CENTRAL VIRGINIA DIVISION
AMERICAN FENCING LEAGUE

JUDGE TRAINING PROGRAM

In competitions fenced without the use of electric scoring equipment, the use of volunteer officials who are competent in their duties is critical to the quality of the fencing.  Poor performance by the officials at the very least denies good fencers the use of the full range of their technique, and at the worst leads to abysmal hacking and stabbing.  Good officiating raises the standard of the meet to the possibility of the upper limit of the fencers' technique.

Therefore, because American Fencing League events are fenced dry (or steam or standard), the Central Virginia Division is implementing a Judge Training Program as part of an effort to ensure the competence of its officials.  Completion of the Judge Training Program results in award of a Judge's license and is a prerequisite for qualification as a Director.

Completion of Judge Training requires that the individual:

• Pass an open book written test on this training material.

• Satisfactorily serve as a Judge in at least two competitions for a minimum of 12 bouts.  Satisfactory service is noted by the Director in the individual's American Fencing League Fencing Log Book.

1.  TOURNAMENT OFFICIALS

1.01.  Any fencing tournament is managed by a group of officials, some of whom may be drafted to duties on an ad hoc basis and others of whom have duties that extend throughout the duration of the event.  These officials can be divided into:

1.01.a.  Officials concerned with management of the tournament - the organizers who schedule the event and its facilities and the Bout Committee which oversees the general flow of the event, seeds fencers, assigns pools, etc.

1.01.b.  Officials concerned with the conduct of the pool or the individual bout - these include the Director, scorekeeper, timekeeper, and Judges.  The Director and the Judges collectively form the Jury that assesses the results of fencing and awards touches.

1.02.  Basic duties assigned to the officials who conduct the pool and the bout include the following:

1.02.a.  The Director is in charge of the pool and the individual bouts assigned to him or her.  This includes ensuring that bouts are fenced in the correct order, that bouts are called, that fencers conduct themselves appropriately (and with that the assignment of penalties of they do not), that fencing is conducted in an orderly and safe manner according to the rules, that the action is properly analyzed, that touches are awarded, and that results of bouts are properly recorded on the score sheet. The Director serves as president of the jury, and determines the validity of touches (whether or not a touch results in a scored hit based on the rules of right of way or priority).

1.02.b.  The Scorekeeper assists the Director by maintaining the scoresheet, calling bouts, including those on deck (to be fenced after the completion of the current bout), recording each touch awarded, recording any penalties assessed, and totaling the results on the score sheet.

1.02.c.  The Timekeeper assists the Director by keeping the time of the bout, by announcing time remaining when requested, and by calling "Time" when the time allowed for the bout expires.

1.02.d.  The Judges observe hits and through a voting process determine the materiality of those hits (whether or not they arrive).

2.  POSITIONING OF THE JUDGE

2.01.  In a bout it is desirable that there be four Judges.  However, in some cases this may be impossible.  The judges are positioned as follows (in reference to the Director):

Note that the same basic rules apply if the fencer to the Director's left is left handed, showing his or her chest to the Director.

2.02.  Judges should station themselves one meter to the side of the piste and one meter behind the fencer at their end of the piste.  Judging is not a stationary task - judges must move with the fencers to maintain this positioning.

3.  THE TARGET AND THE HIT

3.01.  Judges observe the fencer facing them - they have no responsibility for the fencer they are located immediately behind, and should generally not watch him or her.

3.02.  Judges are watching for different outcomes in each of the three weapons:

3.02.a.  There is no minimum amount of contact or blade flexion required for a hit to arrest with the point in any of the three weapons.  A very light hit or a hit that arrests and then bounces off are as valid as one that bends the blade double.

3.02.b.  There is no minimum amount of contact required for a sabre cut to arrive as long as it makes contact with the target - even a cut that arrives with only the tip of the blade is a hit. 

3.02.c.  At all three weapons a thrust delivered with the point that only grazes along the body, not arresting, is not a touch.  This includes a sabre point thrust that grazes as a point thrust - it is not considered valid as a cut if there is not a separate cutting action.

