Explore the Glossary of Fencing Terms

Looking for an explanation of an acronym? Check the acronyms list here!

ABSENCE OF BLADE

when swords are not in contact

ADVANCE

to step forward

AIDS

the last three fingers of the sword hand

ANALYSIS

the process of describing actions occurring in a fight, usually a phrase preceding a hit

ANGULATION

creating an angle between the weapon and the sword arm by flexing the wrist and pronating or supinating the sword hand

ANNULMENT OF HIT

a valid hit which is disallowed because of an infringement of the rules or a technical fault

APPEL

beating the ground with the ball of the foot, either as a ‘front foot’ or ‘rear foot’ appel

ASSAULT

friendly combat between two fencers

ATTACK

an initial offensive action made by extending the sword arm and continuously threatening the opponent’s target

AVOIDANCE

ducking or moving sideways to avoid being hit

BACK EDGE

The edge of a sabre blade opposite to that of the cutting edge

BALESTRA

a short, sharp jump forwards; usually used as a preparation.

BARRAGE

a fight-off to determine a result in the event of a tie

BEAT

crisp striking movement of the opponent’s blade creating a deflection, or obtaining a reaction; used as a preparation

BIB

a soft, padded attachment to the lower part of the mask to protect the neck and throat

BIND

taking of the foible of the opposing blade diagonally from high to low line, or vice versa

BLADE

the main component of a sword on which the hilt is mounted

BODY WIRE

wire worn under a fencer’s clothing to connect the sword terminal to the retractable spool cable, when using the electrical apparatus

BOUT

a fight for a specific number of hits

BREAKING GROUND

stepping back

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

when a pause is introduced into an action which is normally performed in one movement

BRUTALITY

actions which are performed with an unacceptable level of force or violence which causes discomfort to the opponent

BUTTON

soft covering over a non-electric foil or epee point

CADENCE

the rhythm in which a sequence of movements is made

CEDING PARRY

a parry formed by giving way to an opponent who is taking the blade

CHANGE BEAT

a beat made after passing under or over the opponent’s blade

CHANGE OF ENGAGEMENT

re-engagement of the opponent’s blade on the opposite side by passing under or over it

CHEST PROTECTOR

shields the breast, sternum and ribs from strikes when fencing

CIRCULAR PARRY

deflection of the opponent’s attacking blade by making a circle with the sword point

CLASSIFIED WHEELCHAIR FENCING EVENTS

Licensed BF Competitions that take place using the official wheelchair equipment where classification is required.

“The British National Wheelchair Championships is a Classified Wheelchair event – restricted to fencers eligible to compete for GBR and who hold a classification.”

CLOSE QUARTERS

when two fencers are close together but can still wield their weapons

COMPETITION

aggregate of individual bouts or team matches required to determine a winner

COMPOUND ACTIONS

two or more single actions performed together as one continuous action

COMPOUND ATTACK

an attack comprising one or more feints

COMPOUND PRISES DE FER

two or more consecutive takings of the blade, alike or different, with no loss of blade contact

COMPOUND RIPOSTE

riposte comprising one or more feints

CONVENTIONS

the rules governing the method of fencing for each weapon

COQUILLE

bell-shaped guard of a foil or epee

CORPS A CORPS

bodily contact between the fencers in a bout

COULE

the action of extending the sword arm and grazing lightly down the opponent’s blade, maintaining contact throughout

COUNTER-ATTACK

the offensive action made while avoiding, or closing the line against, an opponent’s attack

COUNTER-DISENGAGEMENT

an indirect action which deceives a change of engagement

COUNTER-OFFENSIVE ACTION

see counter attack

COUNTER-PARRY

see circular parry

COUNTER-RIPOSTE

a riposte following the successful parry of the opponent’s riposte or counter-riposte

COUNTER-TIIME

an action made by the attacker into a counter attack which is provoked by the opponent

COUPE

see cut-over

CROISE

the taking of the foible of the opposing blade from high to low line, and vice versa, on the same side as the engagement

CROSSE GRIP

a moulded grip with finger protrusions, used on foils and epees

CUT

a hit at sabre made by striking with the edge of the blade

CUT-OVER (COUPE)

an indirect action made by passing the blade over the opponent’s point

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

Disabled Fencer

describes all fencers who have a disability or impairment, including those with neurodivergence like Autism and ADHD whether or not they self-identify as disabled, and all fencing opportunities specifically for those individuals

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

DISENGAGEMENT

indirect action made by passing the blade under or over the opponent’s blade

DISPLACEMENT

turning or ducking to remove the target area from its normal position, resulting in the non-valid target being substituted for the valid target

DISQUALIFICATION

to be eliminated from a competition due to cheating or bad behaviour, or by default, e.g. late arrival

DOUBLE

a compound attack which deceives the opponent’s circular parry

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 PRISE DE FER

A 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

ENGAGEMENT

when both blades are in contact

ENVELOPMENT

the taking of the foible of the opponent’s blade by making a complete circle and maintaining continual contact throughout

