Fencing (FIE) — Official Rules

Fencing is a combat sport in which two fencers face each other on a piste (strip) and seek to register valid touches (hits) on the opponent with the point or, in sabre, also the edge of the weapon, while avoiding being touched. The bout is governed by the FIE Technical Rules and conducted with electric scoring apparatus that registers and signals touches. A fencer wins by reaching the prescribed number of touches or by holding the lead when fencing time expires.

Foil is a thrusting weapon: touches count only with the point. The valid target is the trunk (torso) - front and back of the body between the collar and the groin lines - and excludes the head, arms and legs. Hits off-target stop the action but do not score. Foil is governed by priority (right of way) rules, so when both fencers hit within the apparatus blocking time the referee awards the touch to the fencer judged to have had right of way. The foil apparatus blocking (lock-out) time is 300 +/- 25 ms.

Epee is a thrusting weapon scored only with the point, and the entire body from head to toe is valid target. Epee has no right of way: when both fencers land within the apparatus blocking time, a double touch is registered and a hit is awarded to each fencer. The epee apparatus blocking time is the shortest of the weapons, 40 ms (specified range 40-50 ms), which is why simultaneous actions frequently produce double touches.

Sabre is a cutting and thrusting weapon: touches count with both the edge (cut) and the point (thrust). The valid target is everything above the waist - the whole body, head and arms - excluding the hands. Like foil, sabre uses priority (right of way) to award the touch on simultaneous actions. The sabre apparatus blocking time is 170 +/- 10 ms (raised from 120 ms in 2016 to favour clearer attacks).

The bout takes place on a piste 14 m long and 1.5 to 2 m wide. Lines marked across its full width include a centre line, two en-garde lines 2 m on each side of the centre (where fencers start), and the two rear limit lines at each end. The last 2 m before each rear limit are distinctively marked (warning zone) so a fencer knows they are near the back of the piste. The piste must be electrically conductive and earthed so the apparatus does not register hits made on the floor.

If a fencer crosses the rear limit with both feet, the opponent is awarded a touch. If a fencer crosses a lateral (side) boundary with one or both feet, the referee calls Halte and the fencer who went off the side is replaced 1 m back from the position they occupied; if this places them across the rear limit, a touch is awarded against them. A fencer who leaves the piste accidentally (e.g. a fall) is not penalised by a touch, but ground gained by an opponent who pushed them off improperly is not counted.

Each fencer wears a protective jacket, plastron (underarm protector), breeches, mask, glove and chest protector rated to withstand a defined force (clothing 800 N, mask bib 350 N, mesh tested for penetration). Foil and sabre require a conductive (lame) over-jacket matching the valid target, with a mask connected to the scoring circuit. All FIE-level clothing and blades must carry the required safety markings. Equipment is checked before competition and may be re-checked during it.

For the 2025/26 season the FIE applies its Material Rules more strictly, with safety as the priority. Checks at the equipment control (arme) and on the piste are tightened, and non-compliant or unsafe clothing, masks, blades, body-wires and lames are refused. A fencer presenting at the piste with equipment that does not meet the current standard, or whose equipment fails during the bout, is penalised under the offences table (commonly a Group 1 card and an obligation to replace the item).

Before fencing, the two fencers salute each other, the referee and the spectators; refusing to salute at the start or end of a bout is a Group 4 offence (black card). They then take position on guard behind their respective en-garde lines, feet behind the line, weapon and mask ready. The referee verifies the apparatus and the connection before commencing.

The referee starts and controls every phrase with set commands: "En garde" (take guard), "Etes-vous prets?" / "Prets?" (are you ready?), and "Allez" (fence / play). To stop the action the referee calls "Halte" (halt); any touch arriving after a correctly called Halte is annulled, while a touch already begun before Halte may stand. After each valid touch the fencers return to their en-garde lines and the referee restarts with En garde / Prets / Allez.

Corps-a-corps is body-to-body contact that prevents normal swordplay. In epee corps-a-corps is permitted provided it is not brutal, but no touch made during or immediately after it counts; in foil and sabre any corps-a-corps causes the referee to call Halte and annul any touch that follows. Causing corps-a-corps deliberately to avoid a touch, or jostling/barging the opponent, is a Group 1 offence (yellow card, then red card on repetition).

A fencer must not turn their back fully on the opponent while in play, and must not use the unarmed (rear) hand or arm to cover target, protect target, deflect the opponent's blade, or make a touch. Substituting the valid target with a non-valid surface, or covering target, annuls the action and is penalised as a Group 1 offence (yellow/red card). These rules keep the bout to clean blade actions and protect both fencers' safety.

In foil and sabre, when both fencers are hit within the apparatus blocking time, only one touch may be awarded - to the fencer who held right of way (priority). Priority belongs to the fencer who correctly initiates the attack (extending the arm so the point continuously threatens valid target and then developing the attack). The defender gains priority by a parry that deflects the attacking blade, after which their riposte has right of way. Epee has no priority and is excluded from this chapter.

An attack has priority over a counter-attack made into it. A parry-riposte takes priority back from the original attacker. The point in line (arm fully extended, point continuously threatening target, established before the opponent's attack begins) holds priority until it is removed by a beat or taking of the blade. A fencer who attacks into a point in line without first deflecting it does not have right of way. When priority cannot be clearly determined, the referee awards no touch and restarts.

A touch is valid when it is registered by the apparatus on valid target, arrives before the blocking time, and the referee does not annul it for an irregularity. In foil and sabre a hit on off-target (or, in foil, a non-valid surface) lights a distinct signal, stops the phrase but does not score. A touch may be annulled for crossing of feet (sabre), corps-a-corps (foil/sabre), an action after Halte, equipment fault, or substitution of target. The valid coloured light identifies which fencer hit on target.

