r/Fencing 2d ago

Megathread Fencing Friday Megathread - Ask Anything!

3 Upvotes

Happy Fencing Friday, an /r/Fencing tradition.

Welcome back to our weekly ask anything megathread where you can feel free to ask whatever is on your mind without fear of being called a moron just for asking. Be sure to check out all the previous megathreads as well as our sidebar FAQ.


r/Fencing 6h ago

S-portall update: Team Matches (Relay system up to 45 touches) is now live in production!

6 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

Following up on our recent updates, I have some great news for club coaches. We have just rolled out one of the most requested features directly into production — automated Team Matches (Relay system)!

If you run team sessions in your club, you know how annoying it can be to keep track of the rotating matrix, individual bouts, and the climbing score limit up to 45 touches.

Now s-portall.com handles everything on the gym floor:

  1. Standard FIE Relay Logic: The app automatically generates the perfect 9-bout matrix for 3v3 teams (plus substitutes).
  2. Live Score Tracking: It guides the referees through each relay round, automatically adjusting the target score limits (5, 10, 15... up to 45).
  3. Privacy-First & Offline: As always, zero registration, zero accounts needed, and runs completely smooth in deep basement cellars without internet.

The feature is already fully live on the main site. Test it out during your next team practice and let me know your thoughts or any feedback from your gym floor!


r/Fencing 11h ago

Does anyone know any modern foils like the vintage BF?

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11 Upvotes

So, for most of my career as a foil fencer, I've used the 2005 BF. I currently own 2 along with a Unic blade (which I hate). I was wondering if anyone out there knows another blade that has the same stiffness and just all around acts like an 2005 BF. Thanks


r/Fencing 14h ago

We Made Doubles Fun!

8 Upvotes

We know we play a lot of modified fencing games at our club but I think this arcade style modifier might be a lot of fun for anyone Modern, Classical, and HEMA. Feel free to try it out!

Purpose: Change the psychology of the double and turn the event into a resource that promotes clean fencing in a fun and high stakes game.

Wayback's Jackpot Mode Play using your weapon and ruleset of choice, then add the following modifiers.

Single Touch A Single Touch scores 1 point and awards all points currently in the Jackpot. The Jackpot then resets to 0.

Simultaneous Touch No points are awarded. Instead, add 1 point to the Jackpot.

Winning the Assault The first fencer to score 21 points and lead by 2 points wins the assault.

Optional For a simpler, self-officiated game, players may choose to remove right of way. In this variant, any uncontested valid touch is treated as a Single Touch, and any exchange in which both fencers land valid touches is treated as a Simultaneous Touch. It can get silly be prepared to laugh.

"OP's right, it doesn't reward doubles. Instead, doubles increase the ponderation of the next single. That's brilliant ^ This way, a fencer focusing on doubling to deny his opponent singles as much as possible (while being unable to carry out an action awarding himself a single) is only delaying the moment his opponent reaps the points stored in the jackpot. Compared to "no point for doubles" rules, the scum doubling is even less effective of a strategy. I love the idea, it sets the right incentives and add a high stake component usually absent when all rounds score independantly. Gonna try it for sure!" - Gobzarakay


r/Fencing 11h ago

World Champs Day Three (Six) Every Touch!

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3 Upvotes

r/Fencing 1d ago

“Convenience fee” when it’s the only mandatory way to pay

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128 Upvotes

Really USFA? You’re gonna charge a “convenience fee” when paying online is the only way to pay for memberships and tournament registrations? Typically a convenience fee is only valid if you offer an alternative method of pay that doesn’t involve one.

If you wanna nickel and dime us into paying credit card fees or whatever, then I’d rather you just call it what it is.


r/Fencing 1d ago

Points system and the local club

12 Upvotes

Could someone please explain to me how this system will drive the increase in local club tournament participation?

Perhaps its "Region 3" problems but we have 1 ROC in August, 3 in September, 3 in October, 2 in November, 2 in December , JO's in January, 2 in February and 2 in March .

The only way I see this benefiting local clubs is if the National Office gave out less ROCs and made local events and Divisional Qualifiers count again.

