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Journey to OLYMPIC
Fencing is one of only four sports that have been on every modern Olympic program since 1896. The men’s foil and saber events were on the 1896 program and the epee was added in 1900. But, because of major disagreements about the rules, France and Italy refused to compete in 1912. The Fédération Internationale d’Escrime, founded in 1913 to standardize rules, is the governing body for international fencing, including the Olympics. The women’s foil competition has been on the Olympic program since 1924. For many years, women fenced only with foils, but the epee was added to the Olympic program in 1996. There are different sets of rules for the three weapons, reflecting the differences in technique that grew out of their historical background. In foils and epee, a touch can be made only with the point of the weapon. The entire body is a valid target for the epee, but in foils a touch can be scored only on a limited target area. In saber fencing, a hit may be made with the point, the cutting edge, or the forward third of the [...]
What is Sword Fencing?
In last few posts we covered how fencing has traveled from war sword fight to modern days Olympic in post – Historical Development of Fencing Unfolding of modern day Fencing Journey to OLYMPIC Lets get into technicalities. We will cover what all is needed in fencing as game and then next couple of post we will cover each of the discipline in fencing. The sport of fencing is an art of strength and strategy, unlike the choreographed bouts one sees in movies or on live stage show. In a real bout you don’t swing from a chandelier or hang in the balconies, but two fencers perform an intense footwork on a six-fee-by 40-feet strip. The movements and steps of two players are so fast that one has to keep a score through an electric machine called apparatus. Three types of weapons are used in fencing– Foil Epee Sabre One can play in all three categories but each weapon has its own characteristics and way of use and player tend to specialize in one of these based on their interest and ease to handle it. Though Nedo Nadi from Italy won [...]
What is Foil Sword fencing?
As per Alexander Massialas I would describe Sword fencing foil as probably the most similar to classic dual of modern age. For visual please refer the video – Video by Alexander Massialas Target areas – BIB, Back, Torso, The Blade – 90 cm, It is made of special steel. It is stiff for manoeuvrability, flexible for flick attacks The uniform – Since past it has always been white and includes Mask, Lame, Shoes, Breeches, Glove, Jacket Fencers are identified by the flag on the uniform mask and last name on their back The Bout in sword fencing foil– At the start of the bout, both fencers always hook themselves to the reel, they immediately go to test each other target areas and after that they walk to En-Garde line and salute each other, then they put their mask on and get into their En-Garde position and wait for referee to say “Pret-Allez” The Piste for sword fencing– The bout takes place on a raised piste which is 2 meter wide and 14 meter long. The extreme end of Piste is called off-Piste, The middle of the Piste we have center [...]
What is Épée Sword Fencing?
The epee, pronounced as “EPP-pay” is actually a descendant of the dueling sword. Features of foil weapon – Like foil it is 35 inches in length But it is heavier than foil, weighing approximately 27 ounces It has larger guard to protect the hand from a valid hit A stiffer blade Target area of Épée weapon – The entire body is valid target area Touches are scored only with the point of blade Uniform of a Épée fencer – It includes a metallic vest which is also called Lame. It covers the valid target as explained above. The metallic vest would help register weapon tip touch on the scoring machine. The blade is wired with a spring loaded tip Player needs to press it beyond a pressure of 750 grams to complete the electrical circuit The process of pressing the tip to complete the electrical circuit would cause the colored bulb on the scoring machine to light Epee fencer’s uniform does not include a lame or torso jacket because entire body is valid target area Also off-target hits do not register on the machine. If you live in Delhi & want to learn fencing sports, [...]
What is Sabre Sword Fencing?
If you take it literally sabre is the oldest way of sword dueling. It is modified modern version of past slashing cavalry sword. Like epee, Sabre weapon also has hand protection but molded as bell guard. A socket for body wire is found underneath the bell guard The entire standard weapon is about 41 inches and of maximum weight of 500g. It is shorter than foil and epee and lighter than the epee The target area of Sabre weapon – The major difference is that sabre is a thrusting weapon as well as a cutting weapon. Which means you can not only use tip to score but the entire blade can be used to score. The target area is from the bend of the hips, both front and back, to the top of the head. Notice that Head and body above hips is part of the target area. This is what makes it very similar to cavalry rider on a horse. Blade and its networking with uniform and scoring on the machine – The fencer’s uniform includes a metallic jacket which is called lame This covers the [...]
Sword Fencing, Sports quota and scholarships
Sword Fencing, Sports quota, and scholarships With sky-high percentage cut-offs in Delhi University, it has become exceedingly difficult for students with average marks to get admission in tier-I colleges of Delhi University. The third cut – off list had a threshold of as high as 96% for all the popular courses in all the top colleges like SRCC, LSR, Ramjas, Kirori Mal. Ram Lal Anand College had a cut-off of 91.5% for BA (H) English, and for BA it was still at high of 85%. Clearly, an average student would have no chance to score an admission even in a regular course in these colleges, getting the popular course would become a distant dream. Sports Quota becomes a lifesaver for students who are at borderline of these high cut-offs in this extremely competitive era. Traditionally Delhi University has known to be giving sports quota in popular games like weightlifting, tennis, cricket, and basketball – the games that are already extremely competitive and would have plenty of students racing for those countable seats under this quota. Apart from these traditional and popular sports, students can [...]
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