Foil, Épée or Sabre: What’s the Difference?

At Pulse Fencing, our club primarily specialises in foil and our beginner classes teach foil. This guide explains all three weapons. For sabre or épée coaching or open fencing, contact us to check current availability. Equipment sold in our online shop is separate from the club’s coaching programme.

Watch a few fencing bouts and you might notice that the action does not always look the same. Some fencers aim at the body with the tip of the blade; others score with a cutting movement. That is because modern sport fencing has three disciplines: foil, épée and sabre.

They share footwork, distance and tactical decision-making, but each has its own target area and scoring rules. Here is a beginner-friendly introduction.

Foil: point hits and priority

Foil scores with the tip on the valid torso target. It uses priority, often called right of way: when both fencers register a hit, the referee applies the attacking and defending rules to decide whether either fencer earns the point. Simply seeing two lights does not mean both score.

Épée: the whole body is a target

Épée also scores with the point, but the whole body is valid target, including hands and feet. There is no right of way. A first valid hit can score, and sufficiently close hits can produce a double touch, with a point for each fencer.

Sabre: cutting as well as thrusting

Sabre allows hits with the cutting edge as well as the point. The target is above the waist, including the head and arms but excluding the hands. Like foil, it uses priority to resolve competing actions.

For an introduction from a national fencing body, see AusFence’s guide to the three disciplines. This is an overview; your coach will explain the detail as you learn.

What changes when you try a different weapon?

A different target changes the decisions you make. A hand that is a possible target in épée is not treated the same way in foil. The ability to cut changes the actions you see in sabre. Learning a weapon means learning its particular movement, tactics and rules together.

You do not need to understand every refereeing decision before taking a beginner lesson. Start with the foundations your coach introduces, and build your understanding through practice.

Do you need to choose equipment now?

No. Pulse provides the necessary equipment for beginner classes. Avoid buying a weapon or mask simply because it looks similar to one you have seen online: equipment must suit your discipline, fit and training requirements.

If you are interested in a particular weapon, ask our team about the appropriate starting session. Our class programme is the place to explore training options.

New to fencing? View beginner classes and register for your first session in Auckland.