Austin Fencers Club Rules

General Conduct in the Salle:

• Remove your hat prior to entering the fencing salle.
• Greet and shake hands with the fencing master and coaches upon your arrival and departure at the fencing club. If the fencing master or coaches are giving an individual lesson or teaching a class, a simple hello/goodbye will do.
• Always be respectful and courteous to others.
• During your training session, if you feel tired and need a rest, do not sit on the fencing salle floor; feel free to exit the salle in order to sit and rest. If you are feeling physical distress, please alert a coach immediately.

General Conduct During Bouts

• Fencers must salute their opponent, the referee, and the audience at the beginning and end of each bout.
• During bouts or drills, if your opponent drops his/her weapon, pick it up for him/her.
• If you need to adjust your equipment, obtain the referee's permission, before doing so.
• Do not argue with the referee. You may, however, courteously ask questions regarding the call, in order to better understand it.
• When fencing without a referee, you should acknowledge touches against you.
• At the end of a bout, fencers should remove their masks and shake hands using their ungloved hands, then salute the referee and the audience.
• Extend offers to new or visiting fencers to come into the queue of fencers on your strip.
• When there are several fencers on the same strip, no one fencer should stay on strip more than twice (once for the original bout, the second time as the winner). All fencers should take turns as the referee.

General Conduct During Classes

• Be respectful of your coach and club mates: show up on time for your class.
• During classes, the fencing master and coaches give their full attention to their students/fencers. Students/fencers are expected to reciprocate by giving their full attention to their instructor.
• Parents are welcomed during the classes, but they are in the fencing salle as spectators; they should not interfere with the fencing master or coaches during class, unless their help is requested.

Eligibility:

• In order to attend classes, open bouting, or private lessons, your club membership must be paid.

Visitors:

• Visitors and guests are always welcome at AFC, as long as they behave in conformance with the club rules.
• All club members will graciously extend themselves to visitors and newcomers to AFC.

Safety:

• All AFC members will put safety first in the maintenance of their equipment and their personal behavior within the club.
• It is absolutely forbidden to touch an unmasked person with a weapon.
• Whenever you are not bouting or drilling, keep the tip of your weapon down.
• The complete fencing outfit and all safety equipment must be worn for open bouting and classes, unless coaches instruct you otherwise.
• Do not interrupt fencers who are on strip fencing, or the fencing master or coaches who are giving lessons or classes.
• Do not cross over a strip during a bout. Wait until a halt is called.

Equipment:

• Fencers, parents, and visitors shall respect and take good care of the club's equipment.
• Each fencer's personal fencing outfit should be kept clean and in proper order.
• If you need to borrow club equipment for your class, open bouting, or a tournament, be sure to put the equipment away in the proper place:
• • Youth jackets go on the single rack on the hanger # corresponding to the jacket letter.
  • Teen/adult jackets go on the double rack with black hangers in the secondary closet.
  • Masks go on shelves in the hall closet.
  • Lamés go on the double rack in the hall closet.
  • Weapons go on shelves in the hall closet.
  • Gloves go in the glove box.
  • Foil body cords go in the foil body cord box.
  • Épée body cords go in the épée body cord box.
  • Please zip up all jacket and lamés once they are on their hangers!
• When a fencing member breaks a club weapon's blade, he or she must replace or pay for the blade. This rule does not apply to students in the beginner classes.

Provision of Equipment:

• Beginning fencers: all gear will be provided on loan from the club.
• Intermediate fencers must provide their own body cord, glove, and weapon(s).
• Advanced and competitive fencers must provide: **
• • 1 Mask
  • 1 Under arm protector
  • 1 Jacket, with AFC patch on non-weapon arm
  • 1 pair of knickers
  • Long socks (above knee length)
  • 1 Lamé (foil or sabre)
  • 1 glove
  • 2 body cords
  • 2 weapons minimum, 3 is recommended
  • Optional, but strongly recommended: 1 fencing bag
  • 1 set of small tools
• Fencers participating in the AFC saber class must provide:
• • Sabre mask
  • Sabre lamé
  • Sabre glove
  • Sabre
  • Sabre body and mask cords
• Épée fencers must provide their own body cord and weapons.
• For tournaments, AFC will lend fencers extra body cords and weapons free of charge.
• If your weapon is under repair ,or you are waiting for a new one, you may rent club weapons for $5/night.