George Slay: Hi, I am George Slay, the fencing instructor. We are going to get into the basics of fencing tonight and we are starting with the weapon itself. As you can see its has a pointing end. The objective is to lay that pointing end on the torso of the opposing fencer. The target area in fencing is easily seen on Don Rickerson here. Hes wearing a jacket that lays out precisely where that point has to land. I cant touch his foot, thats not going to count, and I cant touch the mask or the arms and have that count. The only place that it counts is essentially almost from the waist up. I can touch him on the back if I am extremely flexible and can reach over and catch him there. Now, because this tip carries with it a lot of force, its a small area, we have to wear protective gear.

This is Ivan Lopez another member of Recreational Fencers of Manassas. Hes wearing the traditional white cotton denim knickers. Hes wearing an underarm protector as well. Hes taken off his jacket to demonstrate. This protects against the really hard shots that are directed against the upper torso and since hes right handed most of the protection is on his right hand side.

I am wearing the standard fencing jacket, whites, it covers; its long sleeve of course and a glove which is absolutely necessary. We keep this hand out of the way; try to keep it out of the way of the blade. Don is wearing the complete ensemble for electric fencing. This includes the electric jacket to help us register score, but more important hes wearing a steel mesh mask that protects against any kind of blow to the face, which certainly does happen with off target shots. However, let me return to this specific target area, the chest and shoulders and slightly below the waist. The target area is divided into four areas, say high, low, in and out.

The inside high here is the four area; outside six, inside low seven, outside eight. Now that weve covered the objective of fencing and the target areas, were going to learn how to adopt the appropriate stance in the very next lesson.