How do they figure out the score in fencing?

Ok

First, the all the fencing gear is electronic, so a light goes off if a person is scored upon, or if they score a point on the other fencer.

Second:

In sabre and foil there is also a priority, or "right of way" that determines who gets the touch (the point). These rules state things like; if you are attacked then you must defend the attack (parry) and then you may start your own attack (riposte).

The director (referee) will say what the call was and also give hand motions. If you watch him/her you can usually tell who they are giving the point to, even if you don't understand or don't hear them. They usually raise their hand up on the side of the person who is receiving the point.

--In epee, there is no "right of way" it is whoever gets the touch, and if both fencers touch, then they both get a point.

*Also, there are different target areas.

**In foil, it is the torso area with no arms or head

***In sabre it is everything from the waist, up

****And in eppe, it is the whole body

--I hope this is the information you needed--

Scoring

Prior to the introduction of electronic scoring equipment, a referee (formerly called the president of jury) was assisted by four judges. Two judges were positioned behind each fencer, one on each side of the strip. The judges watched the fencer opposite to see if he was hit. This system is sometimes called "dry" fencing (USA) or "steam" (United Kingdom, Australia) fencing.

Electronic scoring is used in all major national and international, and most local, competitions. At Olympic level, it was first introduced to épée in 1936, to foil in 1956, and to sabre in 1988. The central unit of the scoring system is commonly known as "the box." In the simplest version both fencers' weapons are connected to the box via long retractable cables. The box normally carries a set of lights to signal when a touch has been made. (Larger peripheral lights are also often used.) In foil and sabre, because of the need to distinguish on-target hits from off-target ones, special conductive clothing and wires must be worn. This includes a lamé (a jacket with metal threads woven in), a body cord to connect the weapon to the system, a reel of retractable cable that connects to the scoring box and, in the case of sabre, a conducting mask and cuff (manchette) as the head and arms are valid target areas.

If you were confused over the team competition, it's simpler than TV made it look. The first two fencers fence until someone gets to five. The second two fence until someone gets to ten (therefore, the trailing team's fencer could score more than 5 to catch up the other team and get to 10 first). Three fencers bout against three fencers, which makes nine bouts to a total score of 45. (TV also showed you what each individual fencer scored, which adds confusion.)

The announcers at the olympics aren't much help. They are more concerned with keeping the game entertaining than with explaining what is going on. This is why they were afraid to say 'parry' without following it with 'or block', and why they didn't explain right of way. They also misidentified parry ripostes as counterattacks and did a few other things that are confusing if you are really trying to watch the action.

In the two right-of-way weapons (foil and saber), if both fencers hit before the machine times them out, then right of way works according to this priority:

1) If someone establishes a line before they are attacked they have the highest priority--to have line they have their arm fully extended with the point in front of target before the attack against them begins. This is fairly rare. Zagunis used it once in the bouts I saw in the Olympics, I didn't see anyone else attempt it. If your opponent establishes a line, you must beat or parry their weapon before you hit.

2) The attack has priority. Whoever begins extending their arm first has the attack. If one person attacks, and the other person reacts with an attack of their own, the second person's attack is a counterattack and does not have priority. Also, a fencer that pulls their arm back (unextends it slightly) gives up right of way. The only way a counterattack can score is when the (other person's) attack misses completely.

3) When you are attacked, you can gain priority by getting a parry and following it with an immediate riposte. You get a parry by hitting the attacking blade with the strong part (closest to the hand) of your blade. Immediately after getting the parry, you must answer with a threat of your own or you can lose the right of way you just fought to gain.

4) When an opponent parrys and ripostes, you must get a parry-riposte of your own--simply re-pointing your original attack is called a remise, and like the counterattack, only counts when you make your opponent miss.

In short (and ignoring line), priority goes to whoever had the last parry--if no one had a parry, it goes to whoever attacked first. Also note that priority only matters when both fencers hit--if feel you can you make your opponent miss, you may make the risky decision to ignore right of way and attack without priority.

In foil, epee, and sabre, if you hit off target then nobody gets a point.

In Foil:

You have to have right of way for it to be your touch (point). you have to do one of a couple of things. if you start attacking first then you gain right of way, unless you stop your attack, or the other person parrys your blade (knocks it out of the way). also if you parry your opponents blade then you get right of way. the target area is the torso. the legs, arms, head, and feet are not valid target.

In Epee:

there is no such thing as right of way. if both you and your opponent hit each other and both attacks are valid then you both get a point. the target area is the whole body. that include the arms, legs, feet, torso, and head.

In Sabre:

the scoring in Sabre is much like the scoring in foil. the difference is that in Sabre you can hit with the side of the blade, whereas in Epee and Foil you can only hit with the point. the target area is the waist and up. that includes the arms, hands, torso, and head. the legs and feet are not target area

if you have anymore questions e-mail me.

theres like a sensor in the suit and when he top of the sword hits the other persons suit, the light blinks. at the end the person who hits the other person the most wins. now all wonder is if it hurts! lol

When its over, if you are dead, you didn't win.