How to score: right of way

How touches are scored in fencing can be the most difficult aspect for a new spectator or fencer to get the hang of. To ease ourselves into it, let’s start with the easiest weapon to understand: Épée.

Épée

To score a point in Épée, a fencer must squarely hit their opponent with their point before they get hit. The point can land anywhere on the opponent’s body, from their head to their toes. When a fencer scores a valid hit (not on the bell guard or somewhere on the floor), the colored (red or green) light on that fencer’s side of the machine lights up. This colored light indicates that fencer hit their opponent. If the machine shows a white light instead of a colored light, it means there is a malfunction in the wiring. A referee’s job in Épée is to make sure that a fencer actually hits the other fencer, and not the floor or anything else, as well as make sure that both fencers are competing by the rules of the sport.

When two Épée fencers hit at the same time, a touch is awarded to both fencers. You can tell fencers hit at the same time when both the red and green lights turn on. If the fencers don’t hit at the same time, the machine will lock the lights, so only one light will turn on.

Sabre and Foil: Right of Way

Right of way is the term that describes which fencer scores a point if both fencers land a valid hit on valid target. We’ll get into what that means in a bit, but first let’s cover valid target and a valid hit for Foil and Sabre.

Foil:

A fencer must score a hit with the tip of their weapon in Foil. The tip must land on valid target. Valid target includes the torso and groin. It does not include the legs, face, or arms. In competitions, a fencer’s valid target will be covered with a shiny material, called a lamé. When a valid hit is scored in Foil, a colored light will turn on for the fencer that scored the hit. If you score a hit with the point in Foil on invalid target (like the leg), the white light on that fencer’s side will turn on instead.

Sabre

It is not necessary to hit with the tip of your weapon in Sabre. Any part of the blade (excluding the guard) can land on valid target. Valid target in Sabre includes the torso, arms, and head. It does not include the legs, groin, or either hand. When a valid hit is scored in Sabre, a colored light will turn on for the fencer that scored the hit. Nothing will happen if you hit an opponent on invalid target in Sabre. If you see a white light, it means there is a malfunction in the equipment.

Right-of-way

Right of way is perhaps the most difficult concept in fencing to learn and master. For the purposes of this article, we are going to grossly oversimplify it so you can get out there and start watching and learning.

There are two basic situations you’re going to encounter when watching fencing. The first is when both fencers are trying to hit each other at the same time. The second is when one fencer is trying to hit, while the other fencer is trying to defend.

Right of way describes which fencer is awarded the touch when both fencers hit. A fencer gains right of way by initiating an attack before their opponent. This is how you determine who gets the point in that first situation.

According to the rulebook, an attack is made by threatening their opponent’s target area while their arm is extending. In practice, Sabre attacks and Foil attacks will look quite different. In Foil, more emphasis is put on the initial extension of the arm as the origins of the attack. In Sabre, more emphasis is placed on the initial motion forward of the feet when determining right of way. Remember, it’s not about who hits first, it’s about who starts their final sequence of aggressive actions first.

Whoever initiated their attack first has right of way, and if nothing else happens and both fencers score valid hits, the point goes to the person who is determined by the referee to have the right of way. For example, in Sabre, if fencer A starts an advance while fencer B does nothing or retreats, and then both fencer A and fencer B lunge at the same time, then fencer A is awarded the point because they started their final sequence of actions first, with the advance.

However, an experienced fencer without right of way will not attempt to merely hit their opponent. They know they will lose the touch. For this reason, you will often see fencers trying to defend themselves instead. This is the second basic situation mentioned above.

A fencer can lose right of way if their attack fails. If a fencer’s attack fails, either because they simply missed valid target or through their opponent’s deft defense, right of way is temporarily given to their opponent as if they had started an attack (when a fencer scores a touch with this temporary right of way, it is called a ‘riposte’). That means that even if both fencers start their attacks and score valid hits at the same time, the person who recently deflected (called a ‘parry’ in fencing terminology) an attack will have right of way, and thus score the point.

Remember, it does not matter how many how many times right of way has been exchanged during the course of the touch. Right of way is given to the fencer who initiates the attack first, or had recently stopped an attack. As you watch more, you’ll start to get a sense for the time that a fencer has to initiate their riposte after a parry and still retain right-of-way.

In Foil, when a fencer hits off-target (a white-light hit), the referee will stop the bout to determine who would have scored the point, even though no valid hit has been registered. After this occurrence, no fencer is awarded a point and they simply begin again where they left off.

This is in contrast to Sabre, where even if a fencer hits off-target, no white light will register. The point will continue until at least one fencer hits on valid target.

If neither fencer clearly has right of way - which happens when fencers start their attacks at similar times and there wasn’t a recent parry - then the referee calls simultaneous, and fencing begins again where the fencers left off. This is true for both Foil and Sabre.

Below is a simple diagram designed to help understand the thought process needed to determine who scores a point for the second situation - when one fencer is trying to hit and the other is trying to defend.