Foil (fencing)
It is a flexible sword of total length 110 cm (43 in) or under, rectangular in cross section, weighing under 500 g (18 oz), with a blunt tip.
Both types are made with the same basic parts: the pommel, grip, guard, and blade.
[4]) Lacking the button and associated electrical mechanism, a judge is required to determine the scoring and the victor in a tournament with non-electric foils.
[3] Beginning with the 1956 Olympics, scoring in foil has been accomplished by means of registering the touch with an electric circuit.
The electric foil contains a socket underneath the guard that connects to the scoring apparatus via the body cord and a wire that runs down a channel cut into the top of the blade.
Electric foil sockets are fixed so that the body cord plugs into the weapon at the fencer's wrist.
[3] The tip of the electric foil terminates in a button assembly that generally consists of a barrel, plunger, spring, and retaining screws.
The modern foil is the training weapon for the small-sword, the common sidearm of 18th century gentleman.
The foil was used in France as a training weapon in the middle of the 18th century in order to practice fast and elegant thrust fencing.
[19] The target area for modern foil is said to come from a time when fencing was practiced with limited safety equipment.
Another factor in the target area is that foil rules are derived from a period when dueling to the death was the norm.
[21] In 1940 the Amateur Fencers League of America issued a new rule book stating that women were allowed to compete in foil (in bouts to four points or eight minutes), but touches below the waist (delineated by a dark-colored sash) were off-target.
While an older competitor cannot compete in a younger category, the contrary is allowed and encouraged, in order to expedite learning.
The tip of the foil must be depressed for at least 15 (± .5) milliseconds while in contact with the opponent's lamé (wire-mesh jacket which covers valid target area) to score a touch.
The head (except the lower part of the bib of the mask), arms, and legs are considered off target.
[31] Originally meant to indicate which competitor would have scored the touch (or lethally injured the other), it is now a main contributor to the appeal of the sport of fencing.
The final major way "priority" can be shifted is if the defending fencer "beats" their opponent's blade (this can also be used by the attacking fencer to make it clear to the referee that they are continuing their attack) this involves striking the foible (weak) of their opponents blade with their own.
