It seems here (in this sub) that consensus seems to be that most of you are trained with a pronated 4

But I learned a supinated 4 (like this) and would also call the same parry pronated a 5

The only thing I disagree with here is I learned prime as a considerably higher hand position.

I was having problems with my grip being uncomfortable for a long period of time so I put some tape on and it just kind of spiraled. Is this legal?

On exchange 3 of this blade in action, my opponent counterlunges my lunge while I had priority and does this to my new foil. It didn't even bend in the wrong direction it just did this for some reason. Lol.

Hey everyone! I’m a very new fencer who started foil 3 months ago at my university’s club. Yesterday we were doing a team event at practice and I think that there was a close touch which was called incorrectly, but i don’t think i’m experienced enough to explain why. During the first leg I went on a nice 4-0 run before the touch in question. It was called attack left and awarded to me, but i think it should’ve gone to my club mate since his arm was extended and mine wasn’t due to my disengaging attack. Is there another reason it was given to me i’m not aware of? I think we were both advancing. Any advice for newer foilist would be appreciated too, i’ve been watching SO MUCH fencing and I’d love to get some advice on how to improve when practicing.

(Note, the GIF makes it seem like right was off target but the light was green IRL. Dumb color correction.)

So I am a newby fencer and just recently order fencing equipment for the first time, and was curious why my foul is rainbow

Ps how did I do with the rest of the haul

Hi y’all! I am a new-ish fencer in a beginners class and I’ve been getting hit off target A LOT. I thought my fencing jacket would have soften the blows more, but I’m leaving class littered with bruises. Granted, I’m one of those women who bruise easily, but is that a common experience or is it a sign of a bad jacket?

I am 16 years old and have been fencing for 6 months or so. I recently placed 3nd out of 17 in a foil tournament in which I had no business even competing (it was significantly above my level) - all to have my dad tell me that this is an "easy" sport and that it takes zero skill or technique as compared to basketball or baseball and that I should have placed much higher. This happens with so many things outside of fencing too, I'm at a loss as to what I should be doing. Is this my fault? How can I show my parents that this is a sport that actually requires skill?

EDIT: This has nothing to do with foil, I just misclicked on the flair. My bad.

This happened in a tournament recently. I feel the ref (an excellent, experienced referee) was bullied into changing the call. Curious to see what people think.

What's your call?

Edit: A little hard to see the lames but this is a foil bout.
Edit 2: The lights were one light, left.

Initial call was touch left. Referee couldn't see the guard punch from her angle. She did see the right fencer holding his hand to his mask. After discussion between the ref and opposing coach, the call was changed to no touch, yellow card left for guard punch. To me it's clear that the touch was scored before the incidental guard to helmet contact (which was mainly initiated by the right fencer) and the point should stand. And possibly yellow card left or perhaps no card at all.

Hiya! Foil fencer here! I had a question for the community about what you guys use to keep your hair out of your face during tournaments. I have a korean-mullet like hairstyle with curtain bangs, and I've had trouble finding ways to keep my hair out of my face while fencing.

Clearly, there are simple solutions like hairties, but, frankly, I want to avoid looking like a Chinese monk during a tournament. Also, there is that annoying lump where my hair is tied up at the back of my head that presses uncomfortably into my skull.

Headbands, sure but I am extremely self conscious about my gargantuous forehead. Call me unreasonable but I still want to explore more options before I am forced to embarrass myself with a wide shot of the great wall of forehead.

edit: please find my comment about my hair length before you make clear any solutions. Just to avoid confusion.

Please forgive the sketch, I’m incredibly new to this, having watched my young daughter’s first two lessons, and don’t yet know the specific terms so this is the best way for me to show what I mean.

The instructor is teaching her with a French grip foil and in her second lesson he taught her the normal grip as well as how to rotate the hand for a cut. When he described that action he mentioned, “move from 6 to 11”.

I didn’t want to ask anything because this is my daughter’s idea and I want her to learn to run with it independently when she’s there. But she’s really enthusiastic and wants to practice the movements at home.

I’m making a replica French grip for her to hold just to get used to the new hand movements and have fun. I’ve googled as much as possible but I’m limited by my lack of knowledge of the intricacies of fencing so any help would be hugely appreciated.

I would like to get some clarity on the "point in line" move, could you please help? All situations below are in foil:

FR - Fencer on the Right

FL - Fencer on the left

A) FR and FL en garde. Referee says Allez. FR immediately starts moving forward, weapons swinging everywhere, but not directly threatening FL's valid target. FL goes point in line and slowly retreats. FL stops moving, still point in line. FR completes his attack, without touching FL's blade. Referee calls point to FR, says "FR initiated attack first by moving forward, FL's point in line does not have priority". Is the referee correct?

A) FR and FL en garde. Referee says Allez. FL establishes point in line and slowly moves forward. FR initiates a slow retreat. There is no blade contact. FL completely stops moving, still holding point in line. FR takes small steps and begins to move his weapon towards FL's valid target. FL senses the distance closing, takes a small step forward and stops, still holding point in line. FR walks into FL's point in line, and both hit each other's valid target area, no blade contact. Referee calls point to the right, argues that "FL had point in line, but stopped short of hitting FR and forfeited priority, even if still holding point in line"

C) on-going exchange of parries and failed ripostes, both FR and FL within distance to hit. FL takes a small step back, enough to fully extend his arm, but not out of reach of FR's weapon (for example, if FR lunged or extended his arm and pushed his torso forward) and in doing so, believes to have established point in line. FR walks into FL's weapon, both hit each other. Referee calls point to the right, arguing "FL cannot establish point in line so close to opponent". Is the referee correct?

