““As Bill Bryson wrote during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney: ‘A lot of people don’t like fencing because they don’t understand the rules and terminology, but in fact it’s quite simple. There are basically four thrusts, known as the cartilage, the chaise lounge, the aubergine, and the fromage anglais, and these in turn can be parried by four defensive feints – the pastiche, the penchant, the demi-tass...e, and the saumon en croute. Scoring is one point for a petit pois and two for a baguette. Points can equally be deducted for a foot fault or pied a terre, or for a type of illegal lunge known as a zut alors.””
