So what is fencing?
In the broadest possible sense, fencing is the art of armed combat involving cutting, stabbing, or bludgeoning weapons directly manipulated by hand, rather than shot, thrown or positioned. Examples include swords, knives, pikes, bayonets, batons, clubs, and similar weapons. In contemporary common usage, “fencing” tends to refer specifically to European schools of swordsmanship and to the modern Olympic sport that has evolved out of them.
Fencing is one of the four sports which has been featured at every modern Olympic Games. Currently, three types of weapon are used in Olympic fencing:
- Foil — a light thrusting weapon; the valid target is restricted to the torso.
- Épée — a heavy thrusting weapon; the valid target area covers the entire body.
- Sabre — a light cutting and thrusting weapon; the valid target area includes almost everything above the waist (excluding the back of the head and the hands).
Etymology: The word ””fence”” was originally a shortening of the Middle English ””defens””, that came from an Italian word, ””defensio””, in origin a Latin word. The first known use of defens in reference to English swordsmanship is in William Shakespeare””s Merry Wives of Windsor: ””Alas sir, I cannot fence.””
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Chapters:
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1. A brief history of fencing.
2. Knowing your weapon.
3. Fencing rules.
4. Some fencing basics
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1. A brief history of fencing.
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A History of Fencing
The history of fencing parallels the evolution of civilization, back from the days of ancient Egypt and Rome, to the barbaric Dark Ages, to the fast and elegant Rennassiance, up to the modern, increasingly popular fencing of today. Fencing has always been regarded as more than a sport; it is an art form, an ancient symbol of power and glory, and a deeply personal, individual form of expression. Fencing is and always has been an intrinsic part of life, from the dueling and battle of yore to the widely captivating movies and facets of popular culture such as Zorro and The Princess Bride.
The earliest evidence of fencing as a sport comes from a carving in Egypt, dating back to about 1200 B.C., which shows a sport fencing bout with masks, protective weapon tips, and judges.
The Greek and Roman civilizations favored short swords and light spears, and taught their warriors in schools called ludi. The collapse of the Roman civilization at around 476 A.D., however, brought the crude, heavy weapons of the barbarian invaders and signalled a regression of fencing through the dark ages. It was not until the beginnings of the Renassiance in the 14th centurty that light, fast weapons such as the rapier came back into use, primarily because gunpowder rendered heavy armor obsolete.
The fifteenth century brought the beginnings of modern fencing. Spain had the first true fencers, and the first two fencing manuals were published there in 1471 and 1474, but swordplay guilds such as the Marxbruder from Germany began springing up all across Europe. About 1500 the Italians began extensive use of the Rapier. The right hand held te weapon while the left hand held a dagger (often called a Main Gauche) or buckler (a small shield), used for parrying blows. Italian fencing masters, such as Agrippa, who invented the four fencing positions (prime, seconde, tierce, and quarte), and masters Grassi and Vigiani, who invented the lunge, became very prolific in this time. The 16th century also brought a large increase in the popularity of dueling. More noblemen at during this period were killed in dueling than in war.
The Queen Catherine de Médicis of France had many Italian fencing masters come to France and develop fencing there. She was so successful that in 1567, her son, King Charles IX, officially recognized the French Fencing Academy, and awarded many hereditary titles to the new French fencing masters. These new masters were the first to classify and define fencing attacks and parries. In 1573 Henry de St. Didier was the first french fencing master to publish a treatise, and one of the first to advocate heavy use of the Épeé instead of the Rapier.
During the 17th century several major changes occured in fencing. The “fleuret”, or foil, was devoloped in France as a lighter training weapon for dueling. Right-of-way, a set of rules which made the game a series of alternating attacks and defense, became generally accepted. With right-of-way, duelists were unlikely to impale each other, as they did not both attack at the same time. This made fencing safer and reduced the number of casualties to dueling.
In the 18th century the heavier weapon called the Épeé became the popular weapon for dueling. The sabre, a weapon descended from the Oriental scimitar, becaume the national weapon of Hungary, and while the Italians helped develop the sport immensely, the Hungarians stayed the true masters of the sabre.
