How To Use The Foil In Choreographing A Sword Fight

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Foils are designed for thrusting, and score a point by depressing a button on the end of the shaft to complete an electric circuit. The blade is very thin, with a blunted (or foiled) tip. Modern competitive fencers often use a technique known as a flick, which uses the foil's flexibility to bend around the blade of an opponent (often in response to an attempted parry) and plant a hit upon the back.

Foil blades are flexible enough to bend upon striking an opponent, in order to prevent injuries. There are three main types of foil grips: the French style, with a grip (handle or hilt) designed to facilitate greater finesse, the Italian style, which is designed more for control and power, and the orthopedic, or pistol-grip, which takes the need for a firm hold on the weapon even further. Critics of the pistol-grip, (who are almost invariably adherents of the classical philosophy), claim that this leads to a "deathgrip" on the foil that sacrifices speed and maneuverability for strength and stability (viewed as inferior by such critics), thus inhibiting true mastery. Still, the pistol grip remains the most popular, and it is almost invariably the grip of preference for the contemporary foil fencer.