This is a glossary of terms used in fencing .
This is a glossary of terms used in fencing .
Note that the vocabulary here is primarily a glossary of modern fencing terms. Over time, the terminology has evolved, and different terminology may be found in Medieval and Renaissance sources. [4] In many cases, English, French, Italian, and even German terminology may be used (often interchangeably) for the same thing. [9] It should also be noted that American and British English differ in several points of fencing terminology, though some effort has been made in this article to indicate both conventions.
Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. The three disciplines of modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre ; each discipline uses a different kind of blade, which shares the same name, and employs its own rules. Most competitive fencers specialise in one discipline. The modern sport gained prominence near the end of the 19th century and is based on the traditional skill set of swordsmanship. The Italian school altered the historical European martial art of classical fencing, and the French school later refined that system. Scoring points in a fencing competition is done by making contact with an opponent.
A parry is a fencing bladework maneuver intended to deflect or block an incoming attack.
A foil is one of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. It is a flexible sword of total length 110 cm (43 in) or under, rectangular in cross section, weighing under 500 g (18 oz), with a blunt tip. As with the épée, points are only scored by making contact with the tip. The foil is the most commonly used weapon in fencing.
The épée, also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern épée derives from the 19th-century épée de combat, a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword.
The remise is a renewal of an attack in fencing. It is performed when one fencer's attack has failed, either because their opponent has parried or they missed. If the attacker immediately continues their attack in the same line, they have executed a remise. The name also is applied to repetitions of other actions which did not initially succeed. The remise is at the bottom of actions in taking priority.
Classical fencing is the style of fencing as it existed during the 19th and early 20th centuries. According to the 19th-century fencing master Louis Rondelle,
A classical fencer is supposed to be one who observes a fine position, whose attacks are fully developed, whose hits are marvelously accurate, his parries firm, and his ripostes executed with precision. One must not forget that this regularity is not possible unless the adversary is a party to it. It is a conventional bout, which consists of parries, attacks, and returns, all rhyming together.
In fencing, a riposte is an offensive action with the intent of hitting one's opponent made by the fencer who has just parried an attack. In military usage, a riposte is the strategic device of hitting a vulnerable point of the enemy, thereby forcing them to abandon their own attack.
The sabre is one of the three disciplines of modern fencing. The sabre weapon is for thrusting and cutting with both the cutting edge and the back of the blade.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fencing:
In fencing, an attack is "The attack is the initial offensive action made by extending the arm and continuously threatening the opponent’s target, preceding the launching of the lunge or flèche". In order for an attack to be awarded successfully, the fencer must accelerate their hand towards the target. If the fencer does not accelerate the hand, this is a preparation.
Rapier combat is a style of historical fencing practiced in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). The primary focus is to study, replicate and compete with styles of rapier sword-fighting found in Europe during the Renaissance period, using blunted steel swords and a variety of off-hand defensive items. Participants wear period clothing while competing, along with or incorporating protective equipment for safety. In the April 2020 update of the rules, the sport was renamed 'Fencing Combat'.
The flick is a technique used in modern fencing. It is used in foil and to a lesser extent, épée.
In fencing, the grip is the part of the weapon which is gripped by the fencer's hand.
The flèche is an aggressive attacking technique in fencing, used with foil and épée.
The parrying dagger is a category of small handheld weapons from the European late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. These weapons were used as off-hand weapons in conjunction with a single-handed sword such as a rapier. As the name implies they were designed to parry, or defend, more effectively than a simple dagger form, typically incorporating a wider guard, and often some other defensive features to better protect the hand as well. They may also be used for attack if an opportunity arises. The general category includes two more specific types, the swordbreaker and trident dagger.
Priority or right of way is the decision criterion used in foil and sabre fencing to determine which fencer receives the touch, or point, when both fencers land a hit within the same short time-frame. After this window, if one fencer had already landed a hit, the electrical scoring apparatus would "lock-out," or fail to record, an opponent's subsequent hit, and thus the one fencer to land a hit is awarded the touch. In épée fencing, if both fencers land valid hits at the same time, they each receive a point. Because of this, foil and sabre are considered conventional weapons. After a halt, a referee parses what happened into actions, from which it can be determined whether to award a point or not.
Fencing practice and techniques of modern competitive fencing are governed by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE), though they developed from conventions developed in 18th- and 19th-century Europe to govern fencing as a martial art and a gentlemanly pursuit. The modern weapons for sport fencing are the foil, épée, and sabre.
The oldest surviving manual on western swordsmanship dates back to the 14th century, although historical references date fencing schools back to the 12th century.
Prise de fer is a movement used in fencing in which a fencer takes the opponent's blade into a line and holds it there in preparation to attack. Translated from French, the phrase prise de fer means "taking-the-blade" or "taking-the-steel". Alternate spellings include the plural Prises de Fer or "Les Prises de Fer", and (incorrectly) Praise de Fer. There are four prise de fer actions: opposition, croisé, bind, and envelopment. However, each fencing master and fencing doctrine has a separate view of prise de fer. William Gaugler lists all four actions under Prise de Fer in his dictionary of fencing terminology, while Roger Crosnier in his book Fencing with the Foil only mentions the croisé, the bind, and the envelopment as prise de fer actions. Any prise de fer action requires that the blades be engaged, and it works best against an opponent who uses and maintains a straight arm. Additionally, a successful action demands surprise, precise timing, and control.
Tactics are very important to playing well in modern fencing and although technique is important in the sport, using an array of tactics will help fencers make the most of that technique.
Enfin l’extremite meme de la lame a ete l’objet d’une innovation interessante. M. Ambroise Baudry, estimant que le bouton classique, avec les glissements et les passes, ne realise qu’imparfaitement le coup net et bien arrete de l’epee demouchetee, a imagine et emploie exclusivement dans son enseignement et dans ses assauts l’epee a pointe d’arret. Ce sont, dit-il, des epees pointues, dont l’extremite porte un bouton rive a 4 militetres au-dessous de la pointe. Le fil poisse s’enroule sur ce bouton comme sur les boutons ordinaires et tient mieux, car il y a plus de prise. On peut lui donner l’epaisseur qu’on veut et, par consequent, laisser libre la longueur des points qu’on juge convenable. Cette pointe ne presente donc aucun danger, mais elle marque le coupe et arrete le tireur qui est touche.— Claude la Marche, 1898. Unknown source, but accessible thus: https://www.benjaminarms.com/research/fencing-sword-specifications/french-epee-specifications/
