Fencing

460 competitors will fight in Krakow at the Tauron Arena

Next year’s fencing competition is scheduled for June 26 and will last six days. Participation in the discipline has been announced by 460 athletes from all over Europe, and the fencing struggles will take place at the Tauron Arena in Krakow. The best athletes will not only win championship titles but also receive points for the world ranking, based on which Olympic nominations will be announced on March 31, 2024.

Tauron Arena Krakow is the largest indoor arena in Poland and also one of the most modern in the world. TAURON Arena Krakow can host sports competitions, and the facility also hosts concerts, festivals, film screenings, musicals, galas and conventions, among others. The facility can accommodate 22,000 people, and there are seats prepared for as many as 15,030 people in the stands of the Main Arena.

Rules of the game

In sports fencing there are 3 competitions: sabre, sword and fencing. The competitions differ in the field of hitting the opponent, the way of inflicting blows the rules of judging and the appearance of the weapon.

The sword and floret are knee weapons so hits are inflicted by thrusts. In sabre you can hit with both thrusts and cuts. The field of hit in the sword is the entire body, in the sabre it is the upper half of the body, including the hands to the wrists along with the head. In fencing, the field of hit is only the torso.  A hit in the sabre is credited to the one who inflicted it first, or to both competitors if they inflict it at the same time. In sabre and flare, initiative counts – the one who has it gets a point. For example, the competitor making the attack has priority in inflicting the hit, and when he correctly defends against the attack, he takes the initiative.

The competition begins with a group round in which 6-7 players fight to five hits, and the maximum fighting time is 3 minutes. On the basis of the balance of victories as well as the hits inflicted and received, the distribution used for direct elimination is determined.

During direct elimination, each round is fought to 15 hits, and the maximum fighting time is 3 x 3 minutes with one-minute breaks. The exception is sabre in which a one-minute break occurs after the 8th hit. The losing competitor drops out of the competition and the winner moves on to the next round. In the case of team competition, which involves teams of three, the maximum time for the game is 3 minutes and is played to 45 hits added up from consecutive bouts.

Medieval fencing techniques gave rise to the modern sports discipline

The art of wielding white weapons was primarily a skill useful in dueling and also in war. It was practised by every circle, as well as every civilization. In the medieval period the first fencing treatises began to be written, which were collections containing techniques useful in duels. Special emphasis was placed on dexterity, precision, cunning and even various tricks.

The first fencing schools were also established during this period, and the sword was very popular, but during the Renaissance, it gave way to slightly lighter and more manageable white weapons.

In Italy, the rapier began to be used, and in the same period in Eastern Europe the sabre began to gain in popularity. In France, a weapon typically used for training appeared – the floret, along with a protective fencing mask. In the 18th, the elite there practised a trend according to which fencing exercises were treated as a certain form of motor improvement. It was not until the 19th century that sports fencing was born.