Dry fencing competition match (without electronic scoring) depends on the quality of the judges and the director. Bad judges and directors lead to bad fencing, pure and simple. That means if your fencing club is going to hold dry fencing competitions, you need to train your members to be good judges.

The skill set is deceptively simple. You see a hit; you raise your hand But there is much more.

First, the judges have to be honest and impartial. You see hits and misses; you don’t see teammates or opponents. Misjudging and shading what you see to benefit one fencer or the other is corrupt cheating and ultimately destroys the quality of fencing.

Second, each possible hit must be evaluated against two simple criteria.

(1) “It landed on the point and came to rest so that it would have caused injury if the point were sharp” for foil and épée, and that plus “landed on the edge” for saber. Keep in mind that cutting edge means different things to different shooters – the traditional meaning of with the leading edge of the blade or the last third of the trailing edge is effectively replaced by the modern reality that any contact with the blade will result in a strike. .

(2) “Did it land on the weapon’s target or off target?”

Third, the judge must immediately signal an observed hit. If you see a hit that meets the criteria, immediately raise your hand to signal the director. If there are no hands, the director will not stop the action. It then becomes impossible to go back three sentences, piece together what happened, and award the bunt correctly.

Fourth, the judge must be prepared to answer the director’s questions about the action at the correct time. This means that he must watch the action carefully and match what he saw with how the director describes the action. The difference between a hit on the initial attack and a hit on the follow-up attack is small and requires you to watch carefully to distinguish between the two.

Fifth, the judge must know how to answer the director’s questions. It is a simple set of answers. “Yes” on all three weapons means that a hit (criterion 1) landed on the target (criterion 2). “Yes, but invalid” in foil means that a hit (criterion 1) landed but not on the weapon’s target. “No” means that no hits landed; the attack fell short, landed flat, or slid along the body without the point stopping in foil or épée. “Refrain” means you can’t say with confidence if the punch landed or not. Your viewing angle may allow you to see direction but not depth, or the target may have become obscured.

Sixth, you have to be in the right place to see the action. Judging is a work in motion. You should be approximately one meter to the side of the piste and one meter behind your fencer, and move with the fencer, maintaining this distance. Move constantly to maintain the correct position. This gives you the best view of the opponent’s target. Keeping three feet to the side and three feet back also keeps you safe from a flapping blade.

And finally, you have to find the right fencer. You are facing the opposite opponent of the fencer you are standing behind. You don’t really care if the fencer you’re behind gets hit. You need to focus on the opponent on the fringe.

The best way to become a competent judge is to practice. Volunteer to judge whenever you can. Look at the directors and how they call to action; This applies not only to directors of dry fencing matches and competitions, but also to referees of electric competitions. Your ability to see and correctly respond to blows is an important part of raising the level of fencing in your club. This is important work, so practice, practice, practice.