Foil

Foil is a light, thrusting sword with a small, circular hand guard and a flexible, rectangular blade.  Foils were historically used to train for duels to defend one’s honor!  In foil, fencers can only score with the tip of the sword, so you will see a lot of thrusting!  Fencers can only score with a tip of the foil only by touching the opponent’s torso, which is called the “target area.”  When the foil’s tip touches the target area in electric fencing,  the lights on the scoring machine will turn red or green, with each color representing one fencer.  When the touch is off-target, a white light indicates the touch.  It’s helpful to understand these rules so that you can follow the action and understand the lights as you see them!

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Epee

The epee evolved from a dueling sword and modern epee is designed to mimic a duel as closely as possible.  Hit quick, hit fast, and you win the bout - first hit wins.  The epee is similar to a foil in technique and movement, but it’s a bit heavier and the blade is shaped a bit different.  It’s stiffer, heavier, and has a tapered shape that gets thinner at the end.  The main rules difference between epee and foil is that the target area for epee is the entire body.  Epee is a thrusting only weapon and points can only be scored with the tip of the sword.  Modern epee fencing is a game of tactics and strategy - playing cat-and-mouse with the opponent.  It is a game of patience and focus.