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Fencing > An introduction to fencing
Although fencing over the centuries
has changed from a deadly combat to a complex
game, the speed of movement and intricate strategy
of dueling are still very much part of the modern
day sport.Today's is a modern combative sport.
It's a challenge both physically and tactically
between two opponents. A game that's extremely
fast requiring both cunning and a high degree
of fitness. Fencing resembles squash in its
athletic demands and approaches chess in its
tactical depth.
The
object of the game is to score touches on your
opponent. They are scored only when they land
on the target, which is the opponent's torso.
Off-target touches stop the bout but are not
scored. Usually the first to score five touches,
wins the bout.
Due
to the speed of fencing, touches are registered
electronically. When a valid touch is scored,
on comes a colored light
on the side of the
fencer who made the touch. When a touch is registered
off-target, a white light is shown on the side
of the fencer who scored that touch.
The
game is played by a system of priority. To score,
you must first obtain priority. The first fencer
to start extending the arm straight, while threatening
his target, has the priority. When two touches
are scored at the same time, regardless of who's
touched first, only the fencer with the priority
scores the touch.
When
you are attacked, you must defend or parry the
attack. This parry gives you the priority to
hit back, called the riposte. It's this priority
system that gives fencing its sequences of attack
and defense, with the priority changing from
side to side like a rally in tennis. This physical
exchange is practiced over and over again, so
that the fencer is constantly aware of the changing
priority, and can eventually achieve split-second
control of his/her reactions.
With
such a well-designed system of defense, you
need more than just physical speed to score
touches. By bluffing and faking, you have to
somehow provoke and deceive this system of defense.
You have to fake, to convince your opponent
you intend to attack, and when he/she attempts
to parry, you deceive to score.
Scoring
touches in fencing is more than just a matter
of physical speed, its a matter of tactics.
Tactics are based on the fact that every attack
can be parried, but every parry can be deceived!
Fencing is a sport that not only physically
taxes the body for split-second control of attack
and defense, but also incorporates tactical
cunning, to fake and mislead, in an attempt
to outsmart your opponent. Tactics are as simple
or as complex as each opponent, and those tactics
can change in the course of a bout. It's this
uncertainty that creates the challenge and the
excitement of this combative, modern Olympic
sport.Fencing, a match of mind and body.
It's a game !
It's a sport !
It's a challenge !
