How a fencing bout works

1. Two fencers face each other on a strip, the piste, 14 metres long. The referee starts each exchange with "Play!" and stops it with "Halt!".
2. There are three weapons. Foil scores with the point on the trunk only. Épée scores with the point anywhere on the body. Sabre scores with the point or the edge above the hips.
3. When both fencers hit, épée gives both a hit. In foil and sabre the right of way decides: the fencer who attacked first has priority, and the defender must parry before hitting back.
4. In the knockout bouts the first to 15 hits wins. If time runs out, the fencer ahead wins.

How long

Knockout bouts are three periods of three minutes. In the first-round pools the first to five wins, with a limit of three minutes. Team matches are a relay to 45.