Fencing has been around since the 18th century. The sport has since evolved into a safe, competitive martial art. The sport is divided into three different weapons: foil, sabre, and epee. Foil and sabre are both based on priority, and touches are awarded depending on which fencer begins their attack first and also depending on the blade contact made during an action. However, foil is a thrusting weapon whereas in sabre, touches are scored with the edge of the weapon. Epee is also a thrusting weapon where touches are scored with the tip of the weapon, but it has no priority involved. That is to say if two fencers are to score simultaneously, touches would be awarded to both fencers. This is called a double touch and is unique to epee. Other distinguishing factors between the weapons is the target area. In epee, the target area is the entire body. In foil, valid target includes the torso and back and in sabre the target includes the torso, back, and arms.
Foil
The foil (Weapon C in the picture below) is a thrusting weapon where touches are scored with the tip of the weapon. On the tip of the weapon is a small button that can be pushed down in order to score a touch. There is a wire on the weapon that runs from the button on the tip of the blade, down to a socket on the guard of the foil. An electric body cord must then be plugged into the socket on the weapon and into a wire connected to a scoring machine for the circuit to be complete. The target area for foil includes the chest and back. Also, foil incorporates priority into the scoring. This means that a referee needs to decide which fencer rightfully earns a touch depending on factors such as blade contact and who began their "attack" first.
Epee
The epee (Weapon A) is also a thrusting weapon which means that touches are scored with the tip. The target area is the entire body from head to toe. This is the one weapon that has no priority used in scoring. This means that if two fencers hit each other, they are both awarded touches (Double touch). If the score is tied with both fencers one touch away from winning the bout and there is a double touch, both points are annulled and the score remains the same.
Sabre
In sabre, (Weapon B) touches are primarily scored using the edge of the weapon. The target area includes the head, torso, and arms. Like foil, sabre also incorporates priority into scoring. The rules of priority are similar to foil in that they mostly rely on blade contact and who begins their action first, but there are of course some small differences that are specific to the weapon.
Competition
There are many different levels of competition in fencing ranging from local and regional tournaments to world cups and the Olympics. Competitions are segregated by age, weapon, skill level, and sometimes gender. Age brackets include Y10 (10 and under), Y12 (12 and under), Y14 (14 and under), cadet (17 and under), junior (20 and under), and veterans categories which include 40 and over, 50 and over, 60 and over, and 70 and over. Events that are specific to certain skill levels include the division III, division II, and division I categories. For division III it is required that all fencers have a D rating or lower. For division II, entrants must be C or lower and for division I fencers must be C rated or higher. Ratings are awarded to fencers from A-E with A being the highest. If a fencer is not yet rated they are a "U" for unrated.
Competitions at the regional level are called ROCs (Regional Open Circuits) they are above the level of local and sectional tournaments but below the national level. Fencers can qualify for division III, division II, and division I-A at nationals through ROCs. Division I-A at the national level can be fenced by anyone who has qualified though a ROC. Division I at the national level can only be fenced by competitors who are on the national points list for division I-A. At the national competition level, there are NACs (North American Cups) and the Junior Olympics (JOs). Fencers can earn national points at NACs and the top fencers on the points lists can qualify for World Cups and the Olympics.
Hello, Cassidy.
ReplyDeleteWe discussed this in class, but what are your thoughts on organizing this text by sections with headings? This is entirely up to you of course, but considering you cover different areas of your topic, providing "blocks" with headings might be more appealing to your audience.
D. Kopp
First off, I loved your article. I'm fencing illiterate and that was wonderfully informative on the sections, divisions and points scoring.
ReplyDeleteAlong those lines however I was wondering what you thought about adding in pictures or descriptions concerning the three weapons you describes. For those of us who do not, nor have ever, fenced there is a disconnected between reading about the weapon and know what it looks like. Do you feel adding in descriptions (visual or word) would subtract from your overall format (which seems to concentrate on competition divisions rather than the sport itself)?
My second concern is headings. Or simply dividing the seconds more fluidly. Although I don't think you need to move any of the paragraphs around I do think headings describing what your different sections are would help the reader more fully comprehend what they're reading before a sentence or two has gone by.
On a more positive (or perhaps simply lighter) note the picture you have currently situated is wonderfully appealing. However have you considered moving it a bit up so that the audience is immediately captured by interest in what they're seeing? Do you think capturing the audiences interest via photo would help hook potential readers?
My final thoughts are on your title. It is fairly accurate with what you go onto describe. However do you think adding a subtitle or specifying that you are almost specifically talking about divisions, etc would help your audience understand what they're about to read? Although you do have the first few paragraphs that describe weapons and points scoring instead. Do you think specifying your title would then cause confusion or do you think it would help?
This article was actually really exciting; it's not every day you learn about it!
ReplyDeleteI feel that the beginning was well written in terms of citing fencing's evolution throughout the centuries. Knowing how old the sport is almost instills a certain reverence in me as a reader for the sport, and illuminates briefly the history of a sport that me as a reader had no idea about. A note: the opening paragraphs make reference to 3 types of weapons, of which only the sabre I have a faint recollection of. I suggest adding a nice picture or diagram showing the differences in the weapons. If the weapon is the same for the 3 "rounds", then I would make that clear in the piece.
I enjoyed learning about the rules of the sport. Unlike other articles on these blogs, I felt like I actually understood the lexicon of the sport. The 3 fighting techniques, the ratings, and the age divisions were all clearly explained in a simple yet informative way. I wasn't lost or confused in any of the terminology, which is great when reading up on an article about a sport I barely know.
If you do choose to do away with headings, I'd make sure the paragraphs have a nice rhythm to them. Each topic should seamlessly flow into the next. This greatly increases the efficacy of the piece, and makes it that much more interesting to the reader.
Great article all in all, though!