Fencing Regulations

FEN i The BUCS Fencing Championships shall be conducted in accordance with the following BUCS sport specific regulations, the BUCS general regulations, and the rules of British Fencing. Further event specific requirements, rules, and regulations will be contained within the entry and pre-event information for each Championship.

FEN ii In the event that these regulations contradict the BUCS general regulations, these BUCS sport specific regulations will supersede, unless specifically stated otherwise.

FEN iii In the event that these regulations contradict the rules of British Fencing, these BUCS sport specific regulations will supersede, unless specifically stated otherwise.

*FIE regulations not adopted by BUCS*

BUCS has still not adopted the requirement for masks that feature the two rear safety systems (securing devices) complying with FIE rule m.25.7.f as this requirement has not been added to the British Fencing Clothing Rules for all fencing, only being required for certain competitions. This results in aspects of FIE rules t.71 and t.72 relating to this therefore also not being applicable for BUCS fencing. Further information on this from the British Fencing Safety Committee can be found here and here. BUCS will continue to review these requirements with British Fencing to determine if they should be adopted in future seasons.

FEN 1.1 Individual Championships The programme shall include the events listed in Appendix 1 (‘BUCS Competition Offer and Associated BUCS Points’), subject to entry numbers.

FEN 1.2 Team Championships The programme shall include leagues and knockout competitions as per BUCS general regulations, Appendix 1 (‘BUCS Competition Offer and Associated BUCS Points’) and Appendix 10 (‘BUCS Promotion, Relegation and Knockout Information’).

FEN 2 Memberships British Fencing memberships are required by all competitors; FIE (International Fencing Federation) Licences will not be accepted. For the Individual Championships all competitors require a ‘Compete’ membership. For the Team Championships all competitors require a minimum of ‘Recreational’ membership. (Note ‘Starter’ memberships are classed at the ‘Recreational’ level).

FEN 3 Safety The British Fencing Standards and Guidelines for Safety in Fencing shall be followed, including the minimum safety standards for clothing.

FEN 4 Tournament structure and entries See Appendix 1 (‘BUCS Competition Offer and Associated BUCS Points’) for all competitions offered as part of the BUCS Fencing Individual Championships. All competition specific event information will be available in the event entry information and pre-event information.

FEN 5 Electrical apparatus shall be used for all events.

FEN 6 A competitor’s clothing and equipment shall conform to British Fencing regulations and will be subject to a safety check. Any items failing a safety check will be removed from usage for the event.

FEN 7 Disputes at events In line with REG 7.7, should a dispute occur at an event, the event appeal panel for Fencing shall comprise of the Tournament Director and a BUCS Staff Member.

FEN 8 There shall be separate Team Championships for Men and Women.

FEN 9 Minimum number of players for a fixture to start The minimum number of players per team required for a fixture to start will be three.

FEN 10 Playing facilities must be booked for an appropriate length of time to allow for the full conclusion of the match. BUCS recommends that a minimum of three hours hall time is booked. Institutions failing to book sufficient time will forfeit any outstanding hits that cannot be completed within the allocated time.

FEN 11 Each fixture will consist of Foil, Epee and Sabre matches. For each weapon match, teams will be of three fencers plus the option of a nominated reserve. Each weapon match will use the relay formula. Should there be a tie on hits at time, then an extra minute will be fenced with one team being given priority on the toss of a coin. The next hit or priority at the end of the minute will decide the weapon match victory. The winning team will be the team with the highest hits total over the three weapon matches.

FEN 11.1 In the event of a tie on hits after the three weapons matches, the winner will be the team that has won the most weapon matches.

FEN 12 Order of weapon matches and bouts

FEN 12.1 The two team captains, in advance of a fixture starting, shall agree the order in which the weapon matches shall be fought. In the event of lack of agreement there shall be a draw.

FEN 12.2 In leagues where teams are scheduled to play each other twice, the first named (home) team shall be recognised on the scoresheet as Team A and thus fencers 1, 2 and 3, the opposition as Team B and thus fencers 4,5 and 6. In leagues where teams are scheduled to play each other once, and in all knockout competitions, the team captains, in advance of the fixture starting, shall conduct a coin toss to determine which team shall be recognised as Team A and which as Team B. In all cases, the order of the individual fencers within each team shall be decided by the respective team captain.

FEN 12.3 The bouts of each weapon match shall be fought in the following order: 3-6, 1-5, 2-4, 1-6, 3-4, 2-5, 1-4, 2-6, 3-5.

FEN 13 Match officials Match officials should be appointed as per Appendix 5 (‘BUCS Match Officials Requirements’).

FEN 13.1 Officials should rotate between weapon matches where possible.

FEN 14 Electrical apparatus shall be used for all fixtures.

FEN 15 Team captains are required to check the British Fencing memberships of the opposing team prior to the start of each fixture. Fencers should bring a printout of their confirmation on the British Fencing website or be able to demonstrate their membership online.

FEN 16 Incomplete fixtures

FEN 16.1 In the event of a fixture being incomplete due to a late start, with a team at fault, their opposition may claim any hits not completed or unplayed.

FEN 16.2 In the event of a fixture being incomplete due to an institution booking insufficient facility time as per FEN 10, their opposition may claim any hits not completed or unplayed.

FEN 17 Scoresheets In the case of a need to separate teams tied in a league, BUCS will request scoresheets to undertake the process of REG 8.3.7.

FEN 17.1 If BUCS does not consider the scoresheets satisfactory, then the teams that tie shall fight off.

FEN 18 Additional Premier Tier/National Championship specific requirements

FEN 18.1 Facilities should be of an appropriate quality for Premier Tier/National Championship matches and should comply with British Fencing regulations for matches of this standard. Specific attention should be paid to the quality of electrical apparatus and hall lighting.

FEN 19 Passitivity/Non Combativity Application of the rule shall be applied as per FIE rule t.124 except:

FEN 19.1 As it is not possible to establish “the team with the higher initial seeding in the competition” (t.124.2.c.i), Weapon Captains are required in advance of the match, to ‘toss a coin’ to establish which team shall be awarded the ‘advantage’.

FEN 19.2 In the event that the teams are level on score and:

• a p-black is issued to both teams and they have no reserve, or;
• a double p-black card has been issued to both teams;

the team with the ‘advantage’ shall win the match. The team score shall remain the same.

FEN 19.3 The penalty for the P-Black offences only apply to the individual(s) for that weapon specific team match that they were issued. For example, foil. If the penalty was awarded in the foil match, those fencers would still be eligible for the other weapons against the same team. The penalty does not continue beyond that weapon specific match.

FEN 20 Reserves Team Captains are required in advance of each weapon match to name and record any reserves on the score sheet.

FEN 20.1 Injuries For clarity, substitutions are allowed for injuries from the named reserves during team matches. (Note FIE t.45).

FEN 21 League points

FEN 21.1 Three points will be awarded for a win and no points for a loss.

FEN 21.2 Where a walkover has been awarded/conceded (REG 13), three points shall be given to the non-offending team and three points deducted from the offending team.

FEN 21.3 No points will be awarded to either team in the case of a void fixture.