Breeches: white, knee-length trousers made of robust material;
side fastening must be on the non-sword-arm side, and legs must
have fastenings below the knees
Broken
time: a sudden change in the tempo or pause of one fencer's
actions, used to fool the opponent into responding at the wrong
time
Broadsword:
a military sword and fencing weapon popular in the 18th-19th centuries,
similar to a heavy sabre; any straight-bladed, double- edged,
single-handed cutting sword of the post-medieval period
Brutality:
actions which are performed with an unacceptable level of force
or violence which causes discomfort to the opponent
Button:
soft covering put over a non-electric foil
or epee point for safety
Corps-a-corps:
lit. "body-to-body"; physical contact between the two
fencers during a bout, illegal in foil
and sabre
Coulé;:
the action of extending the sword arm and grazing lightly down
the opponent's blade, maintaining contact throughout. Also graze,
glisé, or glissade
Counter-parry:
a parry made in the opposite line to the
attack; ie. the defender first comes around to the opposite side
of the opponent's blade. See Circular
Parry
Defence:
not being hit by the opponent's offensive actions, either by parrying,
avoiding, or moving out of distance
Delayed:
actions made after a pause; usually attacks or ripostes
Derobement:
evasion of the opponent's attempt to beat or take the blade while
the sword arm is straight and the point is threatening the target
Detachment:
when both blades break contact
Development:
extension of the sword arm accompanied by the lunge
Diagonal
parry: deflecting the opponent's attacking blade by moving
from a high line guard to a low line guard on the opposite side
and vice versa
Direct:
actions made without passing the blade under or over the opponent's
blade
Direct
elimination: method of competition organisation where winners
are promoted to the following rounds and losers are eliminated
after one fight
Disciplinary
code: by taking part in a fencing competition, fencers 'pledge
their honour' to observe the rules for competitions and the decisions
of judges and to be respectful towards the president and the members
of the jury
Disengage:
a circular movement of the blade that deceives the opponent's
parry, removes the blades from engagement,
or changes the line of engagement
Displacement:
moving the target to avoid an attack; dodging
Disqualification:
to be eliminated from a competition due to cheating or bad
behavior, or by default, eg late arrival
Doublé:
an attack or riposte that describes a complete
circle around the opponent's blade, and finishes in the opposite
line
Double
action: when both fencers choose exactly the same moment to
make an offensive action
Double
defeat: in epee only; after the time has
expired, if both competitors have received the same number of
hits (or neither has scored a hit), they are counted as both having
received the maximum number of hits being fought for, and a defeat
is scored against each, except in direct elimination where the
fight goes on without limitation of time until there is a result
Double
hits: in epee only, when both competitors
register a hit on each other simultaneously, the difference of
time between the two hits being less than 1/25 of a second
Double
prises de fer: loss of contact between the first and second
prise de fer
Draw:
seeding of fencers to determine the bouts
in a competition
Duration
of bout: actual fencing time allowed during a bout,
ie a stop clock is started at the beginning of a bout, stopped
each time the president halts the fencers and started again when
the bout is restarted
Earthing
of guard: guards of electric weapons must be earthed correctly
so that weapon hits do not register on them
Earthing
of piste: when using electrical equipment, metal pistes must
be correctly earthed so that hits do not register on them
Elbow
guard: a pad worn on the fencer's sword-arm elbow for protection
Electrical
apparatus: an electric box with red and green lights to register
valid hits at foil, epee
and sabre and white lights to register non-valid
hits at foil. The apparatus is mounted centrally, adjacent to
the piste and connected by floor leads to spools with retractable
cables placed at both ends of the piste, to which the fencers
connect their body wires
Electric
weapons:foils, epees
and sabres suitable for use with electrical
apparatus
En
Garde: also On Guard; the fencing
position; the stance that fencers assume when preparing to fence
Epee:
a fencing weapon with triangular cross-section blade and a large
bell guard; also a light duelling sword of similar design, popular
in the mid-19th century
False:
an action that is intended to fail, but draw a predicted reaction
from the opponent; also, the back edge of a sabre
blade
Feint:
attacking into one line with the intention of switching to
another line before the attack is completed
Fencing
Line: when fencers are fencing each other it should be possible
to draw a theoretical straight line running through both leading
feet and rear heels
Fencing
Time: also temps d'escrime; the time required to complete
a single, simple fencing action
FIE:
Federation Internationale d'Escrime, the world governing body
of fencing. www.fie.ch
Finta
in tempo: lit. "feint in time"; a feint
