National Open & Veteran Fencing Championships 2026

Fencing Mid South and Fencing New Zealand invite you to attend the 2026 National Open & Veteran Championships to be held at Nga Puna Wai Stadium, in Christchurch from 24th to 26th October 2026

Eligibility: To fence in the open competition, fencers must be 13 years or older on 1 January 2026.

To fence in the veteran competition, fencers must be 40+ years old on 31st December 2026. (See minimum age policy of Fencing NZ attached). If you are not sure whether the competition is appropriate for you/ your child please check with your coach.

Participants must be affiliated members of Fencing New Zealand who have paid their membership fee for the 2026 fencing year or if you are an international fencer of your country. 

If you are not yet a member you can click on the link below to join Fencing New Zealand or copy and paste into your browser

https://www.sporty.co.nz/viewform/486859

Affiliations of all competitors will be checked at time of entry.

Competition Format

For Open Championships: One round of poules (bouts to five hits) followed by direct elimination (bouts to 15 hits).

All weapons will be fenced as separate gender. 

Teams: regions can enter two team each only.

For Veteran Championships: One round of poules (bouts to five hits) followed by direct elimination (bouts to 10 hits).

All weapons will be fenced as separate genders unless a minimum of four participants in each gender is not achieved, in which case a mixed event will be fenced.

Medals: Gold, Silver and 2 Bronze medals will be awarded in each event

Trophies: The National Open trophies will be awarded.

Registrations: Registration Closes on Friday 16th October at 8pm. Late entry closes on Wednesday 21st October at 8pm. After this date entry will be at the discretion of the head DT and head referee.  

Teams registration will close on Monday 19th October at 11pm. Teams are to be entered by the region.

Entry Fees:  

Individual Event : $100 per weapon for Open Event. $50 per weapon for Veteran Event

Teams Event: $100 per team

Late entries close on Wednesday 21st October and will attract an additional fee of $50. Entries received after this date (21st October) are at discretion of the Head DT.

Multiple Discipline Entry: If you are entered in multiple disciplines and the next discipline is scheduled to begin while you are still competing, you will be scratched from the then starting discipline and expected to continue competing in the ongoing discipline. No refunds will be provided. 

Equipment Standards: 

Clothing: All clothing must be in a good state of repair. 

Minimum of 1150N protection for Torso. This can be made up either by 350N Jacket with an 800N plastron or 800N Jacket with a 350N plastron.  

350N Breeches- Fencers are reminded that their jacket must have a 10cm overlap of the breeches in the guard and lunge positions.

350N Mask- All masks must have the new strapping system and have good quality elastic. Leon Paul Contour-Fit masks must have a secondary strap  security fitting at the back. Visor masks are not acceptable. 

Gloves- Must be in good condition and have no hole for body wires. 

Chest Protectors for Women are compulsory.

Weapon Specific: 

Foil: Lame Bibs (Curly mask wires are not permitted) and FIE blades required, Bayonet and 2 pin body wires accepted. FIE no.3  size blades are acceptable. 

Epee: FIE blades required. Leon Paul SR-71 epee blades dated 08-2012 to 06-2015, and Leon Paul V epee blades 08-2012 to 06-2015 without a unique serial numbers will not be accepted. (currently baned in New Zealand)

Sabre: FIE blades S2000 or later blades required. Curly mask wires are not permitted. 800N gloves are required. 

Weapons Check:

Friday 23rd October

Venue: Nga Puna Wai Stadium, Augustine Drive, Christchurch 8025

6:30pm to 8pm All weapons

Weapons Check will be open one hour before the registration time of each event.  Priority will be given to out-of-town fencers at this time. Christchurch based fencers are encouraged to have had their weapons checked on Friday night.

Control marks: It is the fencer’s responsibility to ensure that all equipment that goes through weapons control has control marks. It is the fencer’s responsibility to ensure control marks are still present every time they go to the piste.

Timetable:

Preliminary Timetable
Saturday
Event	Registration Opens	Registration Closes	Event Start Time
Men's Foil	8:00am	8:30am	9:00am
Women's Epee	9:00am*	9:30am*	10:00am/11:00am*
Veteran's Foil	11:30am*	12:00pm*	12:30pm*
Men’s Foil Teams	1:00pm*	1:30pm*	2:00pm*
Women’s Epee Teams	2:00pm*	2:30pm*	3:00pm*
Sunday
Event	Registration Opens	Registration Closes	Event Start Time
Men's Epee	7:30am	8:00am	8:30am
Women's Foil	8:30am*	9:00am*	9:30am/10:30am*
Veteran Sabre	11.30am*	12:00pm*	12.30pm*
Men’s Epee Teams	1:00pm*	1:30pm*	2:00pm*
Women’s Foil Teams	1:30pm*	2:00pm*	2:30pm*
Monday
Event	Registration Opens	Registration Closes	Event Start Time
Veteran Epee	8:00am	8:30am	9:00am
Men's Sabre	8:45am*	9:00am*	9:30am/10:30am*
Women's Sabre	8:45am*	9:00am*	9.30am/10.30am*
Men's Sabre Teams	11:30am*	12:00pm*	12:30pm*
Women's Sabre Teams	11:30am*	12:00pm*	12:30pm*
*start time will be confirmed once entries are received

Video Refereeing: Video Refereeing will be used for the final bout of all events. In all cases it will be used at the discretion of Head DT & Head Referee. 

Rule Change:  FIE rule t.124, Non-Combativity will be implemented at this competition. 

Drug Free:  By participating in this event, you agree that you have been warned of the potential of being selected for anti-doping testing and you will comply with anti-doping testing if required. The testing process and your rights and responsibilities as an athlete are outlined in the Drug Free Sport NZ website here: https://drugfreesport.org.nz/for-athletes/introduction-to-anti-doping/the-anti-doping-rules/ 

Results: Live results will be available on the Fencing Time Live website. 

Podium Protocol: All fencers must wear either regional, club or FeNZ tracksuit jacket, breeches or tracksuit pants, fencing socks and shoes while on podium.  No hats, sunglasses or other similar attire are to be worn on the podium during the presentation.

Food: There is a cafe on site that we hope will be operational during the event. If this is not the case we will advise closer to the date of the competition.

There is a vending machine in the venue foyer (card payment only). 

We recommend that you bring food with you to supplement the in-house canteen offerings. 

Accommodation: 

There are a range of motels, hotels and backpackers in Christchurch. Lincoln Road and Riccarton Road motels will be the closest to the venue.  

Mainland Fencing Equipment: will be in attendance at this event with their stand. If you would like to order gear in advance for them to bring for you, please let Daniel know by contacting them via the following email.  mainlandfencing@yahoo.co.nz

Photography and Publication

Photography is permitted at all Fencing MidSouth competitions, as the competition venue is a public place. However, photography is strictly prohibited in non-public areas such as changing rooms and toilets. Participants are advised to refrain from changing in public spaces, as doing so forfeits their right to privacy. Fencing MidSouth reserves the right to publish photos taken at the competition on social media, the internet, and printed media, including images of spectators and officials.

For more information refer to : NZ Privacy Act

● The change to rule t.122 will apply. Fencers do not have to shake hands of their opponent or the referee on the piste but can salute instead.

For any enquiries: Please email the organisers on registrations@fencingmidsouth.org.nz