[A] fencing match is played on a thin strip with three bits of gear: a weapon, a set of protective clothing, and an electronic scoring apparatus.
The weapon is the interesting part of the game and is the means by which attacks are delivered and warded. In modern olympic fencing (the style practiced at RDFC), only three weapons are allowed: the foil, the epee, and the sabre, each with its own set of rules and techniques.
[G]iven that the weapon is made of metal and that getting hit on the bare arms or poked in the eye would generally hurt a lot, modern fencers are required to wear specific bits of protective gear. For the torso, a fencing jacket with either a front zipper (opening away from the direction of an attack) or a back zipper protects the arms, chest and back. The legs are generally covered with a set of warm up pants or jogging pants (no jeans, khakis, shorts or mini-skirts allowed) although in competition a specific style of pant (called breeches) is required. To protect the fingers and hands (which are often painfully hit) a specific fencing glove is required. To protect the vunerable face, a special mask with specific puncture resistence (tested regularly) is an absolute necessity.
[F]inally, judging whether a blow was landed with “sufficient force” is an extremely difficult and contentious art. Therefor, it is usually required that a fencer hook up to a machine by way of a flexible wire that judges whether their hit was valid or not and whether or not two hits landed close enough together to be considered simultaneous hits.