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This page explains what governing bodies, standards bodies and researchers publish. It is not a substitute for lessons from a qualified coach, for a qualified armourer's checks or for medical advice.
Limits only
These are the maximums and ranges the FIE text states. The rules also describe how each is measured; this page leaves that to the armourers and the weapon-control officials who apply it. Meeting a number here does not make any weapon compliant: the FIE's homologation, the competition's rules and the officials decide.
The weapons side by side (FIE Material Rules, August 2026)
| Limit | Foil | Epee | Sabre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total weight ready for use | Less than 500 g (m.6) | Less than 770 g (m.14) | Less than 500 g (m.22) |
| Maximum total length | 110 cm (m.7) | 110 cm (m.15) | 105 cm (m.21) |
| Maximum blade length | 90 cm (m.8.4) | 90 cm (m.16.3) | 88 cm (m.23.1) |
| Blade section | Rectangular, edges chamfered so they cannot cut (m.8.1 and m.8.2) | Triangular, no cutting edges; no side wider than 24 mm (m.16.1 and m.16.4) | Approximately rectangular; at least 4 mm wide at the button and 1.2 mm thick just below it (m.23.1) |
| Flexibility under the rule's 200 g load | Bend of 5.5 to 9.5 cm (m.8.5) | Bend of 4.5 to 7 cm (m.16.5) | Bend of 4 to 7 cm (m.23.4) |
| Curve allowed | Uniform, vertical plane, near the centre, under 1 cm (m.8.6) | Uniform, vertical plane, near the centre, under 1 cm (m.16.2) | Continuous, deflection under 4 cm; no sharply bent end or curve toward the cutting edge (m.23.3) |
| Maximum handle length | 20 cm, 18 cm to the pommel line (m.4.1) | 20 cm, 18 cm to the pommel line (m.4.1) | 17 cm (m.4.1) |
| Guard | Diameter 9.5 to 12 cm, blade through the centre; passes a cylindrical gauge 12 cm in diameter and 15 cm long (m.9) | Circular; passes a cylindrical gauge 13.5 cm in diameter and 15 cm long; depth 3 to 5.5 cm; blade no more than 3.5 cm off centre (m.17.1 and m.17.3) | One piece, smooth, continuously convex, no rim or holes; passes a 15 cm by 14 cm rectangular gauge 15 cm long (m.24.1 and m.24.2) |
| Tip | Spring point (pointe d'arret) 5.5 to 7 mm across; more than 500 g needed to register; total travel no more than 1 mm (m.11) | Point crown 8 mm (plus or minus 0.05 mm); more than 750 g needed to register; lighting stroke over 1 mm and total travel over 1.5 mm (m.19) | No spring tip: the blade end is folded or formed into a button of square or rectangular section, 4 to 6 mm (m.23.2) |
| Circuit in the weapon | One wire in the blade groove; a hit breaks a circuit that is closed at rest (m.10 and m.11.6) | Two wires in the groove forming the active circuit, plus an earth circuit to a third socket (m.18.1) | No spring tip; the bodywire plug sockets are in direct contact with the guard body (m.24.4) |
| Maximum resistance | 2 ohms (m.5.4.a) | 2 ohms (m.5.4.a) | 1 ohm (m.5.4.a) |
| Insulation | Button and first 15 cm (plus or minus 1 cm) of blade fully insulated (m.13.1) | No insulation length is set in the epee articles recorded for this site | Guard fully insulated inside and for 7 to 8 cm outside from the pommel; handle and pommel fully insulated (m.24.5 to m.24.7) |
| Other | No soldering or heating that could affect blade temper at the tip (m.12.3) | Tip to back of guard never more than 95.5 cm (m.17.2); no external adjustment of the lighting stroke once assembled (m.19.4.c) | The insulated part of the guard next to the pommel is the only exception to the all-metal rule for blades and guards (m.5.5.c) |
The weapon spec checker compares a weapon's total length, blade length and weight with the three limits in the first rows. Blade steel is covered on blades and maraging steel.
Rules common to all three weapons
- Blades and guards are entirely metal, with no plastic or other covering outside, except the insulated part of the sabre guard next to the pommel; guards carry no advertising (m.5.5.c).
- The guard's convex face must be smooth, not too shiny, without a raised rim, and unable to catch the opponent's point (m.5.1).
- Handles may not carry any device that helps throw the weapon or adds to the protection the guard gives the hand; a cross bar or socket beyond the guard edge is expressly forbidden (m.4.4 and m.4.5). A handle or glove that fixes the hand position must allow one position only, with the extended thumb tip within 2 cm of the inside of the guard (m.4.6). At epee, orthopaedic handles may not be covered with leather or anything that could hide wires or switches (m.4.3).
- At foil and epee only traditional or homologated spring points are accepted (m.5.5.a).
The FIE text does not name grip types. Wikipedia names the French grip and the pistol (orthopaedic) grip as the common types at foil and epee, the Italian grip as legal but uncommon, and a single grip type at sabre; that is a secondary description, not a rule.
How the target shapes the rest of the kit
Each weapon's target, as the FIE Technical Rules (December 2024 edition) define it, decides which parts of a fencer's kit must conduct electricity.
| Foil | Epee | Sabre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valid target (Technical Rules) | The trunk, plus the mask bib below a line 1.5 to 2 cm under the chin (t.77.1) | The whole body, clothing and equipment included (t.91) | The body above a horizontal line joining the tops of the hip bones (t.97.2) |
| Conductive jacket (lame) | Covers the whole valid target on guard; collar at least 3 cm; non-conductive strap between the legs at least 3 cm wide (m.28) | None; a regulation jacket covering the whole trunk (m.25.4.b) | Covers the valid surface above the hip-bone line and the arms to the wrists; collar at least 3 cm (m.34) |
| Mask | Mesh insulated inside and out, not below the chin; bib below the chin line covered in conductive material (m.27.1 and m.27.2) | Must not be covered with conductive material or anything that could make the point glance off; bib reaches below the collar bones (m.30) | Mesh conducts electricity; bib and trim fully covered in conductive material (m.32) |
| Glove | May be slightly padded (m.26) | General glove rule (m.25.6) | Conductive gauntlet down below the wrist bone; 800N rating (m.33) |
Masks, clothing and gloves are covered in detail on their own pages. USA Fencing's Athlete Handbook 2026-2027 (2.17.1) adds that foil and sabre masks with an electric bib may not be used for epee at any level, because the metal on the bib can ground the opponent's tip.
Wheelchair fencing differences
Under the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Technical Rules of January 2018, the newest edition found, the epee target is not the whole body: it is the upper body above the hip-bone line plus any part of the wheelchair above that line (t.62), and earthed flexible lame aprons cover the non-valid areas (t.63). The January 2018 Material Rules Amendments add a dark-blue vertical line 10 cm by 2.5 cm on the back of epee jackets and lames, and require the foil and sabre conductive jacket to cover the whole target with the fencer seated on guard (m.25.4.d, m.28.6, m.28.7, m.34.6). These rules may have been amended since.
Sources
- FIE, Rules for Competitions, Book 3, Material Rules (edition dated August 2026), m.1 to m.34
- FIE, Technical Rules (December 2024 edition, copy published by the German Fencing Federation), t.77, t.91, t.97
- USA Fencing, Athlete Handbook 2026-2027, 2.17.1
- IWAS Wheelchair Fencing, Rules for Competition, Book 1, Technical Rules (January 2018; copy hosted by the Brazilian fencing confederation)
- Wheelchair Fencing Material Rules Amendments, January 2018 (copy hosted by the Brazilian fencing confederation)
- Wikipedia, Grip (sport fencing)