first initiates an attack by extending the weapon arm forward towards the opponent is the one with priority. If a fencer whose opponent has priority, wants to score a hit, he/she must defend against the original attack prior to initiating his/her own attack. A referee is used to control the bout and determine which fencer has priority. Once priority has been determined, the referee refers to the scoring apparatus to determine whether the hit scored by the fencer with priority was on or off-target.