This is a reference of fencing terms for my story Always, which used to be in the foreword but which I have just moved.

Because I'm afraid people won't understand the fencing terminology (lol I'm a nerd), here's a brief runthrough of basic fencing terms. They aren't necessary to the understanding of the story, but I know people will be put off if they don't know what certain things mean.

Fencing is the entire sport. There are three weapons in fencing, which are differentiated both by rules and weapon shapes. The target for foil is the entire torso, both front and back, and foils look like this. The target for epee is the entire body, and epees look like this. The target for sabre is the upper body, both front and back, and the head, and sabres look like this. These names refer both to the separate disciplines within the sport of fencing, and the weapons themselves. (For example, I am a foilist. I fence foil, and I use a foil.)

Fencing is now an electric sport (in the olden days, people could tell if they hit their opponent if their opponent started bleeding). Fencers hook up to a strip where they face each other (turning is not allowed), and a machine displays whether the fencer hit on target or off target. Because fencing is an electric sport, it requires use of various wires, such as body cords and head cords, as well as a lame for foil and sabre. A lame is a  jacket worn over the first jacket which conducts electric current and sends information to the machine about whether the hit was on target or not.

There are generally two kinds of tournaments: individual tournaments and team tournaments. The kind that will be referenced the most in this story is the individual tournament. In it, a competitor usually fences a round of pools, and then a round of direct eliminations. In the round of pools, the fencer is placed within a pool, usually with between five to eight people. He fences each of the people in his pool. (For example, if a fencer is placed in a pool of seven people, he fences six bouts. A bout is essentially a "game" of fencing. In it, the fencer that first lands five touches, which are valid hits based on being on or off target and the rules of the weapon, wins. If the three minute period expires before a fencer reaches five points, the fencer with the larger amount of points wins. There are also overtime and fifteen point bouts involved.) After finishing the round of pools, the fencer receives a seed based on how he did. This determines which fencers he faces during the round of direct eliminations. The top seeds fence the bottom seeds, with the intent being that the two top seeds will face each other in the final round of direct eliminations. At small tournaments, medals are generally awarded for first to third place. At larger tournaments, medals are awarded for up to eighth place.

If you want to know anything else, watch some Olympics fencing videos, or check out Wikipedia. It's fun! -is shot-