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EPEE (ay-PAY)
A
dueling sword used in fencing
Common
clues: Fencing
sword; Fencer's weapon; Olympic weapon; Blunted blade; Pentathlon
event; Duel tool; Foil alternative
Crossword
puzzle frequency:
14 times a year
News:
The
cold, physical chess of fencing
Video:
Fencing
with the epee with cheesy music
An
épée is the modern derivative of the original
duelling sword, the rapier, used in sport fencing.
The
weapon is similar to a foil (compared to a sabre), but has a
stiffer, V-shaped blade, has a larger bell guard, and is heavier.
The technique however, is completely different. The blade is a
concave triangle in cross-section. Épée is French
for "sword."
While
modern sport fencing has three weapons (foil, épée,
and sabre), each a separate event, épée is the only
one in which the entire body is a valid target area. Epees are
the heaviest of all three weapons.
In
most higher-level competitions a grounded metal piste is used to
prevent floor hits from registering as touches. Unlike sabre and
foil, in épée there are no right-of-way rules
regarding attacking; that is, touches are awarded solely on the
basis of which fencer makes a touch first, according to the
electronic scoring machines. Also, in épée
double-touches are allowed, although the touches must be within
40 milliseconds of each other.
Epee
is the most popular weapon in fencing throughout the world,
though it is common for fencing masters to require students to
learn foil first.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Épée".
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