Personally, I would do away with rest breaks altogether, especially during the DE bouts. Okay, maybe two minutes between DE bouts if you really need to get some water.
My fencing philosophy = quantity over quality. Eliminate the rest periods! Fence all three weapons! 15 touches for Vet DE's!
Over 31 bouts the longest bout ran 2:23.
Average time just over 1 minute.
For the rounds of 8 and 4 (6 bouts) the longest bout is
55 seconds,
but then
The final bout takes 1:17.
Male/Female time difference is not significant for Foil and Epee, or even Saber overall.
So are the fencers more risk averse when more is at stake, or are the refs more cautious and tending to call more simultaneous touches?
Re the 10 min breaks: I always thought that was to ensure fairness, so that you wouldn't come straight from one hard-fought bout, and immediately have to face an opponent who had been standing around for half an hour happily munching trail mix and gatorade, fresh as a little daisy.
If they do get rid of the breaks, it will just make the sport more skewed to younger and fitter competitors...but I suppose they are more telegenic anyway. (What do you think - does that rate as a six claw comment on the cattiness scale?)
Personally, I think if you eliminate the breaks, you'll just end up with more shoelaces coming undone, more hair that inexplicably needs fixing every two minutes, etc etc. I always love it when my opponents do that. Usually they're half my age and don't seem to realize that all they're really doing is throwing away a chance to take advantage of the fact that I tire slightly faster than they do, and take slightly longer to recover. What I would like to see is for the competitors to be allowed to voluntarily dispose of the breaks when they feel no need for one. That way the competitions can run faster. We do that sometimes during local competitions, but we're not allowed to with bigger ones. Don't see why not. If the fencers can give up the last few seconds of a period by retreating to behind the on guard lines and both making PIL at each other, I don't see why they can't ask the ref to move directly to the next period.
I'd say that 10 minutes between DE bouts is about the minimum you need for certain other necessities of life - which are not necessarily related to fitness.
Some venues, there is at least a 2-3 minute walk from some pistes to the (potentially inadequate) toilet facilities, potentially more if you have to wait to cross the pistes separating you from the facilities. Then, if you're female, there is a high risk of there being a queue, particularly if the venue is a boys' school or on a military base. In other venues, you will spend extra time ensuring that your kit doesn't at any point touch the floor and wiping your shoes after you leave. Also, trying to be delicate about things - there are times you will NEED to detour to your bag en route so that you can check that you don't want to buy new breeches so you are not embarassing yourself, and to take appropriate action to ensure that this doesn't happen...
A decent break between bouts also means that you have time to talk to your coach about tactics for your next opponent, weight check your weapons - get stuff repaired and grab a bite or so to eat.
As a referee I also like the fact that there will be a break before the last fight in a tableau (in GB we are often given a section of the tableau and told to bring back 1 name) as I can finally get a drink/snack/loo break.
I guess I figure the period between pools and DE allow for me to eat/care for necessities/repair things. I realize it would put more focus on endurance to eliminate breaks, but that has not been a problelm for me yet. It's mostly just a joke from me and I do not expect anyone to seriously consider removing the breaks. I am all for making them voluntary, however.
I have not had to deal with the kind of facilities you mention, randomsabreur, so I guess I am lucky there.
I have no coach, so I have no need of time for that. I also wonder about the fencers I run into that cannot figure things out on their own without a coach. I am not fencing at an "elite" level, and do not mean this as an insult to anyone. I suppose if I had a coach, my perspective would be different.
I do appreaciate the referees needing a break. It's a tough job that I am happy to avoid.
I guess it's just my nature that I want to keep going, for victory or defeat, while I am still fired up and in the moment.
My fencing philosophy = quantity over quality. Eliminate the rest periods! Fence all three weapons! 15 touches for Vet DE's!
Whether or not my coach is there, I quite like time before I fight to identify who my opponent is, and think for myself what they do and how to deal with it - in this situation I am my own coach - but I still need to think it through, analyse what I can improve on from the previous fight, and what I did well. I get the opportunity to do this throughout the competition [other fights in section of tableau], why not as it gets tougher.
Obviously ideally all repair/necessities would be dealt with between poules and DE - assuming that the need for repair had arisen at that point... More fights, more wear and tear, so your kit is more likely to need tweaking (having been set up perfectly at the beginning of the day) later in the day.
Also, if you don't need to go between DEs, you're probably not hydrating sufficiently.
As for delaying the competition - unless a tableau is handed to the referee, with the instruction "come back with 1 name" there will never be a 10 minute break when fencing is delayed by a given fencer's 10 minutes. Even at sabre, an entire DE bout takes long enough (when you include clipping on, testing, minute break etc) to be acceptable to all parties so the only point at which there will be a break is the last match on the tableau. If you're bringing in results after each round, the 10 minute break will be there for competition admin reasons - printing, referee assignments etc. The only obvious delay is the time between the 2nd semi and the final in a single weapon event.
As a referee I also like the fact that there will be a break before the last fight in a tableau (in GB we are often given a section of the tableau and told to bring back 1 name) as I can finally get a drink/snack/loo break.
Of course, if you use more than one referee you can minimize this issue...
Originally Posted by the ancient one 
