Arriving At A Meet

What To Do First

You arrived at the meet site and located the competition area. It should be a minimun of 45 minutes before check-in ends and earlier if possible. Now what should you do?
- First off, look for other club members. If they found a gathering spot, put your gear with theirs. If not, find a place away from traffic areas (doorways and walkways) next to a wall or on a bleacher seat.
- Find the check-in table and ask if you can check in. They may say yes or tell you to wait. Just make sure you check in on time since many meets do not allow late entries. If entry fees are not prepaid, you will pay at this time. Bring a check.
- Have your equipment officially tested. Your mask, weapons, cords and lame' are all required to meet minimum standards for competition. If you try to compete without correct inspection markings, you will be ejected from the competition with possible suspension from the national organization. Often a parent or one fencer will wait in line for several fencers to have equipment tested. Come early for equipment testing. Don't use warm-up time to test equipment.

What next? Warm Up!

The physical warm-up only takes a few minutes unless it's early morning and you feel tired. Then it takes forever. The worse the physical warm up feels, the more it is needed. If you want to stretch, do it after the physical warm up, not before.
 
Fencing skills take 30 to 45 minutes to properly "warm up". For fencing, it should be called "recalling" the perception and rhythms you will need during the bouts. Don't plan on using your first bout as part of the warm up. You must be fencing your best during this bout. Each win places you approximately 20% higher in the direct elimination table and every touch places you several points higher. The higher you are seeded after the first round, the better your result! With good seeding you will have easier opponents and potentially do better. Most fencers cheat on their warm- up and hurt their results without realizing it. It's a shame, unless they are your opponents. (Note: Kids under 10 need a maximum of 15 minutes for warm-up. They are always warm. Mostly they need to learn what to do for latter years.)
 

When you are called to the strip

You will be called by name and told to go directly to a strip, or an announcement will be made telling you to look at a posted pool list. On the list will be the number of the strip you are to proceed to. (Each fencer had been placed in a group (pool) of five, six or seven competitors.) Bring your equipment to the strip, two weapons and two body cords minimun, and sit down. Wait until the referee calls you for your first bout. Other fencers may compete before you, so sit tight, but also be ready to be the first bout.
A bout between two fencers is won by the competitor who first scores five touches. After every fencer has fenced every other competit the pool is over. When all pools are completed the results are posted, except in small meets. The top rated fencers (without losses) then compete against the fencers with the fewest wins. Elimination bouts are then held and last for 15 touches. For younger fencers the best two out of three bouts are fenced. The loser is eliminated from the meet. One variation is elimination after defeats by two oponents. This requires additional time, but is more fun.