The scoring apparatus locks out the second fencer after a valid hit so that only hits within the weapon's window can both register. The blocking (lock-out) times are: foil 300 +/- 25 ms, sabre 170 +/- 10 ms, and epee 40 ms (range 40-50 ms). In foil and sabre a double signal sends the decision to the referee's right-of-way judgement; in epee a double signal within 40 ms awards a touch to each fencer. Lock-out time is a property of the apparatus and is separate from right-of-way, which is the referee's judgement.

At FIE events with video, a fencer in a direct elimination bout may appeal the referee's decision on the last action to video-refereeing. Each fencer has one (1) right of appeal per bout; the right is retained if the referee changes the decision in the fencer's favour and is lost if the original decision stands. The referee and video consultant review the action (a limited number of replays, in real time or slow motion) and the referee gives a final decision. The same one-appeal-per-bout principle applies in team matches.

In the pool (poule) round, fencers in a group each meet every other fencer in their pool. Each pool bout is fenced to 5 touches or to a time limit of 3 minutes of effective fencing, whichever comes first. If time expires before 5 touches, the fencer with more touches wins; their score is recorded and the loser keeps the touches scored. Results (victories, touches scored and received, indicator) seed the fencers into the direct elimination tableau.

If a pool bout is tied when the 3 minutes expire, the bout goes to a deciding (sudden-death) minute. Before it, the referee draws lots and awards priority to one fencer at random: the first touch in the extra minute wins; if no touch is scored, the fencer who was given priority wins the bout. This guarantees every pool bout produces a result.

A direct elimination (DE) bout is fenced to 15 touches or for a maximum of 9 minutes of fencing, divided into three periods of 3 minutes with a 1-minute break between periods. The first fencer to reach 15 touches wins; otherwise the fencer leading when time expires wins. The loser is eliminated, advancing the winner through the knockout tableau (e.g. table of 64, 32, 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, final).

If a DE bout is tied at the end of the third period, a deciding minute is fenced. The referee draws priority for one fencer at random before it begins; the first touch wins the bout, and if the minute ends with no touch, the fencer who held priority is declared the winner. There is no break before the deciding minute beyond the time needed to draw priority and ready the fencers.

A team match is contested by three fencers per team (with one possible reserve) over nine (9) relay bouts in which each fencer of one team meets each fencer of the other. The match is fenced as a relay to 45 touches: each relay raises the cumulative target by 5 (to 5, 10, 15 ... 45) or runs to 3 minutes, whichever comes first, and the score is carried over to the next relay. The team that reaches 45 first, or leads when the ninth relay ends, wins.

A reserve may replace a team member between relays, subject to the rules on declaring the team order; a fencer withdrawn for substitution may not generally return except as the rules allow. If the score is tied at the end of the ninth relay (44-44), a deciding minute is fenced between the last two fencers, with priority drawn at random as in individual bouts; the first touch, or the fencer holding priority if no touch is scored, wins the match.

Penalties are imposed with three cards: a yellow card (warning) has no immediate scoring effect; a red card gives a penalty touch to the opponent; a black card means exclusion from the event (and possible expulsion or suspension). A yellow card already given carries over within the same bout, so a second offence of the same group becomes a red card. Offences are grouped 1 to 4 in the official table (article t.170), each group fixing which card applies and how it escalates.

Group 1 covers technical and minor infractions: e.g. corps-a-corps to avoid a touch, jostling, covering or substituting target, turning the back, crossing the legs (sabre), leaving the piste to avoid a hit, non-functioning or non-regulation equipment, and delaying the bout. The penalty is a yellow card for the first Group 1 offence in the bout and a red card (penalty touch) for any subsequent Group 1 offence in the same bout.

Group 2 covers more serious infractions, e.g. a deliberate or violent (brutal) action, a dangerous or disorderly bout, vindictive blows, a fencer hitting the floor with the weapon in anger, or marking control checks improperly. Any Group 2 offence is penalised directly by a red card (penalty touch) to the opponent, regardless of whether a yellow card was given for a Group 1 offence earlier.

Group 3 covers disturbing order on the piste, dishonest fencing and falsifying equipment-control marks: the penalty is a red card for the first offence and a black card (exclusion) on repetition. Group 4 covers the gravest acts - manifest cheating, collusion to fix a result, refusing to fence or salute an opponent, violence against persons, doping, or insulting officials: these are penalised directly by a black card, meaning exclusion from the competition and possible further disciplinary suspension.

There is non-combativity (unwillingness to fight) when about one minute of fencing passes with no touch scored (and, in the older absolute-difference test, neither fencer leads enough to threaten victory). On the first such minute both fencers receive a P-yellow card; on the second, both receive a P-red card (a penalty touch to each); on the third, a P-black card is applied - if the scores are equal, against the lower-seeded fencer, removing them from the bout. The rule, applied in DE and team matches, forces fencers to take the initiative.

Each bout is directed by a referee (president of the jury) who calls the commands, judges materiality and validity of touches (with the apparatus) and awards right of way in foil and sabre. The referee enforces the rules, applies penalty cards, controls timing and the piste, and (where available) consults video-refereeing on appeal. The referee's decision on a point of fact is final; only points of rule may be challenged to the Directoire Technique.

Effective fencing time is measured by a timer that runs only while the fencers fence; the referee stops it on Halte. DE bouts have 1-minute breaks between the three periods. A fencer may request a medical break: the doctor examines the injury, and where a genuine injury is confirmed a stoppage of up to a limited time (around 5-10 minutes) is allowed for treatment; a fencer unable to continue withdraws (abandons) and the opponent is awarded the bout. Improper or feigned use of a medical break is penalised under the offences table.