Wheelchair fencing words · Intermediate
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I · Intermediate · 23 words · Step 2 of 2General terms
World Para Fencing
The sport as run by World Abilitysport, the international federation for it. The WPF Executive Committee amends the rules from time to time and publishes the changes on its website.
Also called: WPF
The ruleHow does wheelchair fencing work?Rules for competition (wheelchair fencing)
The rulebooks are Book 1 Technical Rules (article numbers t.), Book 2 Organisation Rules (o.), Book 3 Material Rules (m.) and Book 4 Classification Rules, with Book 0 an introduction and Book 5 the Publicity Code.
Wheelchair and frame
Centre line
A vertical line 10 cm long and 2.5 cm wide marked in the centre of the back of the wheelchair. The line on the back of the fencer's jacket must align with it when the fencer sits on guard, unless a classifier grants an exception. If the line on the chair moves more than 1.25 cm during the competition, it is anti-sporting behaviour.
Side guard and grab handle
The side guard on the non-fencing arm side is rigid and transparent, with a clear area of at least 18 cm by 9 cm if reinforced. An optional grab handle for the unarmed hand is fixed upright above it, and may lead away from the fencer but never toward the fencer. A strap that fastens the unarmed hand to the handle must not be elastic or loose, unless a classifier approves an exception.
Strapping and binding
Strapping the fencer to the wheelchair is allowed, but a strap must not cover the valid target and a leg strap must not be elastic. A fencer with significant loss of grip or control of the weapon hand may bind the weapon to the hand, with the authority of two WPF classifiers. The binding must cover and close the sleeve opening of the weapon arm and protect the hand.
Leg prostheses
Leg prostheses must be removed during a bout, and the referee checks this before each pool, team match or direct elimination bout.
Conductive apron
At epee, a flexible conductive covering over the non-valid parts, earthed by a ground cable to the apparatus or the conductive piste. On guard it must touch the piste so no valid hit can be made at the feet or lower parts of the chair and platform. Its clips must be in view of the referee. If they come loose, the referee halts the bout and annuls the hit.
Spoke protectors
Covers over the spokes of both rear wheels, in the approved WPF design. At the Paralympic Games and World and Zonal Championships, a fencer who appears without the national uniform and logo and approved spoke protectors is eliminated from the event.
Position and movement
Losing balance
If a fencer loses balance on an attack, or because the wheelchair is unfastened, the referee calls Halt at once with no penalty. Hits scored before the loss of balance stand if the action began before Halt, and hits made during or after a fall are annulled. Losing balance deliberately is a first-group offence, and unfastening the wheelchair deliberately to force a remeasure of the distance is a second-group offence.
Breaks and injuries
Wheelchair repair break
If the wheelchair or a strap supplied by the fencer is damaged or faulty, the referee allows only the time strictly needed to repair or exchange it, and no more than 10 minutes. The fencer gets no further break that day except for a different fault. If the fencer cannot continue, the fencer retires (individual) or is replaced if possible (team). Destroying the wheelchair to gain advantage is a second-group offence.
Medical time-out (wheelchair fencing)
For an injury or other medical reason attested by the WPF Medical delegate or the doctor on duty, the referee allows a break of at most 10 minutes, timed from that person's intervention. The team doctor or physiotherapist may attend only with the referee's prior permission. A fencer cannot have a further break that day except for a different injury. A break judged unjustified is a second-group offence. If the fencer cannot continue after the break, the fencer retires or is replaced.
Weapons and target
Valid target at foil (wheelchair fencing)
The trunk only, excluding the limbs and head: from the collar up to 6 cm above the collar bones, at the sides to the seams of the sleeves, and down to a horizontal line joining the tops of the hip bones. It also includes the part of the bib below a line 1.5 to 2 cm under the chin. Hits that arrive off the target are valid if an abnormal position has put the non-valid area where the valid one would be.
Valid target at epee and sabre (wheelchair fencing)
Any part of the body above a horizontal line drawn between the tops of the hip bones, including clothing and equipment, and any part of the wheelchair above that line. At epee, hits on non-valid parts of the wheelchair or on the frame are annulled. At sabre a hit that lands on a non-valid area is not registered and does not stop the phrase.
Bouts and matches
Pool bout (wheelchair fencing)
Ends when a fencer scores 5 hits or after 3 minutes of effective fencing time. If the time runs out level, the fencers fence a deciding hit for up to one minute, with lots drawn beforehand to name the winner if it is still level. At epee, 4-4 also goes to a deciding hit, and a double hit does not count.
Direct elimination bout (wheelchair fencing)
A bout to 15 hits, or three periods of three minutes with a one-minute rest between them, so 9 minutes of effective fencing time. At foil and sabre the first period also ends when a fencer scores eight hits. A tie at the end gets a deciding hit of up to one minute with lots drawn beforehand.
Team relay (wheelchair fencing)
A team match is fenced as a relay in which each bout adds five hits to the team's score (5, 10, 15 and so on) within 3 minutes, with the next two fencers taking over where the score stopped. The match is won by the first team to 45 hits, or by the team with more hits at the end of regulation time. A tie goes to a one-minute deciding hit fenced by the fencers of the last bout.
Unwillingness to fight (wheelchair fencing)
Counts as one minute of fencing without a hit. One-sided: the referee halts the bout, and after 15 seconds the inactive fencer is penalised, but it ends once that fencer is back in the upright on-guard position. Both-sided in direct elimination and team bouts: about one minute without a hit, or both fencers leaning back for at least 15 seconds. In direct elimination the next period starts without the rest; in the third period one last minute is fenced, with lots drawn if it is level.
Video review appeals (wheelchair fencing)
Only the fencer on the piste may ask for a video review. In individual pools there is one appeal per bout, in direct elimination two, and a fencer keeps the right if the referee agrees. In team matches there is one per relay. The action can be viewed at most four times, and a tied score at the decisive hit must always be reviewed first. The referee's decision after the review is final.
Classification and categories
Sport classes (wheelchair fencing)
Class 1A: no sitting balance and a handicapped playing arm, with no efficient elbow extension and no residual hand function, so the weapon is fixed with a bandage. Class 1B: no sitting balance and an affected arm, with functional elbow extension but no functional finger flexion, weapon fixed with a bandage. Class 2: fair sitting balance and a normal fencing arm. Class 3: good sitting balance without support of the legs and a normal fencing arm. Class 4: good sitting balance with support of the lower limbs and a normal fencing arm.
Sport class status (wheelchair fencing)
Shows whether a fencer must be evaluated again: New (N, before the first evaluation, which is required before international competition), Confirmed (C, stable, no further evaluation), Review (R, further evaluation needed before later international competition) and Review with a Fixed Review Date (FRD, not before that date). Classification Not Completed (CNC) bars a fencer from competing, and Not Eligible (NE) is for an athlete who does not meet the minimum impairment criteria.
Competition
Paralympic programme (wheelchair fencing)
The Paralympic wheelchair fencing programme comprises 16 events: 12 individual (foil, epee and sabre for men and for women, in Categories A and B) and 4 team (mixed team foil, mixed team epee, men's sabre team and women's sabre team). Mixed teams have four fencers; the sabre teams have up to four. No fencer may enter more than two individual weapon events.
See also: Wheelchair fencing
Direct elimination with repechage
The format for the Paralympic Games and World Championships: an integral direct elimination table from the table of 8 at the Paralympics (16 at World Championships), with a repechage table fed by the losers. A fencer who loses more than one bout is eliminated. At the Paralympics the winners of the second repechage table fence for third place.