3.02.d.  At sabre, a cut which lands with the flat of the blade (not the cutting edges or with the lower portion of the back of the blade) is not a touch.  The exception to this are drawing cuts executed with a pull through of the flat blade so that the point would execute the cut; the two accepted techniques are the lateral abdominal cut and the chest cut.

3.03.  As soon as the Judge sees a hit land, on or off target, he or she should signal the Director by raising a hand with an extended arm.  If the Director does not see a hand raised, the Director has to assume that there are two votes that no hit occurred (see voting procedures), and normally will not stop the action.  The hand must be raised when the hit is seen - it is almost impossible to reconstruct the action for a hit that may have happened a phrase before or early in a long phrase.

4.  VOTING

4.01.  When the Director stops the action after observing a hit or the signal of a hit from a Judge, he or she will reconstruct the action.  Judges must understand the reconstruction in order to be able to vote correctly, and it is appropriate to ask the Director to explain anything that you do not understand.  It is generally helpful if the Director does a complete reconstruction before asking for the Judges' votes; for example:

"Attack by left, riposte by right, counterriposte by left, remise of the riposte by right.  On the attack?"

4.02.  Each judge may vote in one of four ways (three in epee) on each action described by the Director.  Votes should be delivered quickly, in a clear voice the Director and fencers can hear, and with decisiveness (trust your instincts - a shaky vote in a timid voice reduces the fencers' confidence in how the officiating is being done).

4.03.  Each Judge has one vote, and the Director has 1.5 votes.  When the Director polls the Jury this leads to a wide variety of vote combinations (the following table only shows a partial list):

The key principles are (1) majority vote rules, (2) abstentions do not count as votes, (3) if there is equality in the votes between yes and no, or between yes but not valid and yes or no, the hit is doubtful, (4) if all abstain there is a doubtful hit, and (5) if there is no clear majority as to whether the hit lands on or off target, there is no decision and the touch is treated as though it were yes but not valid.

4.04.  There may be exceptional circumstances.  For example, you may hear a touch arrive, but not see the actual arrest.  You cannot call what you cannot see.  However, in foil or sabre, you may see a clear arrest but not be able to determine if it arrived on target or off target.  Although this is an abstention situation, a vote of "Abstain fair or foul" tells the Director that you did see an arrest and may clarify a doubtful hit situation.  

4.05.  Because each Judge and the Director have different views of the target, it is not unusual for there to be disagreement as to whether a hit arrived.  This is normal, and being outvoted does not imply that your call was faulty.  Have confidence in your judgment.

4.06.  If both Judges on one side abstain, the Director may ask the Judges on the other side if they observed a hit.  There is no obligation to, or expectation that you will, observe such hits, but, if observed and asked, a vote may be offered.

4.07.  Some Judges, especially younger or inexperienced Judges, may be influenced by the vote of the other Judge, the tone of voice of the Director, or the attitude of the fencers.  You must not allow this to happen.  If you do not know, abstain.  If you do know, vote what you saw.  For all you know, the other Judge may be wrong, and if you vote because of how he or she voted, you will be cheating one of the fencers of a result earned.  

5.  SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR EPEE

5.01.  In Epee, the timing of the arrival of a hit may be critical to determining whether a simultaneous hit has occurred.  In these conditions, the Director may ask the Judges where they observed the hit arrest and if they have any opinion as to the timing of the hits.  These are not votes, and are only advisory to assist the Director.

6.  THE OBLIGATION OF FENCERS TOWARD THE JUDGES

6.01.  Fencers are obligated to take no action, either verbal or otherwise, to intimidate or influence the Judge.  Determinations by the Jury as to the validity (whether or not an action landed) or the materiality (whether or not the action had priority) are matters of fact and are not subject to protest by the fencer.

6.02.  A fencer may acknowledge the arrival of a hit before the Judges offer their votes.  However, there is no obligation to do so.  There is an element of sportsmanship in acknowledging a hit that would have been difficult for a Judge to observe.  However, this can be manipulated to impose a reciprocal obligation on the part of an opponent to acknowledge a doubtful action, and therefore should not be generally done.  A fencer must never acknowledge a hit after the Jury has reached a decision - to do so questions the competence of the Jury in an unsportsmanlike way.