Piste (fencing)
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In modern fencing, the piste or strip is the playing area. Regulations require the piste to be 14 metres long and 1.5 metres wide.[1][2] The last two metres on each end are hash-marked to warn a fencer before they back off the end of the strip, after which is a 1.5 to 2 metre runoff. The piste is also marked at the centre and at the "en garde" lines, located two metres either side of the center line.
Stepping off the end of the strip with both feet results in a touch being awarded to the opponent. Leaving the side of the strip with one or both feet stops the action and is penalized by allowing the opponent to advance one metre before the bout resumes. If this penalty would place the offending fencer beyond the rear limit of the strip, a touch is awarded instead. A fencer may never be repositioned behind the rear line when play is halted for reasons other than stepping off the side of the piste.
After each touch, fencers return to the en garde lines, positioned 4 metres apart, or approximately at a distance where their extended blades nearly meet. If no touch is scored but the action is halted, they resume from the point where play was stopped.
Most pistes used in competition are grounded to the scoring apparatus, ensuring that any contact with the strip itself does not register as a valid hit. This prevents accidental touches to the piste from being recorded as off-target hits and unnecessarily stopping the bout.
