The USFA website has a list of rules effective August 1, 2001, including
the much-discussed "passivity" rule and new rules about 1 foot off the
strip. I was told these rules are not being enforced at the national
level.

What's up with that? I've pasted (most of) these rules below for
reference.

--Harold Buck


New Rules, effective August 1, 2002

1. The regulation time for each bout in both pools and team matches is
three minutes.

2. An immediate warning (1st group) will be given against the competitor
whose blade is bent more than the rules allow (1 cm for épée, 2 cm for
foil, 4 cm for saber) at the moment the fencer indicates that she or he
is ready to fence.

3. Falling is no longer an offense and consequently is no longer
penalized. (It is understood that an offensive action that is launched
in such a way that the fencer is not in control, and thereby falls, is
disorderly fencing and does require a warning and the annulling of any
touch scored.)

4. In pools and during the first and second periods of a direct
elimination bout, if the fencers show themselves obviously unwilling to
fight, the referee will call "Halt!" and warn the fencers; should they
continue to be unwilling to fight, the referee will call "Halt!" In a
direct elimination bout, the fencers will go straight into the next
period of fencing, without the minute break and without the possibility
of consulting with their coaches. Should they be unwilling to fight
during the third period of fencing in a direct elimination bout or in a
pool bout, the referee will call "Halt!" and the fencers will start a
final minute of fencing preceded by drawing lots to decide the winner
should the score be equal at the end of the minute.

5. During team events, if adequate space is available, the organizer
shall reserve a zone for the team members. Only the team captain and one
additional person (coach, medical, et cetera) have the right to stay
with the team fencers inside this zone. The team zone must be well
delimited, with a line on the floor or some other system. If possible,
it should be sufficiently sized to seat six people and be located at
each end of, and separate from, the strip zone. During team matches, the
members of the team must remain within the zone reserved for their team.

6. During team events, no member of either team may enter inside the
limits of the strip zone without the permission of the referee. Should
such an offense occur, the referee will apply the penalty provided for
by articles t.114, t.116, and t.120 against the team at fault. The
warning will be awarded against the team, and will be valid for all the
bouts of the match. Each time any fencer commits another offense of the
1st group, in the same match, the referee is to penalize the fencer at
fault with a red card.

7. Direct elimination bouts are for 15 touches, or end when three
periods of three minutes, with a one-minute period of rest between each
period, have passed. In saber only, the first period will end either
when the three minutes have passed or when the score of one of the
fencers has reached eight.

8. Crossing a lateral boundary without having passed one's opponent with
one foot or both feet results in the command "Halt!" and the opponent
advances one meter from where she or he was at the "Halt!"

9. A touch scored by the fencer who has crossed the lateral boundary of
the strip with one foot remains valid, if the action was launched before
the "Halt!"

10. If one of the fencers is off the strip with both feet, that fencer
may not score. Only a hit made by the fencer who remains on the strip
with at least one foot is counted, even in the case of a double touch,
if the action by the fencer who is on the strip was started before the
"Halt!"