The art of Directing

During a recent practice session with my local club, I was asked to serve as referee (or director) of the bout to assist the fencers in getting a feel for a competition match, and I was reminded of the difficulty and importance of this aspect of fencing. Knowledge of the skills involved in directing are a pre-requisite, not just for those interested in becoming qualified to judge a bout, but to improve the skills of the competitor as well. Without a solid understanding of what the regulations are, as well as what the judges are looking for, we tend to undermine an advantage which might make or break a point.

The referee (director) of the bout is THE person in charge. He or she is responsible for starting and stopping the bout as points are scored, determining right of way, whether regulations have been broken, whether fencers are participating in an unsafe manner and whether the equipment in use is safe for use. The directors run the bout. During a bout the judge has the ability to call upon any regulation necessary to maintain the safety and fluidity of the bout. Although final decisions regarding regulations and equipment are left to the panel set up to observe the specific rules, any action in the bout is the final call of the director.

In previous days, before electric equipment, the director stood at center strip (to one side, of course, as to not interfere with the fencing action) and was assisted by four judges who's job it was to determine if a touch had landed. I make a specific point to use the phrase "... point has landed ..." as the judges were there simply to watch for physical touches. Although both the judges and the director had votes as to whether the point touched a valid target area successfully (it is often difficult to see) only the director called the right of way and the regulations regarding the touch. Although the director would have the right to call on the opinion of any specific judge, the director's opinion was final word.

The diagram shows the position of the Director and the judges for "dry" (non-electric) fencing. Notice the judges are assigned very specific area to watch on each fencer. They will watch and raise their hand if they see a point land in the area they are watching.

For dry fencing, the judge does NOT call halt, only the director. It is the director's job to watch for point calls by the judges. At this point the judges remain silent. The director will announce through voice and hand signals the action of the bout (I.E. Attack initiated, successful parry, riposte, halt) and then announce the point scored. During this process the director will call on the judges to determine the validity of the points. Although each judge is watching a specific area, all judges in a dry bout have a call in the touch. Each judge has one vote, and the director has one and a half. This is to create a system of checks and balances for the director. The director will call on each of the judges for their vote, and each judge will reply with Yes (the point landed), No (the point did not land) or Abstain (I do not know or the point was obscured from view due to the judge's position in relation to the fencer.)

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