| The dry (not using electronic scoring) fencing | | | | action. The difference between a hit on the initial |
| competition bout depends on the quality of the judges | | | | attack and a hit on the continuation of the attack is |
| and director. Bad judges and directors lead to bad | | | | small, and requires that you watch carefully so that |
| fencing, pure and simple. That means that, if your | | | | you can distinguish between the two. |
| fencing club is going to hold dry fencing competitions, | | | | Fifth, the judge must know how to respond to the |
| you must train your members to be good judges. | | | | director's questions. It is a simple set of responses. |
| The skill set is deceptively simple. You see a hit; you | | | | "Yes" in all three weapons means that a hit (criteria 1) |
| raise your hand. But there is so much more. | | | | landed on target (criteria 2). "Yes, but not valid" in foil |
| First, judges have to be honest and unbiased. You see | | | | means that a hit (criteria 1) landed but not on the target |
| hits and misses; you do not see team mates or | | | | for the weapon. "No" means that no hit landed; the |
| opponents. Dishonest judging and shading what you | | | | attack fell short, or landed flat or slid along the body |
| see to benefit one fencer or the other is corrupt | | | | without the point arresting in foil or epee. "Abstain" |
| cheating, and ultimately destroys the quality of the | | | | means that you cannot say with confidence whether |
| fencing. | | | | or not the hit landed. Your viewing angle may allow |
| Second, every possible hit must be evaluated with two | | | | you to see direction but not depth or the target may |
| simple criteria. | | | | have been obscured. |
| (1) "Did it land with the point and arrest so that it would | | | | Sixth, you must be in the right place to see the action. |
| have caused an injury if the point were sharp" for foil | | | | Judging is a job in motion. You should be approximately |
| and epee, and that plus "did it land with the cutting | | | | one meter to the side of the piste and one meter |
| edge" for sabre. Note that cutting edge means | | | | behind your fencer, and move with the fencer, |
| different things to different fencers - the traditional | | | | maintaining this distance. Move constantly to keep the |
| meaning of with the front edge of the blade or the last | | | | correct position. This provides you the best view of |
| third of the back edge is effectively superseded by | | | | the opponent's target. Keeping one meter to the side |
| the modern reality that any blade contact will result in a | | | | and one meter back also keeps you safe from a |
| hit. | | | | flailing blade. |
| (2) "Did it land on the target for the weapon or off the | | | | And finally, you have to look at the right fencer. You |
| target?" | | | | are watching the opponent opposite to the fencer you |
| Third, the judge must signal an observed hit | | | | are standing behind. You really don't care if the fencer |
| immediately. If you see a hit that meets the criteria, | | | | you are behind is hit. You should be focused on the |
| immediately raise your hand to signal the director. If | | | | opponent down the strip. |
| there are no hands, the director will not halt the action. | | | | The best way to become a competent judge is to |
| Then it becomes impossible to go back three phrases, | | | | practice. Volunteer to judge whenever you can. Watch |
| reconstruct what happened, and award the touch | | | | directors and how they call the action; this applies not |
| correctly. | | | | only to directors of dry fencing bouts and competitions, |
| Fourth, the judge must be prepared to respond to the | | | | but also referees of electric competitions. Your ability |
| director's questions about the action in the correct time. | | | | to see and correctly respond to hits is an important |
| This means that you must watch the action carefully | | | | part of raising the standard of fencing in your club. This |
| and match what you saw to how the director calls the | | | | is an important job, so practice, practice, practice. |