The Nature of Fencing Defense

Series Summary

Fencing, or the art of armed combat involving strikes such as cutting and stabbing, is known as the art of swordsmanship. It has developed into a competitive sport and is an official Olympic sport. Protective fencing gear consists of masks, gloves, breeches and plastron. Typically made of tough cotton and nylon and Kevlar, the full-body padding is very protective and cannot usually be punctured. This form of competitive swordsmanship has been in practice for centuries. Today, thanks to modern technology, the fencers wear electronic wires for scoring hits or strikes.

There are different types of swords used in fencing including and Epee, a Foil, and a Sabre. In this series of video clips, you’ll learn more about sabre fencing. An important component of fencing is the footwork and balance. Get informative tips on the choreography of a sword fight from our expert. Learn more about the modern scoring apparatus and other fencing equipment. If you are a novice fencer, you can get more advanced tips and ideas for fencing foil techniques and vaulting and linear footwork.

Video Transcript

"I'm Sharol Pestotnik with Colorado Fencing Academy. On behalf of Expert Village we're going to be discussing Sabre Fencing defense. Sabre Fencing defense is a natural progression of fencing. If you have an opponent coming at you it's natural to protect yourself. Target area is from waist up. So this would be parry three, on your right side, parry four, on your left side, parry five, for your head. To gain initiative in fencing it's important you take a parry. This takes away the initiative of your opponent, and then you can respond back. The language in fencing is from French. Most of our words that we use in fencing will be French words, which I will put into English for you. A "parry" is a block. If I have a "parry repost" that means I had a block, touch. This will lead us into our defense for Sabre Fencing."