Unwillingness to fight.
Passivity.
Non-combativity.
All of these things mean the same thing. They mean that two fencers are not fencing, they are just standing there looking at each other. In effect, the fencers who are supposed to be big and bold masters of the sword are pretending to be statues instead, waiting for the other fencer to do something.
In competitive fencing, non-combativity has been rampant. It’s been everywhere, and for a very long time, and was often used as a tactical move at high competitive level. That’s all about to change with one swift stroke for every fencer not only in America, but across the world. Soon, it won’t be. Here we’re going to explain the new unwillingness to fight rule that was adopted by FIE (the international governing body for fencing) for all competitions starting January 1st, 2019. It’s the same rule that was adopted by the USFA, with only some slight modification for the United States and that goes into effect on February 14th, 2019.
This is one of the most dramatic changes in fencing rules in recent history. There are of course always a lot of changes, every year we find new changes to adopt, but this one is completely different.
Fencing and tennis are not entirely different sports. Both are individual, with two opponents and a referee required. Both are prized sports in the Olympics. Both invoke a 
Recently I had a thought-provoking conversation with a mom of one of our serious epee fencers. This experienced epeeist had gone to a fencing competition where he’d won all of his bouts against A and B rated rivals, but oddly lost two bouts against relatively “beginners”. How could this happen? The mom thought that it came down to nerves, however there’s much more to it than that.
Fencing season is starting again! That means it’s time to make goals and figure out how you want your fencing season to go. Every year we see tweaks to the rules, not to mention the need to review the qualifying paths for Fencing Summer Nationals as fencers progress through the age divisions. 
For the uninitiated, the world of USA fencing tournaments can seem complex and honestly confusing. Just as with anything however, once you get the basics down it all seems simple!
