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I. Only standard non-electric foils will be permitted. Dummy electric weapons are forbidden. The foil must have its point covered with a rubber, plastic, or waxed thread button affixed with white surgical adhesive tape. Blades must be clean and free of rust. No part of the blade can be covered by tape with the exception of the point. Only French or Italian hilts are permitted; orthopedic grips of any type are forbidden. On the French Foil, a guard (Coquille) that is round, figure eight, oval, or rectangular is permitted. On the Italian Foil the guard (Coccia) must be round and the cross bar may slightly project beyond the circumference of the guard.
The use of a Martingale or Wrist Strap is optional.
(Note: A Martingale and a Wrist Strap are not the same thing. A "Martingale" is a leather loop, fixed on a French foil, just inside the guard between it and the handle. The fencer passes one or two fingers through the loop. It is intended not only to prevent the weapon from flying out of the fencer's hand in the event of a disarmament, but also to give more security in gripping the weapon. A Wrist Strap is a loop of leather or other material approximately one inch wide used in securing the Italian foil to the wrist. It is worn over the glove and the pommel of the weapon is inserted under the strap. It is placed so that the buckle is facing to the outside and center of the wrist. It is intended to give a more secure and firm grip to the weapon, while allowing the hand to have a more relaxed hold of the weapon.)
II. Fencers must posess two weapons in good condition when arriving on the piste.
III. Standard fencing uniforms (white) are required, including underarm plastrons, or the fencing jacket must be sufficiently padded and protected. Women must have breast protectors and Men must have cup protectors. No part of the fencer's body may be left uncovered. Legs must be fully covered with long stockings that will not droop down if knickers are worn, or by full length trousers. Gloves must be in good condition.
IV. Masks must have a bib (bavette) which must be affixed to the mask either by snaps or sewn in.
V. Masks must have mesh that is in good condition, strong, clean, and free of excessive denting.
VI. Sneakers or fencing shoes are strictly required and should be white. Black or colored shoes are not permitted. Small flash or stripes (as on Adidas) are permitted.
VII. All equipment and weapons must be presented to the appropriate officials upon arrival. Any rejection of equipment must be rectified immediately by the fencer or the fencer will be barred from the competition.
Fencers must salute the panel of officials before and after each bout.
There will be no score kept for these bouts.
Fencers will fence for one to two minutes maximum.
Fencers must follow the instructions of the panel.
Fencers must make as best they can any adjustments to their manner of fencing recommended by the panel.
Fencers who are not qualified are entitled to an explanation upon request. The panel is obliged to explicate in private to the fencer the reason for which qualification was denied. The explications should be brief and held immediately after the qualifying bouts have been completed.
I. Any fencer who behaves in any manner that is discourteous or dishonorable will be disqualified and ejected from the premises immediately.
Examples of the above include, but are not limited to, the following:
A) Arguing with the President de Combat, judges, or any official.
B) Vindictive acts, threatening attitude, or violence.
C) Hurling equipment.
D) Turning one's back to the adversary.
E) Insulting behavior in word, manner, or deed.
F) Cheating.
II. A fencer who is disqualified and ejected will not be entitled to a refund of the entry fee.
III. Any fencer who is disqualified and ejected will be banned from participating in future competitions for a period of no less than one year, depending on the seriousness and nature of the offense. If the offense is deemed gravely critical, the offender will banned for life.
IV. Before any action can be taken against any fencer the official(s) must bring the offender to charge before the Directoire Technique. The decision of the Directoire Technique is final with no appeal.
V. There will be no warnings given on any of the above.
I. The competition shall be in the charge of a jury of four judges presided over by a President de Combat. It is the duty of the President de Combat to see that all rules governing the competition are observed, likewise those unwritten rules which pertain to a fair fight, a fair count, intervening courtesy, and mutual consideration. All officiating shall be conducted in the English language. His decision is final. Appeals can be made to the Directoire Technique as soon as there is a dispute on a decision. The fencer must give two appels and, upon acknowledgment by the President de Combat, make his request for appeal. Only the President de Combat has the authority to call a halt to the combat. Judges only indicate whether or not they have seen a touch arrive, whether valid or invalid. The President de Combat will enforce the following:
A. A fencer should not by sign or gesture indicate to the audience or jury that he thinks he has made a successful thrust or disapproves of a decision.
B. The fencers should not speak while under arms, except after giving two appels having been acknowledged by the President de Combat.
C. Every hit should be immediately acknowledged, whether good or bad.
D. Neither adversary is allowed to retain for an excessive length of time the point of his weapon on his opponent's valid target, neither must he appeal to him to ascertain whether his thrust was successful or not. After a hit, whether good or not, the adversaries are again placed On Guard before resuming the bout.
Any violation of the above regulations must be announced and the offender given a warning. If the offender is called to order a second time, he should be excluded from the competition, and the order announced publicly.
II. Each bout shall be for three (3) touches, each touch to count one (1) point.
III. The judges in aggregate may award to each contestant in each bout a maximum of one half a point for defence, one half a point for attack, and one half a point for general good form, or any part thereof, the total of all points made by a contestant being scored separately for a special award under the category of excellence of form and technique.
IV. A good hit shall count when made upon the body within the limits bounded by the top of the collar of the fencing jacket (the bavette is also valid target), and a line conecting the tops of the hip bones. (The groin area is not valid target.) The back is also valid target that ends at the top of the hips. The arms and legs do not count as valid target.
V. A hit outside the prescribed limits may be counted, provided if in the opinion of the President it would have been good if the adversary had not taken an irregular position or made an illegal movement that covered the valid target.
VI. If one of the contestants touches with his point a part of his adversary's body not within the prescribed limits, it suffices to stop the phrase of arms, and annuls any succeeding riposte or counter riposte.
