EQUIPMENT
The En-Garde Fencing Club has all the essential equipment available for beginners at no extra cost, so that you can start enjoying fencing immediately without any purchases. This includes an epee or foil, mask, glove, jacket, and body wire (for electric fencing scoring). All you provide are good flat soled runners, sweat pants and T-shirt. We do however encourage new fencers to consider purchasing your own equipment as soon as you know you want to continue.
Fencing is one of the least expensive sports – certainly much less costly than hockey or skiing. Excellent quality equipment and protective clothing can be bought for around $300. We size your clothing and mask, and then order it for you.
We start children off in foil as it is a lighter weapon, and adults start in epée. These weapons vary in the following respects:
Epée
The Epée is considered the original dueling sword. It was developed in the middle of the 19th century to train individuals for duels. If you’ve seen any movie with a lot of swordplay in it chances are you are watching epee. The weapon's blade is somewhat triangular in shape and quite stiff to bend. Since the whole body is considered to be the target, the guard is large and bell-shape to protect the hand from hits. Hits are made with the point of the blade only.
Foil
The Foil evolved from the short court sword of the 17th and 18th centuries. The foil started as a lighter and more flexible weapon for the practice of fencing. The blade is quadrangular in shape and since only the front and back of the torsos is considered the target area, the bell-shaped guard is much smaller than the epee. As with epée, hits are made only with the point of the blade.
