h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

not very much detail on penalties and an explanation of the process of yellow card for first offence then red for repeat offence with a penalty hit. Also stepping off the side of the pieste is not any sort of foul, the fight is only stopped and the fencer allowed to return to the centre of the pieste!

The penalties are slightly mixed up. Stepping off the side of the Piste is not a carded offense, but the guilty party must give a metre of ground. Stepping off the back of the Piste is an immediate point against. If you step off the side of the piste with less then a metre of Piste remaining behind you then the consequence is the same as stepping off the end. This might have caused some confusion to the researcher or editor.
Having said there is very little on penalties the rule book runs to several pages of very small print about what offences are yellow, red or black card and how the cards are applied. It would therefore probably not be appropriate to put them all in here.

Wick

Now, there is the circumstance of stepping off the piste to /avoid/ a hit, which is also when a Red Card/point is issued...
Something I noticed about the Sabre section, in sabre, only the upper half of the body is target area; there are no points for scoring below the waist... and also Epee tends to leave much more bruises than Sabre, because in Epee, you have to hit with more force to set off the scoring box.

It depends on whom you are fencing. I have met some Sabreurs who could certainly let you know you had been hit. Epeeists tend to leave the bruises on the wrist and sword arm, Sabreurs leave weals on sword arm and flank and Foilists leave bruises anywhere that is off target .

Yeah, I've met more than one sabreuer who's left marks across my back... people like my instructor. Never learn sabre from an Epeeist...

Oh, and also never never NEVER put an epee in a foilists hand, we're dangerous as we have no point control.

Foilists are dangerous with an Epee or the other way around? True, foilists think they'd be good at Epee when they're always hitting arms, but since they're aiming for the torso...

I am a foilist and have occasionaly done epee when required. I do enjoy it but my point control leaves much to be desired and so in competition I tended to do a Pris de Fer (I think that's spelt right) and hit the body. I scared one epeeist so much that I actually got 3 points by running him off the end of the piste 3 times.
Being a foilist and doing epee also really destroys my ability to fight with a foil as I get it into my head to actually aim for the wrist. Not good!

Wick

::: tries to remember what Pris de Fer means :::

Pris de Fer:- Taking of the blade. Basically instead of a parry you wrap the opponents blade in your own and the hit them (or to put it more technically take it out the way and stuff it in hard). There are three types, envelopement, bind and crosse. I will leave it to you to remember which is which.

Oh, ok... My instructor only taught us the bind... I'll discuss *that* with steel next time I see him...

Just to let you know:
Bind:- tends to start in the high line and sort of decribes a U shape whilst extending your arm (as you know).

Envelopement:- Again in the high line, a bit like two circular parries so that you really wrap the blade up (envelope it).

Crosse:- start in the high line and take it diagonally to the opposite low line so that the blades form a cross at your guard.

All these moves are designed to disarm your opponent if they do not have a good (and I mean GOOD) grip on the weapon. Have it demonstrated to you without having your fingers looped through the martingale, it is impressive. Just make sure no one is standing too near or they may end up with less body parts than when they started.

I see...

Sorry, that last smiley should have been .

whatever!

Sadly some epeeists (me) can be caught out by little foilists rampaging down the piste at them, call it culture shock as we are just not used to people doing something that should so blatantly obviouly draw a stop hit or somesuch.

I call that something along the lines of suicide... but what do I know... I'm mainly sabre.