VII. No passage of arms is terminated until one of the contestants is hit, exceptions being irregular actions, inability to wield the weapons, or any situation which is deemed by the President to be unsafe.
VIII. Contestants shall fence within a marked floor-space not more than twenty (20) yards long and six (6) feet wide. If the fencer oversteps these boundaries he is given a warning. If he repeats this after the warning one point will be given against him. When one of the contestants has forced his adversary to his extreme boundary, they shall not be ordered to central ground until a hit has been made, or point granted.
IX. Contestants are strictly forbidden to discuss or claim a hit or speak a word, with the exception of declining an awarded hit.
X. Either contestant on being hit should acknowledge the point in a loud voice. The President must give an offender a warning on the first offence. On the second offence the President must give a touch against. On the third offence the President may disqualify the offender.
XI. Corps-a-Corps encounters must be stopped by the President. Corps-a-Corps is defined as bodily contact, and is not permitted in foil. The contestant who systematically and deliberately causes a corps-a-corps by force of the action will be given a warning. If the contestant persists he will be given a touch against. If there is a subsequent infraction the contestant will be disqualified.
XII. A contestant shall fence with the same hand throughout the bout.
XIII. A touch is invalid when the point is twisted on to the body after a slap of the foil.
XIV. To disarm an adversary counts for nothing, but a tac-au-tac riposte against a disarmed adversary is good. The hit must arrive within a period of fencing time. A period of fencing time is the time required to perform one simple fencing action.
XV. There will be a five (5) minute time limit for each bout. Fencers will not be advised as to the time remaining. Fencers will fence until victory is achieved or the time expires. When the time runs out before a bout is decided:
A) If one of the contestants has received more touches than the other, there is added to his score the number of touches necessary to arrive at the maximum, and the same number is also added to the score of the other contestant.
B) If the two contestants are tied, they are both regarded as having received the maximum number of touches, less one; and they fence without limit of time for the last touch. They are put back on guard in center position before fencing for the last touch.
XVI. Adjudicating double hits for Foil.
1. A Double Hit by simultaneous attacks of equal merit is annulled.
2. A Double Hit by Stop-Thrust upon an attack badly executed, wherein, the feint was too large or the arm drawn back, counts for the one who made the Stop-Thrust; Since he may have mistaken the faulty movement of the assailant for a preparation of attack, and erred only in judgment, while the other is doubly culpable in having sacrificed primary principles to ambition or excitement.
3. A Double Hit by a Time-Thrust badly judged counts for the assailant. For the attack was well executed and the adversary had a choice of a parry, a retreat, or a Time-Thrust. He chose the most hazardous and executed faultily.
4. A Double Hit by a Tension upon an attack well made counts for the assailant. The party attacked sought to make a Double Hit because he felt himself incapable of parrying.
5. A Double Hit by a Remise upon a Riposte with a hollow arm or upon an abandonment of the blade, counts for the one who executed the Remise, for it was provoked by a faulty Riposte.
6. A Double Hit by a Remise with a hollow arm or with the hand dropped to Remise counts for the one who executed the Riposte; for he was less at fault for taking his guard than the other, who exposed his chest by trying a faulty Remise.
7. A Double Hit by a Redouble upon a parry which it was thought not to be followed by a Riposte counts for the riposter.
MANNER OF FENCING: Contestants fence in their own style and at their own risk and peril. However all fencing must maintain a courteous and honest character. All violent actions, including but not limited to running attacks ending by jostling the adversary, disorderly play, abnormal displacements, any actions that the President deems dangerous (for example, loss of balance, hits brutally delivered) are expressly prohibited. The fencers on the strip must keep their masks on until the President renders a decision.
DISTINCTNESS OF THE TOUCH: In foil, every touch must arrive clearly and distinctly to be counted as valid. The point must fix on the valid target, bending sufficiently indicating penetration.
FENCING AT CLOSE QUARTERS: Fencing at close quarters is permitted as long as the fencers can use their weapons normally, and as long as the President can continue to follow the "Phrase des armes."
CORPS-A-CORPS: The corps-a-corps exists when the contestants remain in bodily contact; in this case the President halts the bout.
EVASIVE ACTIONS, DISPLACING TARGET, PASSING THE ADVERSARY: Displacing the target, lowering the body under attacks, turns and half-turns are permitted, including actions in which the body is lowered, the unarmed hand coming in contact with the ground (Passata Soto). However if on an evasive action, displacement, or passing, a nonvalid target is substituted for a valid target, a touch on the non-valid target is counted as valid. (The covering of valid target with any part of the body considered as non-valid (e.g. hand, arm, or leg) is forbidden and a warning for the duration of the contest should be given. If a second infraction occurs then a touch should be awarded against the culpable fencer. On the third infraction the fencer is disqualified from the contest.
Passing the adversary (changing positions on the piste) in the course of a bout is permitted if it is done as a consequence of a phrase d'armes. When a touch is made in the course of a passing action, the touch made immediately on the pass is valid. A touch made after passing the adversary is valid so long as it is the result of a continuous phrase. A touch made by a fencer, who has been attacked, even on turning around, is valid. (Note: The Fleche, also known as a running attack, is prohibited, however attacks by Passe Avant/Passado are permitted since they are not executed as running attacks.)
The President must not call a halt before the phrase is completed. After the halt the fencers are replaced in their original position.
In formulating these rules the following texts were consulted and adapted:
1. Foil and Sabre: A Grammar of Fencing 1892
by Louis Rondelle
2. The First Rule Book of the Amateur Fencer's League of America
Adopted October 4th, 1891
These rules subject to change without notice at the sole discretion of the sponsor.
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