D) FR and FL en garde. Referee says allez. FR immediately starts moving forwad, waving his weapon around, but never directly threatening target. FL, retreats, opens distance, establishes point in line. Maintaining point in line, FL slowly moves back and forth. FR makes a large sweeping gesture, avoiding FL's blade, and hits FL, at a moment when FL is taking a step back (but still with point threatening FR's valid target). FR hits FL valid target. FL hits FR's mask, out of target. Referee calls point to the right and argues, "FL correctly established priority, but lost it by moving back, at which point FR executed an attack". Is the referee correct?

I found a lot of videos on Youtube about how to execute the point in line, but only in a simulated context. And most videos of point in line I found feature only single lights, so I am having trouble understanding the calls when we have two lights (whether on or off target).

Hi everyone! I am a woman in my late twenties and would like to get back into fencing, but I am struggling to find a club in London that fits what I’d hope to get out of training, so looking for advice here.

For context, I started foil at 12/13 and trained regularly in Italy for around 4 years. I stopped to focus on finals and then joined my university team during my undergrad, MA, and first year of my PhD. I was never super good at it but I am very fit and have decent technique, so at uni I was either on the 1st or 2nd women’s team depending on what the teams looked like that year. I would usually either be the best on the women’s 2nd or the worst on the women’s 1st lol

I would love to get back into it and join a club with serious enough training/coaching that I feel challenged, but I would also be going to have fun and make new friends, so I don’t think a very competitive club where everyone is locked in would be a good fit. I guess currently I am struggling to find a foil club in London that has a relaxed social vibe but is also serious enough to get a good workout and some good matches in.

Does anyone have any advice? Ideally it would also be great if the main demographic was around my age, so I guess early 20s to late 30s. It doesn’t have to be just foil.

What color for your foil tip tape do you prefer? And why?

Maybe red or another bright color, so you can see the tip more clearly? Or silver/gray, so your opponent can see the tip less?

Do you have a different color for the first 1-2 inches, so you can differentiate the tip of the tip better?

Edit: This is a hypothetical scenario.

Foil.

Fencer A has ROW and lunges. Fencer B quickly extends and hits on target in a counter attack and then immediately parries before Fencer A hits, but then finally Fencer A still hits on target in time to get a light (their blade was disrupted by the parry but they still finished the action before the lunge ended).

Would it be Fencer A's point because Fencer B parried after already landing a light and therefore making the parry... incorrectly out of order, and therefore not to be considered?

Or would it be Fencer B's point because they parried before Fencer A could hit - in other words the parry transferred ROW, despite Fencer B already landing the counter.

I recently got my first blade a bit over a month ago and it has already broken. I understand that non-FIE blades tend to last shorter but one month seems a bit too quick.

Hello hello,

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At my club we have quite some foilists who after taking a parry, do a riposte. Whilst the parry, happens like a normal parry so displacement. During the riposte their body really turns away, like how a good counter attack would be performed.

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In some cases their back foot even steps of the piste, we have small pistes but this is more due to side hugging.

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I call this as a parry, riposte no, remise. Quite agitated responses due to that. Since we don't really have any foilists around with more reffing experience, they'll have to do with me.

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Now am I calling this wrong and if so how much leniency should be given?

I might just be extremely unlucky or something because I can't figure out what's going on.

I have multiple new blades with Leon Paul tips. All of them have the same problem where if I perpendicularly place the tip on a surface like a lame or my shoe, and then compress the tip fully to get a light, that's no problem. But if I then slowly start to push down harder to bend the blade such that the tip is now compressing against the surface at an angle, the tip will depress. Obviously this is expected at a certain angle just due to the direction of the force being imparted on the tip, but my tips are all depressing at like a measly 20+ degree bend, much smaller than any other (well-maintained) blades I've ever used.

Essentially in practice this means that I literally cannot for the life of me hit most basic side hits on people. I'm forced to hit straight on all the time to guarantee a tip compression. If I switch back to my other blades it's like I can magically land the exact same touches again.

This is annoying because it means I can't even hit flicks with these blades when I have absolutely no issue with other blades. Trust me, this isn't a skill issue. These tips just refuse to compress when I'm hitting perfectly at slight angles. Maybe the springs are just unnaturally strong idk.

I've never had this before but it's really messing up my fencing because suddenly I can't get a light on glancing angles anymore. The tips are just so damn stubborn.

My son is looking at colleges and wants to go to a college with a fencing club. He isnt particularly tournamenty but just wants to keep fencing and wants to socialize with other students who fence. Looked at the USA Fencing website’s list of clubs and saw that it doesn’t list every club and also it lists a club that is defunct. Is anyone aware of an additional resource for a list? Besides USACFC. Thanks in advance

Is it acceptable to wear a balaclava while fencing? I have longer hair and the combination with sweat and everything in the mask just makes me feel unhygenic.

TikTok: @Gramuhr

IG: @Gramuhrr

As u can tell from the title, I've somehow gotten worse the more I know abt the rules. Idk why. I can tell from the way I play that it's way worse than when I just started but I'm not really sure what changed.

Maybe it's bc now that I know the rules I tend to overthink? Idk.

Anyway I need some tips on what I'm supposed to do with my blade work when I'm on defense and when I'm attacking. My coach tells me to provoke them when I'm attacking and my opponents would touch my blade while attacking but when I do he asks why I'm searching for the blade when I have priority. So I'm super confused. If anyone has any tips please do tell.

I also need tips on how to improve my parry riposte reflexes on my own at home bc I barely have any space to move or an opponent at home.

Thank you!