FEINT

threatening movement of the blade made with the intention of provoking a parry or similar response

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

FIE STYLE FENCING

This is the term used to reference the FIE style of fencing, which is performed standing and is currently in the Olympic games, or any fencing done standing and not specific to a disability or impairment. It’s best not to use the term non-disabled fencing to reference this style, as there are likely many athletes who consider themselves disabled but still take part

FLANK

the side of the trunk of body on the sword-arm side

FLOOR JUDGES

two judges who watch for floor hits when electric epee is used without a metal piste

FOIBLE

the flexible half of the blade further away from the hilt

FORTE

the half of the blade nearer to the hilt

FROISSEMENT

deflecting the opponent’s blade by opposition of ‘forte to foible’ while blades are engaged

GUARD (OF WEAPON)

the part of the hilt to protect the sword hand

GUARDS

fencing positions – see prime, seconde, tierce, quarte, quinte, sixte, septime, octave

HIGH LINE

the position of the target above a theoretical horizontal line mid-way through a fencer’s trunk

HILT

the assembled parts of the sword excluding the blade, ie the guard, pad, grip and pommel

HIT

To strike the opponent with the point of the sword clearly and distinctly and with character of penetration. A cut with a sabre

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

IPC

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement.

LINES

theoretical divisions of the target, corresponding to fencing guards

LOW LINES

position of the target below a theoretical horizontal line mid-way through a fencer’s trunk

LUNGE

a method of getting closer to an opponent with acceleration to make an attack and while maintaining balance and making it possible for a rapid recovery to On Guard

MANIPULATORS

the index finger and thumb of the sword hand

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

METALLIC PISTE

electrically-conductive material covering the piste in order that hits on the floor do not register on the electrical apparatus

OCTAVE

low line, semi-supinated guard on the sword-arm side

ON GUARD

the stance adopted in fencing

ONE-TWO ATTACK

a compound attack which deceives the opponent’s simple parry

‘OPEN EYES’

starting a movement with no prior knowledge of how it will finish, relying on reflexes to adjust and make the correct ending

OPPOSITION

blade movement maintaining constant contact with the opponent’s blade

ORTHOPAEDIC GRIP

general term for moulded grips of various designs used on foils and epees

PARA FENCERS

Paralympic Classified Fencers that compete in World Para Fencing events (includes all that represent GBR).

Our squad of para fencers is currently the most successful squad in the history of Para Fencing.

We use this term to refer to paralympic classified fencers on the Paralympic pathway and those in the World Class Programme, including those participating in World Para Fencing and Paralympic events.

PARA FENCING

The disciplines of Fencing that are adapted for Paralympic Eligible disabilities. Longer term this can include visual impairment for instance.

BF will refer to any licensed events that include wheelchair fencing that require classification as ‘para fencing events’.

PARA FENCING WHEELCHAIR EVENTS

Used when referring to WPF international Wheelchair Fencing events.

PARALYMPIC CLASSIFIED FENCERS

An athlete who wishes to compete as a para fencer and has an Eligible Impairment that complies with the relevant Minimum Impairment Criteria for para fencing.

Further info:

An athlete who wishes to compete in a sport must have an Eligible Impairment that complies with the relevant Minimum Impairment Criteria for that sport. Different sports have different eligibilities and minimum impairment criteria.

The following Impairment types are relevant for Para Fencing:

• Impaired muscle power
• Athetosis
• Impaired passive range of movement
• Hypertonia
• Limb deficiency
• Ataxia

To count for classification, impairments must meet minimum eligibility criteria under the IPC Classification Code and be measurable, constant, and sport-specific.

The Eligible Impairments and Minimum Impairment Criteria are set down in the BF Para Fencing Classification Rules*. The Minimum Impairment Criteria ensures that an athlete’s Eligible Impairment affects the extent to which an athlete is able to execute the specific tasks and activities fundamental to the sport.

For Para Fencing classification, there are 5 classes , which are currently assigned into three categories for competition: A, B and C. Athletes in category A have the least impact from their impairment type(s) and category C the greatest.

PARRY

defensive action to deflect an opponent’s attack by opposing forte to opponent’s foible

PART-WHOLE

the teaching of a movement in parts, i.e. isolating the parts of the movement demanding most skill and practising them in isolation; then putting the parts together to make a whole movement

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 field of play on which a bout takes place

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

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 from which to make an attack

PRIME

high line, pronated guard on the non-sword-arm side

PRINCIPLE OF DEFENCE

the execution of a parry by the defender’s forte opposing the attacking foible, i.e. ‘opposition of forte to foible’

PRIORITY

the right of way gained by the fencer at foil and sabre by extending the sword arm and continually threatening the opponent’s target

PRISES DE FER (TAKINGS OF THE BLADE)

see bind, croise, envelopment

PROGRESSIVE ACTIONS

actions made with the sword point continually moving towards the opponent’s target

