| Foil. Killing for perfectionists |
| When two people attack each other with a sword in one hand and adrenaline in the other, they usually both end up in a bad way. Either both are dead, or the winner is missing a much needed eye or limb. Because of our love of revenge and the lack of really reliable medical care, this situation was deemed unacceptible by the fencing masters of the 15th century, so they did something about it. They invented a game. (Games being the best way to teach thick-headed young people anything) The game looked and felt like a swordfight without getting anyone stabbed. This game was called foil. It taught them how to not only kill their opponent (since wounding someone was unwise in a society so into vengance) but to survive to tell the tale without getting so much as a scratch. The game is still played today. Scoring touches on an opponent's vital areas without getting hit was then the best way to settle disputes. Today it is a wonderfully challenging sport where superior strength can be overcome by superior intelligence. Foil is the most level playing field in sports. Foilists learn to approach each opponent and learn their weaknesses and strengths. Where an epeeist will often play the odds and go for a draw to win, and a sabrist will try to overwhelm his opponent, a foilist must understand his opponent and trick them into an action that they can use to their advantage. |
| MF National ranking 1 Tiomkin, Jonathan 2 Kellner, Dan 3 Dupree, Jed 4 Gerberman, Steve 5 Sinkin, Gabe WF National ranking 1 Zimmerman, Iris 2 Smart, Erin 3 Cross, Emily 4 Ament, Andrea 5 Thompson, Hannah 12 Andrews, Bethany 16 Seal, Julie |
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| Here you see a detailed view of the sensor tip of a (French) foil. The spring you see illustrated in black must provide 500 grams of pressure to score a touch. The electric current travels up an insulated wire into the contact which sits within the plastic contact cup. (Cut open to show the contact inside) The spring sits between the bottom contact and the top contact, which is part of the tip assemply. When at rest, the current travels through the spring into the top contact into the collar, the tip is the only moving part of the tip assembly. The collar is held in place by two small screws which attach it to the barrel. The current travels through the barrel, and down the blade to the socket. When a touch is scored the electrical current is carried through the tip to the opponent's lame' and is carried to the scoring box. The mechanical action of the tip disconnects the collar from the top contact. A metal post through the center of the tip connects the top contact with tip, so the current is able to stay connected with the lame', but unable to return through the barrel and blade. This signal tells the scoring box that a touch has been scored. If the tip is in contact with the lame' the scoring box will also know that the touch was made on valid target. |
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| Congratulations to the U.S. Women's Foil team for winning a Silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic games |
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| Foil rule changes 2005: The foil tip must hit and stay hit for 15ms. ((Meaning hit harder and don't act surprised when the box doesn't award a correct touch. Well done FIE)) You can turn shoulder and they finally figured out that covering target and simple Corps-a-corps doesn't annull the touch. I told you that 4 years ago! |
| In a recent letter to all USFA referees, George Kolumbatovitch reminded us that fencing is unchanging and unchanged despite the number of rule changes that keep trying to alter that fact. 1. There is no such thing as a distance parry. A parry is an action made with a weapon. 2. Right of way is earned by offense, not defense. A parry will take right of way from your opponant, but it will not give it to you. You must earn it through offense. 3. Point in line is valid until parried or removed. Sticking with the principles that made fencing great for the last 500 years will not ruin it now. The only thing that can ruin it is if we switch the lights around every two years to help spectators better understand the sport. |
