When people say "fencing", they can mean three different things. Foil, épée and sabre share the strip, the white uniform and the mask, but the rules of scoring differ so much that fencers usually specialise in one. All three are Olympic events: foil and sabre were on the program of the first modern Olympics in 1896, and épée joined in 1900; is fencing an Olympic sport? tells the rest of that story. US college fencing uses all three too: the NCAA championship has a women's and a men's event in each weapon, as fencing and college: what the numbers say explains.
The short version
| Rule | Foil | Épée | Sabre |
|---|---|---|---|
| How you score | With the point | With the point | With the edge or the point |
| Where you may hit | The torso and the bib of the mask | The whole body, head to foot | Above the waist, including the head and arms, but not the hands |
| Right of way | Yes | No | Yes |
Foil
The foil is a light weapon, and you score only by hitting with its tip. The target is the torso, plus the bib of the mask under modern rules. Foil is famous for its precision: long exchanges of attacks and parries, and touches decided by a few centimetres.
Épée
The épée is the heaviest of the three, and again you score only with the point, but anywhere on the body, from the mask down to the shoes. There is no right-of-way rule: whoever hits first scores, and if both fencers hit within a fraction of a second of each other, both get the point. Épée bouts are often patient and tactical, because one careless step forward can cost a touch.
Sabre
Sabre comes from the cavalry sword, and that history shows (is fencing real sword fighting? goes further into it). You can score with the edge of the blade as well as the point, so cuts count, and the target is everything above the waist except the hands: the torso, the arms and the head. Sabre is the fastest of the three. Many actions last well under a second, and a bout moves in short, explosive phrases. Sabre fencing for beginners describes the first skills a new sabre fencer learns.
What "right of way" means
Foil and sabre use a rule called right of way, or priority. If both fencers hit at about the same time, the referee decides which of them had priority and gives that fencer the point; if neither clearly had it, no point is given. In simple terms, the fencer who starts a proper attack first has priority, and the other fencer has to defend, with a parry or by making the attack miss, before answering with an attack of their own. So in sabre and foil it is not enough to land a hit. You have to land it at the right moment.
That rule is a big part of why fencing is called a thinking sport. A fencer learns to read the opponent, to judge distance and timing, and to make decisions under pressure, all within a couple of seconds. Parents of children who find it hard to focus often ask whether that helps; is fencing good for a child with ADHD? looks at what research says.
How touches are counted
In competition, all three weapons are scored electrically: the weapons and the target are wired to a scoring machine, which lights a lamp for each touch. In sabre, the fencer wears a conductive jacket called a lamé over the target area, and the mask is conductive too, connected to the lamé by a short cord. Beginners do not need any of this at first. It becomes relevant when a fencer starts to compete, and the coach will tell you when that time comes. Fencing rules for beginners explains how a whole bout runs, from the salute to the cards.
Which weapon should my child start with?
For most families the practical answer is the weapon taught at a club you can reach every week, by a coach your child gets on with. Regular training matters more at the start than the choice of weapon, and the first things a beginner learns, footwork, distance, timing and reading a partner, are the same in all three. Some clubs start every beginner with foil; others teach one weapon from the first day. Handedness is no reason to pick a weapon either: does height or being left-handed help? looks at the research, which differs by weapon.
If you are choosing between weapons, the table above is the short version. Sabre suits a child who likes to move: the target, everything above the waist except the hands, is easy to understand, and a hit with the edge counts as well as one with the point, while foil and épée score only with the point. Like foil, sabre has right of way, so a young sabre fencer learns timing from early on.
At our club the choice is simple, because sabre is the only weapon we teach. Children start from age 4, in groups by age, with a free first class; at what age a child can start fencing lists the groups.
Why we teach sabre
Our head coach, Pavel Bykov, is a sabre fencer. He placed fourth in men's team sabre at the 2012 London Olympics. Sabre is the weapon he competed in, and it is the one our club teaches.
It also suits many children well. Sabre is quick and energetic, the rules about where to hit are easy to understand, and children get to move a lot from the very first class. At the same time, right of way gives them something to think about from day one.
Can a fencer switch weapons later?
Yes, and some do. Footwork, distance, timing and the habit of reading an opponent carry over between weapons. What changes is the scoring and the technique of the blade, which takes time to relearn.
If you want to see sabre for yourself, the easiest way is a free first class. Call Coach Pasha at (408) 592-1244.