PRONATION

the position of the sword hand with the knuckles uppermost

QUARTE

high line, semi-supinated guard on the non-sword-arm side

QUINTE

low line, pronated guard on the non-sword-arm side at foil and epee; and a high guard at sabre to protect the head

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

RECOVERY

the return to the On guard position

REDOUBLEMENT

the renewal of an action after being parried by replacing the point on the target in a different line to the original action

REMISE

the renewal of an action after being parried by replacing the point on the target in the line of the original action

REPECHAGE

the competition formula which gives losers of a direct elimination bout a second chance to stay in the competition

REPRISE

the renewal of an action made with a lunge by first returning to guard forwards or backwards

RIPOSTE

an offensive action following a successful parry of an attack

SEATED FENCERS

An all-encompassing term to describe everyone that sits down to participate in fencing for any reason in any type of seat.

Further info:

This refers to the wider community of fencers who sit in a chair or wheelchair to fence, at the club and national level, but who may not be classified or classifiable as a Paralympic athlete.

To be used when describing the grassroot recreational community activity.

SEATED FENCING

The activity of fencing sitting down. All fencing activity in a SwordSeat.

“Trying fencing sitting down can be the first step on the pathway to participating in the sport of Wheelchair Fencing.”

At BF we use the term Seated Fencing:

To market the sport to a wider catchment of individuals and potential partners who can support the growth of the sport.

When we are working with clubs to introduce fencing for the first time to new people who have no experience of the sport, might not use a wheelchair, are unable to take part in standing fencing, but really want to try the sport. This activity would take place in the SwordSeat (or in a fixed wheelchair and frame if a club has one).

SEATED FENCING EVENT

Any recreational event where there is fencing offered in SwordSeats and/or wheelchairs not in frames. The full framed wheelchair equipment may be also available to try.

SECONDE

low line, pronated guard on the sword-arm side

SEPTIME

low line, semi-supinated guard on the non-sword-arm side

SIXTE

high line, semi-supinated guard on the sword-arm side

STANDING FENCING

This is the term used to reference the FIE style of fencing, which is performed standing and is currently in the Olympic games, or any fencing done standing and not specific to a disability or impairment. It’s best not to use the term non-disabled fencing to reference this style, as there are likely many athletes who consider themselves disabled but still take part.

SUCCESSIVE PARRIES

Two or more consecutive parries made to defend against compound attacks

SUPINATION

the position of the sword hand with the finger-nail uppermost

SWORDSEAT

The SwordSeat™ is a chair for community use as part of the development of a seated fencer. It references a piece of equipment that has been specifically designed to bring down the cost and overcome storage challenges for fencing clubs and community groups to deliver introductory seated fencing opportunities, with or without a disability.

“The SwordSeat™ is our response to the prohibitive cost and equipment requirements of wheelchair fencing.”

TANG

the part of the blade on which the hilt is mounted

TIERCE

high line, pronated guard on the sword-arm side

WHEELCHAIR FENCERS

Fencers that participate in the sport of Wheelchair Fencing. There is no requirement to be classified.

We do not restrict anyone from referring themselves as a wheelchair fencer, in fact we would encourage anyone at any level of the sport, whether it be using a SwordSeat or using a fixed frame and wheelchair.

“We run wheelchair fencing classes at our club, using the SwordSeat because it’s cheaper.”

This term can be used interchangeably when talking about Para fencers who compete in the Wheelchair Fencing competitions.

It can also be used for fencers who are competing in BF competitions but are not yet classified, or do not meet the classification requirements.

WHEELCHAIR FENCING

This is the discipline of fencing that requires the use of specialised Wheelchair equipment. Wheelchair Fencing refers to the sport. Classification is not required.

“The British Open is a Wheelchair Fencing Competition”. BF will refer to any licensed events that include wheelchair fencing events that are not requiring classification as ‘wheelchair fencing events’.

WHEELCHAIR FENCING EVENTS

Licensed BF Competitions that take place using the official wheelchair equipment with no classification required.

“The British Open Wheelchair Championships is a Wheelchair Fencing Event for Wheelchair fencers”

The Regional Novices Wheelchair Event- This competition will provide an opportunity for seated fencers to experience their first wheelchair fencing event. Wheelchairs will be supplied.

WORLD ABILITYSPORT

The International Federation that runs World Para Fencing. A member federation of the International Paralympic Committee.

Further info:

They also run Para Dance Sport, Frame Running, Powerchair Hockey, Wheelchair slalom, and Frame football.

From the World Abilitysport website:

“World Abilitysport is one of the world’s leading organisations for the development of Para sports. Alongside a membership of more than 80 countries around the world, World Abilitysport is passionate about offering as many competition opportunities as possible for athletes with physical impairments.”

WORLD PARA FENCING (WPF)

A department of World Abilitysport who are responsible for para fencing.

World Para Fencing use both wheelchair fencing and Para fencing to describe the sport.

World Para Fencing are hoping to expand their reach to other disciplines (not just wheelchair fencing) such as VI fencing in the future.