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Glossary

المصطلحات

The language of fencing

Fencing Glossary

المصطلحات

Every word you\'ll hear at a fencing club or tournament. Useful for parents, spectators, journalists, and brand-new athletes.

Advance

Stepping forward while maintaining en-garde stance.

Attack

Initial offensive action that establishes priority (in foil and sabre).

Bout

A single match between two fencers.

Counter-attack

An offensive action during the opponent's attack; loses priority to a good attack.

DE

Direct elimination, knockout rounds after the pool rounds.

En-garde

The ready stance at the start of a bout.

Épée

One of the 3 weapons, thrusting, full-body target, no priority rule.

Feint

A fake attack meant to draw a parry, then redirected to the real target.

Foil

Thrusting weapon, torso-only target, right-of-way priority rule applies.

Lunge

The explosive forward extension used to deliver an attack.

Parry

A defensive blade action that deflects the opponent's attack.

Piste

The 14m × 1.5m strip on which the bout is fenced.

Pool

The round-robin opening stage; each fencer meets every other in the pool.

Priority

In foil and sabre, the right to score earned by starting the attack correctly.

Remise

A renewal of the attack immediately after an opponent's parry.

Riposte

The counter-offensive after a successful parry.

Sabre

Cutting + thrusting weapon; target above the waist; priority applies.

Touch

A scored hit on valid target.

V

Victory in a pool bout, shown as V/M (victories over matches).

Yellow card

Warning, every subsequent infraction escalates to red (point) then black (expulsion).