Fencing Swords: Are They Sharp? Blades Compared

Modern fencing swords are not sharp. Each blade is flexible, blunted steel, built to score touches rather than cut. If you searched for “fencing sword”, the word fencers use is simply “weapon”, and the blade is only one part of it. This page covers the blade, the guard and the grip. For the rules and target areas, see the pages linked below.

Are fencing swords sharp?

No. Sport fencing weapons are designed to score touches, not to cut. The tip is blunted, the edges of the blade are not sharpened, and the fencer is covered by a mask, a padded jacket, a plastron under the arm, a glove and breeches. Even sabre, the weapon that scores with the edge, is a flat blade that is not sharp. If you want to see how the kit fits together, our guide to fencing equipment goes through it piece by piece.

How do the three fencing swords differ?

Foil, épée and sabre differ in weight, blade shape and what counts as a hit. Those rules belong on other pages: the three weapons page explains each weapon, foil vs sabre vs épée compares them, and right of way in fencing explained covers the priority rule that foil and sabre share. What follows is about the steel itself.

How is a fencing blade built?

A fencing blade is a long strip of flexible steel that bends under pressure and springs back. That flex is a safety feature as well as a handling feature, because a thrust that lands bends the blade instead of stopping dead.

The blades are not identical:

• A foil blade is light and slim, with a small round guard.
• An épée blade is stiffer and heavier, with a larger bowl-shaped guard, because the hand is part of the target in épée.
• A sabre blade is flat, with a guard that wraps around the knuckles, because the weapon cuts as well as thrusts.

What are the guard and grip?

The guard sits between blade and hand. The grip is the handle. Foil and épée are used with either of the two main grip types: the French grip, which is straight and gives the fingers more control over the point, and the pistol grip, which is shaped to sit in the palm and suits many hands better. Neither is better in itself. Your coach will help you choose once you know which weapon you like, which is also why it pays to wait before buying.

What is the difference between electric and dry blades?

An electric blade is wired. When the tip lands, or in sabre when a cut lands on the conductive jacket, the circuit tells the scoring box that a valid touch has happened. It is linked to the box through a body wire that runs under the jacket. Foil and sabre fencers also wear a conductive jacket over their padded one, called a lamé, while épée fencers do not.

A dry blade has no wiring, so it scores nothing. It is the right tool for learning footwork, distance and blade work, where a coach or partner can see what happened. Electric blades come in once a lesson includes scoring equipment.

Which weapon should you pick up first?

There is no wrong first weapon, and the full answer is in which fencing weapon a beginner should start with. At Fencing Masters in Singapore, the coaches teach all three, so you can hold each blade before you choose. The club lends the mask, jacket and blade once you join, for the first 8 lessons in a group class or the first 10 in private coaching, on a membership of 8 weeks or longer (on a 4-week membership, the loan covers those 4 weeks), and equipment made to the international federation’s standards is only needed for international competition, as we explain in what the FIE is.

To feel the difference between the three weapons yourself, you can request a trial.