The Swords, Rules, and Moves of Fencing: How to Play by Britta Nathan

Fencing is a French sport that I have learned by doing it!

Here are some of the words you will probably use:
Pret Pronounced like “Pray”, means “Ready”; Oui Pronounced like “We”, means “Yes”; Allez Pronounced like “Al-Ay”, means “Go”

How to do fencing depends on which sword you are using.The swords I use are below.

[Above]
Foil: Good for beginners
Target Area: Torso
Style: Poke                                                                                   

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[Above]]
Sabre: (Most people’s preference and most common)
Target Area: Waist up
Style: Slash

 [Above]
Epee (My personal favorite and least well known)
Target Area: Whole Body
Style: Slash

When you fence:

1) Face your opponent about 4 feet away.
2) Put on your mask and one person will say, “Pret.”
3) When the other person is ready, they will say, “Oui.”
4) The first person says, “Allez.”

In Posture, (see below) advance and retreat (again, see below) trying to touch the other person with your sword.  How and where depends on the sword, which I covered above.
When someone extends their arm, they have the “Right Of Way”.  This means that they have the right to hit the other person. This means that if the person without the Right Of Way hits first, then the person with the Right Of Way hits, they get the point even though they hit second.  Right Of Way switches people when the blades touch.

There are several ways to play when it comes to points, but I usually play first to five points wins.

2. Posture
Fencing posture depends on whether you are right-handed or left-handed.  Stand with your heels together but your toes apart, so that your feet look like an L.  If you are left- handed, your left foo should be facing forward. If you are right-handed, your right foot should be forward. Keep your feet in an L shape, but move your feet farther apart so that your heels don’t touch anymore.  Don’t put them too far away, just somewhere around the length of your foot. Bend your knees slightly.  Don’t really squat, just relax your legs a little bit and sit a bit lower down than if you were standing up straight. Keep your legs the same, but turn at the waist so that your torso faces to the side.  Turn your head so that you are looking forward. Get one hand out of the way.  Some people like tucking their non-dominant hand behind their back, some prefer holding it above their head.  It’s your choice which you like better. If you’re right-handed, you should be doing this with your left. If you’re left-handed, do this with your right. Now, with the other hand, bend your elbow a little bit and hold it out in front of you.  Do not rest your elbow on your side, hold it out an inch or two. You should be standing like this:

3. Moving Around
1) Find an area with plenty of forward and backward space to move around.  Right to left length doesn’t matter, in Fencing it is against the rules to move in anything but a straight line.
2) Stand the way I taught you in “Posture” above.
3) Advancing
4) Move your front foot forward, not too far!
5) Push off with your back foot
6) Repeat, but keep your steps small and fast.  No running in fencing! No galloping either!

4. Retreating: Do not turn around, just do the steps for Advancing backwards! Move your back foot backwards. Push off with your front foot. Repeat, keeping steps small and fast.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4jVf8fZ8Xw]

Other Things
1) Lunge
2) Stand in correct posture
3) Extend your arm (When lunging, always do this FIRST)
4) Put your front foot forward far enough that your back leg is straight and your front leg is bent. Move back into correct posture.

I hope this helps you learn a little about fencing and I hope you try it sometime!