Do men and women fence against each other, or are fencing events always split by gender?

Both happen, depending on the level. At club practice men and women fence each other all the time, and many local tournaments are run as mixed (co-ed) events open to everyone. Once an event counts toward national qualification or international results, it is split into separate men's and women's events. So a beginner's first local tournament may well be mixed, while a national championship never is.

In USA Fencing's rules, mixed competitions are allowed locally but not at events used to qualify for the national championships. Division qualifiers, Regional Open Circuit events, regional junior and cadet events, North American Cups and the national championships themselves all run men's and women's events separately. Regional youth events may combine genders when a category has only a few fencers in it, but they never mix age groups. A rating earned at a mixed event counts exactly the same as one earned at a single-gender event, and it is worked out from the ratings of everyone in the field regardless of gender.

Internationally, the World Cups, zonal championships, World Championships and the Olympic Games all hold separate men's and women's events in each weapon, individual and team. College fencing in the US works the same way for individual events. College teams usually train together as one squad, and for many years the NCAA crowned a single team champion from combined men's and women's results; since 2026 it awards separate men's and women's team titles.

When you look at a tournament listing, the event name tells you which kind it is: a mixed event is open to all, while a men's or women's event is limited to that category. In a mixed pool you are seeded by rating like anyone else. Day to day at the club, coaches pair people by level and experience, and fencing across genders is an ordinary part of training.