Fencing Fact: 12

Have you ever seen the guard of a really old rapier? take a look sometime you will know you have found one when you find a guard that another blade could easily slip through because it is made up of a bunch of twisty pieces of metal making an intricate and attractive piece. this was designed so that a master swordsman could actually allow his opponents blade through the guard and then by turning his or her wrist trap it, from there he or she could bend the blade until it broke or speed up the same process with a blow from their knife. this insanely dangerous technique would deprive their opponent of a weapon and give them a huge advantage. the reason i call it dangerous is because behind the guard is your hand which is as vital to a fencer as it is to a surgeon not only that if you get the timing wrong by even a fraction of a second your opponents attack will land. today all of our Foil guards are a standard circle of metal that is in no way capable of pulling of this feet. probably because foils aren't cheep and depriving your opponent of his weapon is poor sportsmanship.