Scoring Hits in Free Fencing

The other day we were doing some free fencing, and one of the students wanted to challenge me with steel. So we got to fighting. In one particular exchange, his sword made contact with my right arm and “sliced” along the sleeve of my gambeson. The judges called a point. I said, "No." As the teacher, I get to make such decisions. The judges did not understand, but the other fencer did. Don’t get me wrong, I like it when my students hit me, it means I’m doing my job. But this was different.

A sword is not a light saber. It is not enough merely to touch someone with it. You have to cut them. Or stab them, or slice really hard. Even a thrust has to be delivered with force. There are people who think it takes very little effort to put a sword point into someone's body, but those people apparently like to fight naked, and without bones. That's some trick!

There is a clear dividing line between excessive force and a decisive hit. You don't have to hit someone hard, but you have to hit them. Or if you sword happens to make contact with their arm or other part of their body, you have to turn the edge to the target and push/pull hard and slice (no need to worry about holding back for these!). If you thrust, I want to see the blade flex, or it doesn't count, particularly with the plastic swords.

There is a great danger to counting light touches. It leads to massive distortions of free fencing, which already has more than its share of artifacts. This is one of the reasons we practice cutting. You know what it takes (technique wise, not just force wise) to cut a mat. It takes more than that to mortally wound a human being. There are reasons to cut back on force in free fencing, but not technique.

As the months roll on, I will be increasingly strict on what I consider a "point" in free fencing. My ultimate goal is to have you guys deliver each strike cleanly and decisively and avoid small snipy movements. Note that this has nothing to do with hand snipes...by all means take the hand. But take it decisively.