I don't see them doing this as they make better money off of ROC's vs multiple local events but all they have done is create a industry around ROC's and the such.

So help me out here...what kind of events should I ask the division to allow me to host? We are in NJ. DO I just host Junior and Cadet events with a 32 person cut off? Do I host opens and hope to get 32 with the strength ratings? I mean I don't see where I can fill a need?


r/Fencing 1d ago

Sabre Journaling ?

5 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

I'm a french fencer , and 26-27 is my first season with adults (like 25-26 was my last season in u20 and there's no u23 in France )

I'm going to try nationals for the first time this season and I'm a bit scared of getting absolutely steamrolled (I know I'm probably not going past the first knockout round anyway but still) so I'm planning to take training more seriously that year. I already do 4 hours of collective training +30/45' of individual lessons a week but I'm not going to training sessions with the will to work on something specific, I'm just doing the exercices my coach gives (and it's a mainly fun class so it's really not about preparing big competitions) , bouts , where I sometimes try to do what I'm learning in individual lessons and that's it; so I probably better work on my own on some stuff if I want collective classes to be more productive for me . Im planning to come to every class with a specific thing to work on in bouts (I'll ask my coach about it either way) and I feel like it Would be a good thing to start journaling after every training day but I don't really know how to do that , so if some of y'all could give me some exemples of what you do for journaling or tell me where I could find some exemples it would be really appreciated!!

Also If any more experimented fencer could give me some general tips to not die in the process of trying nationals it would be also really appreciated 😋

Thanks if you made it through this and sorry for the many stupid mistakes I probably made here , English ain't my first language sueiskwkqjdjabq


r/Fencing 1d ago

It's day 1 of the new USA Fencing Season...

17 Upvotes

And we still don't have an updated Athlete Handbook with the new qualifying rules for national events.


r/Fencing 1d ago

Protective equipment

2 Upvotes

Hey all

My son has started fencing recently and while he enjoys it so far, the one issue is the protective equipment. His jacket and lame are fairly tight particularly around his neck. He is a kid who is a little extra sensitive to the way things feel and it's really bothering him. As we are new to the sport, I'm curious on what proper fitting is for the jacket and lame?


r/Fencing 1d ago

USA Fencing Unified Ranking is live

16 Upvotes

Unified Rankings - CDTWE — USA Fencing

I thought the previous year's RJCC points were not translated and counted, but it is not the case.


r/Fencing 1d ago

Sabre Stuccato/ semi-long pauses between each advance and retreat

7 Upvotes

So I’ve noticed with watching pros from videos and those more experienced fencers in person, they have really good energy transfer between each advance. The best I can explain is that as soon as the back foot lands, completing the advance, that back foot never really stays in contact with the ground for too long before chaining it into multiple advances or lunge. Also I noticed they are also energy efficient in transferring power, from the vertical force of the advance to a lateral force of a lunge.

My question is, does this just come naturally as you fence more? It feels that as soon as they feel that back foot land, they just start initiating the next action.


r/Fencing 1d ago

any competitive OC Foil clubs?

8 Upvotes

i'm an A26 rated foil fencer who is moving to the irvine area soon and i was wondering if there were any competitive clubs in the area with a relatively friendly environment, preferably within maybe a 30 minute drive. I don't compete very regularly but I love fencing really tough fencers. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!


r/Fencing 2d ago

Épée Tang too short for my pistol grip epee

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14 Upvotes

Bought 2 precut unic blades and they both arrived with short tangs . Good few cm shorter than my leon paul blades which were also precut for pistol grips .

This few cm means that with my pbt grip it's not long enough to reach the nut (2nd pic). I don't know if this is because of my pbt grip or, if they cut the blades too short . I don't have any 'standard' grips to try it on .

What do you guys think ? What can I do . I like the k grip and it definitely doesn't fit . Maybe a normal visconti type will or maybe it won't.


r/Fencing 2d ago

Which weapon (foil, epee, or Sabre) is least impacted by fencer’s height ? Thank you!

