Fencing | To the victor goes the foil

To the untrained eye, fencing might look something like two beekeepers vying to strike each other with swords.

There is, of course, slightly more to it than this interpretation implies.

In light of the men's team's Ivy League victory on Sunday, perhaps the sport deserves a closer look.

An entire fencing match between two teams consists of a total of 27 individual bouts. The team that wins 14 bouts wins the match.

Within each bout, the first team to five touches (points) wins. The 27 bouts are divided amongst three weapons; foil, sabre, and epee. Each weapon receives its own set of rules.

The foil has a flexible, rectangular blade. Fencers are awarded points when the tip of the foil touches the opponent anywhere on the torso. If the tip touches the head or below the waist, no points are awarded. Many different styles can be utilized effectively in foil.

"Alex Simmons is tall, left-handed and used good timing and action to deceive his opponents, rather than great speed and quickness," Penn's Hall of Fame coach Dave Micahnick said.

"Zane Grodman is shorter, stockier, much quicker and uses his speed to defeat opponents."

With a sabre, on the other hand, a competitor garners points by striking the opponent with the tip or side of the blade. The target area is everywhere above the waist, including the head.

"Sabre is not for the timid or defensive," Micahnik said. "The repertoire is simpler; bouts happen very quickly."

Epee is the weapon that has the most diversity of the three. In an epee battle, the first person to touch someone with the point of the weapon - anywhere on the body - wins.

"In epee, you can appear to be dominated, while actually being in control of the bout," Micahnik said. "Dominance is more subtle."

Beyond mastering the nuances of each weapon, fencers are forced to tackle physical and mental components to the sport, both which require skills that develop over time.

"It's a combat sport," Micahnik said. "One must be in shape and be quite agile to compete."

In order to be successful, fencers need to have quickness and stamina. The best fencers have the strongest leg muscles of virtually all athletes.

According to Micahnik, when the average strength of the leg muscles (weight-adjusted) of the U.S. Pan-American fencing team were compared with those of other professional sports teams, only the leg muscles of football interior linemen were stronger.

On the mental side, fencers must establish interpersonal dominance and a strategic plan with strong tactics before beginning a bout.

"Whoever dominates the bout dictates the tactics and most often will win," Micahnik said. "However, it's rare that one person will maintain dominance throughout the bout."

Tactics used in fencing include simple straight attack, feint - a technique in which the attacker tries to mislead the defense - and counter time, which occurs when the attacker shows a false defense, then attacks in preparation of an opponent's action.

"You can change things, such as direction of movement and speeds," Micahnik said. "A fencer must have a fast processor. You have to make decisions in a fraction of a second."

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