Baited Blade Classical Fencing

These weapons represent the three that come to us with little change from the 19th century. They epitomize the study of form and control and give the major identity to fencing as we know it. They represent all that is associated with the art but seldom realized in the sport, sophistication, sportsmanship, control and good martial sense.

Foil

Foil originally meant practice or teaching weapon and applied to any weapon whose point was blunted or folded back thus rendered nonlethal. It eventually evolved into a weapon in and of itself. Foil remains our teaching weapon and is considered the most important of our weapons at Baited Blade. It is a point weapon so a hit can only be delivered on the thrust. The target is the torso, excluding the head, arms, legs and groin. Foil also operates upon the notion of right of way, also called priority. An attacking fencer must extend the arm with continual threat to obtain priority. A defending fencer must successfully parry the attack or otherwise avoid the hit before gaining priority for the riposte (an attack immediately following the parry). The blade is quadrilateral in cross-section and the bell guard (also called a coquille) can be either circular or clam-shell or figure eight in design. The blade ranges from 30 to 35 inches long.

Epee

In the mid to late 1800s, many fencers and duelists complained that the foil had become too academic; they did have a point. Many foilists would ignore otherwise valid hits because they were delivered out of time. They would also ignore anything after a well delivered thrust forgetting the reality of delayed and double hits. Also, the limited target area, while designed as a method of teaching control, seemed to discount the value of a good arm or eye shot. The answer was to supplement foil with training in the sword (that is what the French word, epee means) with the argument that it was a more practical weapon. In a world of duels to first blood, it certainly is an appropriate practice tool. Many duels at the end of the century were fought with real versions of the epee. It is distinguished from the foil in a couple of ways. First, it has a larger triangle cross section blade which more closely resembled the favorite dueling weapon of the time. There is less range of length; epee blades tend to measure 35 inches. Also, its bell guard is larger and off center to guard the hand. In practice, there is no right of way and the target area is the entire body. One truth remains however. The epee does not teach the type of control and manipulation used in foil. That is why we teach foil first; learn control before you add the variables in an epee contest.

Sabre

Sabre has its roots in the military. The sabres we use for Classical fencing at Baited Blade are designed after the Italian models of the late 19th century. The hit can be delivered with either the edge or the point. For that reason, the guard is extended down around the knuckle area. We currently use two guard types at Baited Blade; there is the Radaelli, the guard is compact but is aided by two curved bars extending from the guard back to the pommel. Our other classical sabre guard is the Pecoraro design; the guard is much more substantial for hand coverage so to reduce weight, it has holes punched in it. The blade is a little more substantial than the foil but probably not the epee. The blade’s length is standard: 35 inches. The target area is from the waist up and hits must be delivered from the leading edge, 1/3 of the back or false edge or of course, the point. The classical sabre is conventional (right of way and distinct target area). The modern sabre has become so light and whippy and delivering the hit so arbitrary (no edge/flat distinction) that we at the Baited Blade consider it a non-weapon. We also offer a heavier, curved version but that is under the historical section.