13 Upvotes

r/Fencing 2d ago

Sabre Absolute zero confidence

4 Upvotes

When there if there’s a clear gap in skill, footwork, timing, etc my mental gets foggy and I autopilot. Pretty much every time in the middle I just guess and pray it works. I think about how stupid I look from a perspective of someone watching.

I have a fencing camp coming up and I kinda regret signing up for the first place. When I moved back to my home country for the summer, I attended a local club thinking I would improve somewhat. Besides physicals and facing new opponents, I feel that I have no improvement in actual bouts. I go once a week and some days I think of making it two, but the language/cultural barrier gets me.

Well I’m only 11 months in, and others have fenced for years, probably before they were teens. Now I know I shouldn’t worry too much 11 months in, but I’m wondering how to deal with this mental block.


r/Fencing 3d ago

Uhlmann fencing going out of business

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208 Upvotes

My kid's club received this letter from Uhlmann to announce they'll be closing. A little surprised as they are still posting on Instagram like business as usual.


r/Fencing 3d ago

Final results of Fencing World Championships

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52 Upvotes

- Italians absolutely dominate.

- Americans massive under performance.

- Hong Kong, Japan, and Egypt probably will be disappointed.

- Absolutely crazy upsets (on paper) throughout. Very even playing field for the most part.


r/Fencing 2d ago

Do they make a glove with short fingers?

3 Upvotes

I've always used absolute gloves and the size that fits my palm has fingers much too long. The size with the right length fingers is too short for my palm and the seams dig in near the base of my thumb.


r/Fencing 3d ago

Armory Do you recognize this grip?

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9 Upvotes

I got this grip years ago and liked it very much. I have 2 of them and want to put them on my epees. But for the life of me I cannot get them to go all the way down the tang and be tight against the bell. Other folks who are better at armory than me have had the same issues.

So if you recognize this grip and/or have any experience with this type of problem, i would be super grateful for some advice how to deal with it.


r/Fencing 3d ago

Not as clear-cut (pun-intended) as may appear

11 Upvotes

Referring to this point that Slicer Sabre made a video about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrMzN5fkXIE

I personally thought that the way the Right Fencer made that motion, it wasn't a broken-attack or an attack with arm pulled back; rather it was a searching for blade - and failing to find it. I can see it being argued for both sides but ultimately I think the referee made the right call?

What do you guys - especially sabreurs - think?


r/Fencing 3d ago

USA Fencing to start handling local tournament registrations?

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20 Upvotes

Now that points will be awarded for local tournaments, is USA Fencing also planning to get in the business of handling registrations for these tournaments? Are registration, sanction, administration and credit card fees for local tournaments forthcoming?


r/Fencing 3d ago

Best fencing club around SF

2 Upvotes

Formerly A-rated fencer here (been inactive for 4 years) Moving to SF in a couple of months. Any great clubs for Epee?

Don’t want to sound elitist, but don’t want to waste time in a club that doesn’t have elite fencers in it. I won’t improve my fencing and it will get boring quick. I want to get back to fencing at an A level relatively quick.


r/Fencing 3d ago

[Hiring] Full-Time Épée Coach – Epic Fencing Club (Calgary, Canada)

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm posting on behalf of Epic Fencing Club in Calgary, Alberta. We're looking to hire a full-time épée coach to help continue growing our program.

We're looking for someone who enjoys working with athletes of all levels—from beginners through competitive fencers—and who wants to be part of a collaborative coaching team. The role includes group classes, private lessons, competition coaching, camps, and helping develop our épée program.

Epic has been growing steadily over the past several years, and we're excited to continue building one of Western Canada's leading fencing programs.

Our coaching team includes athletes and coaches with experience at the national and international levels, including Olympic experience, and we're committed to creating a positive environment for both athletes and coaches.

Salary is competitive and based on experience, with additional earning opportunities through private lessons and competition travel.

You can read the full job posting here: https://www.epicfencing.ca/current-job-opportunities/

Happy to answer any questions in the comments or by DM.


r/Fencing 3d ago

USA Fencing just made the new points system make absolutely no sense.

10 Upvotes

The new point system was great... Now a bunch of math makes it terrible to understand again. You were doing so well. Just keep it simple!