Foil Fencing & The Bout

Video Transcript

"I just want to walk you through a bout, some of the basic mechanics of a bout, so you get an idea of what's going to be going on around you as you fence. So at the beginning of, of, of a bout, after you have saluted, the referee will call, "En Garde," in which case the fencers will be. We're a little closer than we would be in an actual bout. And then the referee will call, "Allez," which means go, essentially. The bout will ensue, and a halt will be called if one of the following things happens. If a hit has been reported, not if it has been scored, but if a touch has been reported either by one of the judges, you can have hand judges if it's a dry bout, you might have the electric go off with either a white or a colored light if it's an electric fencing bout, action will be halted and the judge will report on what has occurred. Also if a, if one of the fencers has been disarmed, if someone loses a weapon, a halt will be called. If a fencer leaves the piste, a halt will be called, and if there is dangerous play or body contact, which again, is not allowed in foil, then a halt will be called. Now if it's the case of a, of a touch being signaled by either a judge or the electric, then if a hit was valid, has been deemed valid, then play will begin again in the middle of the strip. If it was not a valid strip, play will resume where it last left off. So, if we had retreated toward the end of the strip, and I made a hit that was otherwise off target or invalid, then we would start again down there. And, at the end of the bout, of course, oh, three points in we would switch sides, and at the end of five touches the bout would be called to an end, and we would, once again, remove our helmets, shake hands, and go home and brag to our friends and families about how well we did in our Foil Fencing bout."