How to Wear a Fencing Uniform

Although fencing weapons are blunted, they remain 36 inches of tempered steel. To protect themselves, fencers wear uniforms made from thick white canvas and cover the entire body. They are white because, if you are somehow cut, it will become immediately clear that you are bleeding. These uniforms are designed for your safety and you should always wear a “competition-rated” uniform.

This guide will walk you through putting on a uniform and therefore give you an idea of a full kit.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Knee-high white socks (soccer socks work fine)
• Fencing shoes (or shoes with as little sole as possible)
• Knickers
• Under-arm protector
• Breast-protector (mandatory for women)
• Jacket
• Glove
• Mask
• Lame and body-cord (if fencing electric)

1. Put on your knickers – prior to this, you should be in your underwear and a t-shirt (shorts are unnecessary). Men are strongly advised to wear cups. Your knickers should extend just past your knees.

2. Put on your under-arm protector. This will go on your weapon side and essentially acts as a second layer where you will be hit most often.

3. Put on your breast protector, if you have one. For women, this is obvious and mandatory for any fencing. For men, breast protectors are increasingly popular, but not required.

4. Put on your jacket, which should extend to an inch before your wrist, like an ill-fitting suit coat. If you have a body-cord, now is the time to slip it down your arm. Most jackets loop around your groin and have an elastic band secured in the back. Even if you extended your hands straight in the air, this will prevent you from exposing your midriff.

5. Put on your socks. Pull them ALL THE WAY up. It hurts – a lot – to get hit in the shin. Don’t exacerbate that pain with a cut.

6. Put on your shoes. Fencing shoes are special because they have very little sole – less than half an inch. Some shoes are reinforced for your back-foot, so that if you slide your back-foot while lunging, you won’t scrape your ankle on the floor. Fencing shoes are also reinforced at the front toe for epee. Beginning fencers can do fine with any low-sole running shoe.

7. Put on your lame, if fencing electric. If fencing foil, secure the lower strap, as you did with your jacket. “Hanging strap” is a hazard for tripping, and a yellow card offense (clothing not in working condition).

8. Put on your glove. This should extend a few inches on your forearm. Your glove should always be over your jacket; that way, if a blade hits your arm, it can’t possibly go under your jacket and up your arm.

9. Put on your mask. Secure the elastic band in the back. You should be able to shake your head both up and down and side to side without it sliding, much less falling off. Wire-mesh masks are very flexible; you can adjust them by pushing the sides to fit snugly. NEVER fence without a mask.

10. In a full uniform, your off-hand should constitute the only exposed skin on your body. Classical fencing puts your off-hand behind your head, while modern fencing allows it to hang by your side. Either way, it should stay far away from the action.

Tips & Warnings

• Modern jackets are “front-zip.” The zipper should be your opposite side. Unless absolutely necessary, don’t bother with “back-zip” jackets – they’re hot, uncomfortable, and often dangerously threadbare from age.
• When fencing in your club, some fencers may swap their knickers for warm-up pants. This saves the trouble of knee-high socks and the occasional discomfort of knickers. Your club’s insurance policy may forbid this behavior, and you should NEVER fence in shorts. Warm-up pants will still cover your legs entirely and protect against the brunt of hits. Accept that you will sweat a lot when you fence.
• Blades don’t break often, but when they do, you’ll want the best protection against a very sharp, jagged blade coming at you. Importantly, blades don’t just break at competitions. They break when you’re playing around at the club with your friends – more often actually, because people use their older, cheaper, backup blades for practice. And blades don’t always break because of dangerous fencing. Sometimes they just break, even with safe fencers. That’s why you MUST wear “competition-rated” equipment at all times.

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on 8/9/2008 http://www.mysocceruniform.com