If you have only ever seen fencing in a film, or mixed it up with someone who builds a backyard fence, here is the short version.
Fencing is an Olympic one against one sport. Two people, each with a weapon in one hand, try to land a valid hit on a narrow strip called a piste. It looks dramatic. A lot of the work is timing, footwork and deciding when to move. Clubs often call it “physical chess”, and that is a fair description.
The Fencing Club in Camp Hill, Brisbane, has taught the three Olympic weapons, foil, epee and sabre, since 1997. Beginners of any age are welcome, whether you want social exercise or a longer competitive path, including people with the 2032 Brisbane Olympics in their sights. Your first session is free.
The three weapons: foil, epee and sabre
All three are Olympic events. The weapon in your hand changes the target, and it changes how a hit is awarded.
Foil. A light thrusting weapon. You score only with the point, and only on the torso. Foil uses right of way, which means the fencer who starts a correctly executed attack has priority. A hit off target stops the phrase but does not score.
Epee. Also a thrusting weapon, scored with the point only, but the whole body is valid, head to toe, including clothing and equipment. There is no right of way. Whoever lands first scores. If both land together, within a tiny window of time, both can receive a point.
Sabre. The only one of the three where you can score with the cutting edge as well as the point. The target is the body above the waist, including the head and arms. Sabre also uses right of way, and the bouts feel faster.
You do not have to choose a weapon before you walk in. At The Fencing Club, training is offered in all three, for juniors and seniors, from first timers through to people who want competition practice.
It looks fierce. The usual issue is more like a sprain
A mask and a blade look serious, and that is part of the appeal. The published competition figures are calmer than the picture.
Researchers looking at major international events recorded about 0.28 time loss injuries per 1,000 athlete exposures, mostly sprains and strains in the legs, and often from the fencer’s own movement rather than a hit. A study of US national events found a similar rate, about 0.3 per 1,000 exposures.
Those figures come from competition studies, not from a promise that you cannot be hurt. You cannot line those numbers up neatly against rugby league or AFL, because those sports use different injury definitions. Concussions can still happen in fencing. The simpler point is this: it is a combat sport with a low published rate of time loss injury, and the typical problem is a rolled ankle or a strained muscle, not a collision.
Fencers wear a mask, a jacket and a glove on the weapon hand, and coaches teach the safety rules from the start. That kit, and those rules, lower the risk. They do not remove it.
Who fencing suits
You do not have to be the biggest or the most “sporty” person in the room. Timing and decision making do a lot of the work, although reach can still help, especially in epee.
The Fencing Club welcomes:
- children and teenagers in junior sessions, in an enjoyable, structured class
- adults, including complete beginners, in senior sessions
- people who want a social form of exercise, and people who want competition practice in all three weapons
Boys and girls, and men and women, all fence.
If you already play another sport, the skills that often travel, and the ones that usually need a small adjustment, are explained in your head start in fencing.
If you would like to try it, email the club and we will arrange your free first session. No obligation. Your call.
Australia’s Olympic fencing heroes
Australia has not won an Olympic fencing medal. That is the honest starting point, and it does not make the people who got there any less worth knowing.
Fencing has been on the modern Olympic program since the first Games in 1896. Australia first competed in it at Helsinki 1952. The results that followed are modest by medal table standards, and they still include some of the most committed careers in Australian Olympic sport.
Ivan Lund fenced at four Games, Helsinki 1952, Melbourne 1956, Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964, in foil, epee and sabre. At Tokyo he carried the Australian flag at the Opening Ceremony. His best Olympic results were reaching the individual epee quarter finals at Helsinki and Melbourne. Away from the Olympics he won 13 medals, including three golds, at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games. In 1986 he became the first, and still the only, fencer inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
Greg Benko also competed at four Games, Munich 1972, Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984. At Montreal he finished sixth in the men’s individual foil, which the Australian Olympic Committee records as Australia’s best Olympic fencing result, and as the first time an Australian fencer reached an Olympic final.
At the Sydney 2000 home Games, the Australian men’s epee team of Gerry Adams, Luc Cartillier and Nick Heffernan finished eighth. Evelyn Halls then finished 12th in women’s epee at Athens 2004, the result the AOC highlights from that period.
Australia last qualified fencing athletes at Beijing 2008. Jo Halls, Evelyn’s sister, competed in women’s foil at Sydney 2000 and again at Beijing. Amber Parkinson competed in women’s epee at Beijing and finished 19th.
Australia did not qualify a fencing team or individual for Paris 2024. The next home Olympic Games are in Brisbane in 2032. The Fencing Club already trains beginners and competitive fencers with that horizon in mind. A place on an Olympic team is earned over many years, and nothing on this page is a promise of selection. It is a reminder that the pathway exists, and that it is built in clubs like this one.
If that story is part of what drew you in, come and see the sport up close. Book a free first session, or start with beginner training in Camp Hill.
FAQ
What is the difference between foil, epee and sabre?
Foil and epee score with the point only. In foil the valid target is the torso, and right of way applies. In epee the whole body is valid, and the first hit scores. Sabre allows cuts as well as point hits, the target is the body above the waist, and right of way applies. The Fencing Club trains in all three.
Is fencing dangerous?
Fencing still has injuries, mostly sprains and strains in the legs. Published competition studies report a low rate of time loss injury. Concussions can still happen, and the risk is lowered by kit and the rules, not removed. It does not have the collision culture of the big contact codes. Coaches teach the safety rules from the first session.
Do I need to buy equipment before I start?
Email the club before your free first session and we will tell you what to wear and what, if anything, you need to bring. Do not buy kit until you have spoken with the club.
Can adults start as beginners?
Yes. The Fencing Club welcomes beginners of any age. Senior training sessions include social participants as well as competitive fencers, and your first session is free.
Has Australia won an Olympic fencing medal?
Not yet. The best Australian Olympic result is Greg Benko’s sixth place in men’s foil at Montreal 1976. Australia has not qualified a fencing athlete since Beijing 2008, and did not compete in fencing at Paris 2024.
Who is the coach at The Fencing Club?
Paul Crook coaches at the club in Camp Hill. You can read a short profile on the About page, or email paul@thefencingclub.com.au to arrange a free first session.
Book your free first session at The Fencing Club, School Hall, Gate 4 Samuel St, Camp Hill. Email paul@thefencingclub.com.au and we will arrange it with you. No obligation. Your call.
You can also see junior training, senior training, fees and how to find us.