of counter-attack that draws a counter-time parry, which is decieved
Flank:
the side of the trunk of body on the sword-arm side
Fleche:
lit. "arrow"; an attack in which the aggressor leaps
off his leading foot, attempts to make the hit, and then passes
the opponent at a run
Flick:
a cut that lands with the point, often involving some whip of
the foible of the blade to "throw" the point around
a block or other obstruction
Floor
judges: two judges who watch for floor hits when electric
epee is used without a metal piste
Florentine:
a fencing style where a secondary weapon or other instrument is
used in the off hand
Foible: the flexible half of the blade further away from
the hilt
Foil:
a fencing weapon with rectangular cross-section blade and
a small bell guard; any sword that has been buttoned to render
it less dangerous for practice
In
Quartata: an attack made with a quarter turn to the inside,
concealing the front but exposing the back
In
Time: when a stop-hit arrives at least
one fencing time before the original attack
Indicators:
a system used in competition to determine a fencer's seeding
after the first rounds. The first indicator is expressed as a
ratio of the number of victories and the number of fights and
the second indicator is the number of hits scored minus the number
of hits received
Indirect:
an offensive action made by first passing the blade under or over
the opponent's blade
Lamé:
a metallic vest/jacket used to detect valid touches in foil
and sabre
Line:
the main direction of an attack (eg., high/low, inside/outside),
often equated to the parry that must be made
to deflect the attack; also point in
line
Low
lines: position of the target below a theoretical horizontal
line mid-way through a fencer's trunk
Lunge:
an attack made by extending the rear leg and landing on the bent
front leg
Mal-parry:
also mal-paré; a parry that fails
to prevent the attack from landing
Manipulators:
the index finger and thumb of the sword hand
Maraging:
a special steel used for making blades; said to be stronger and
break more cleanly than conventional steels
Marker
Points: an old method of detecting hits using inked points
Martingale:
the loop of tape or leather attached to the grip and held to prevent
a non-electric foil from flying out of the
hand in the event of being disarmed
Match:
the aggregate of bouts between two fencing teams
Measure:
the distance between the fencers
Metallic
piste: electrically-conductive material covering the piste
in order that hits on the floor do not register on the electrical
apparatus
Middle:
the middle third of the blade, between foible
and forte
Parry:
a block of the attack, made with the forte
of one's own blade
Part-whole:
the teaching of a movement in parts, ie isolating the parts
of the movement demanding most skill and practising them in isolation;
then putting the parts together to make a whole movement
Pass:
an attack made with a cross; eg. fleche,
"Russian lunge". Also, the act of moving past the opponent
Passata-sotto:
a lunge made by dropping one hand to the
floor
Passé:
an attack that passes the target without hitting; also a cross-step
(see cross)
Patinando:
a step forwards with an appel from the
rear foot at the same time as the front foot lands
Phrase:
a sequence of fencing movements performed without a break
Piste:
the linear strip on which a fencing bout is fought; approx. 2m
wide and 14m long
Pistol
Grip: a modern, orthopaedic grip, shaped vaguely like a small
pistol; varieties are known by names such as Belgian, German,
Russian, and Visconti
Plaqué:
a point attack that lands flat
Plastron:
a half-jacket with no underarm seam, worn for extra protection
on the sword arm under the fencing jacket; also a padded over-jacket
worn by a fencing coach when giving individual training
Point:
a valid touch; the tip of the sword; an attack made with the point
(ie. a thrust)
Point
in Line: also line; an extended arm
and blade that threatens the opponent
Pommel:
a metal cap screwed to the end of the blade which locks the parts
of the weapon together and provides a counter-balance to the blade
Pool
(poule): the grouping of fencers or teams in a competition
Preparation
of attack: the movement of blade or foot to obtain the best
position to make an attack
Presentation:
offering one's blade for engagement
by the opponent
Press:
an attempt to push the opponent's blade aside or out of line;
depending on the opponent's response, the press is followed by
a direct or indirect attack
Rassemblement:
the bringing of both feet together, either forwards or backwards,
so that the heels are touching with the feet at right angles and
the body in an upright position
Red
Card: used to indicate repeated minor rule infractions or
a major rule infraction by one of the fencers; results in a point
being given to the other fencer
Sabre:
a fencing weapon with a flat blade and knuckle guard, used with
cutting or thrusting actions; a military sword popular in the
18th to 20th centuries; any cutting sword used by cavalry
Salle:
a fencing hall or club
Salute:
with the weapon, a customary acknowledgement of one's opponent
and referee at the start and end of the bout
Three
Prong: a type of epee body wire/connector;
also an old-fashioned tip that would snag clothing, to make it
easier to detect hits in the pre-electric era