1780 brought an extremely important development to fencing. The French fencing master La Boessiere invented the fencing mask, allowing a much safer bout. This sparked a lot of development in non-fatal technique and strategy.
Fencing first came to America in the 1860’s-1870’s via immigrant French and Italian fencing masters, and the first American fencing school was founded in 1874. By this time fencing less resembled its violent roots and was now considered a non-harmful sport. Dueling never completely died out until after the end of World War I, but the majority of fencers were not warriors.
Men’s Sabre and foil competitions were present in the first modern olympic games in 1896, and Men’s Épeé joined in 1900. Women’s foil joined the Olympics in 1924, but it was not until 1996 that Women’s Épeé joined.
At the beginning of the 20th century French, Italians, and Hungarians were the masters of the sport, and thus it is not suprise that the International Fencing Federation (FIE) was founded in France. The French, Italians and Hungarians maintained their grip on the sport until the 1950’s, when eastern European countries such as the Soviet Union and Romania came to the fore. Their style emphasized speed and mobility, relying on touches that before would have gone undetected, but now were seen with the recently invented electric scoring machines.
Today cultural intermingling and competition has eliminated the national fencing styles; there are no longer French or Hungarian fencing techniques. Instead, the sport has become more reliant on individual technique. Fencing history is still being made today.
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A Timeline of Fencing History
1200 B.C. Evidence of Egyptian fencing bouts in a temple near Luxor, Egypt.
476 A.D. The fall of Rome, bringing heavier and cruder weapons than the short swords and light spears formerly used.
1450 A.D. European fencing guilds, such as the Marxbruder in Germany, begin appearing.
1471 A.D. The first known fencing manual is published by the Spaniard Sierge de Valera. The first real fencing techniques are developed in Spain around this time.
1500 A.D. The Italians begin extensive use of the Rapier, developing fencing technique and popularizing the weapon for dueling.
1553 A.D. The fencing master Agrippa defines the four fencing positions – prime, seconde, tierce, and quatre.
1567 A.D. The French Fencing Academy is officially recognized by King Charles IX.
1573 A.D. The French fencing master Henry de St. Didier publishes the first French fencing treatise, advocating the use of an Epeé without a dagger and beginning classification of many attacks and parries.
1575 A.D. The Italian masters Vigiani and Grassi describe the lunge.
1650 A.D. Rapiers decline in use and the “fleuret”, called a “foil” in English, becomes the training weapon of choice. The right-of-way conventions are invented, making fencing much safer.
1700””s A.D. The Epeé becomes the dueling weapon of choice across Europe, and the Sabre becomes the national weapon of Hungary.
1780 A.D. The French fencing master La Boessiere invents the fencing mask.
1850””s A.D. Italian fencing masters refine Sabre fencing into a non-fatal sport. The Hungarians later develop a superior new school of sabre fencing and dominate the sport until the mid 20th century.
1874 A.D. The first American fencing school is founded by immigrant French and Italian fencing masters.
1896 A.D. Men’s Foil and Sabre are present in the first modern Olympic Games. Men’s Epeé is introduced in 1900.
1913 A.D. FIE (The International Fencing Federation) is founded.
1918 A.D. With the end of World War I, Dueling declines in popularity. The sport of Fencing, however, continues to grow.
1924 A.D. Women’s Foil becomes an Olympic sport.
1936 A.D. Electric Epeé is introduced. Electric Foil and Sabre follow in later years.
1950””s A.D. Eastern European countries, such as the Soviet Union, Romania, and Poland, become rising fencing powers, breaking the French and Italian dominance of the sport. The Eastern European style relies more on speed and mobility.
1996 A.D. Women’s Epeé becomes an Olympic sport.
1998 A.D. Advance Lunge comes on-line.
Content courtesy of the Oracle Education Foundation: http://library.thinkquest.org
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2. Knowing your weapon.
The foil
The foil is based on the French court sword which came into existence late in the 17th century. The court sword was extremely light and fast and soon became the standard fencing weapon. The foil is the blunted practice version. Because the risk of eye injury was so great, rules were introduced so that hits were restricted to the right breast, and the attack/parry right-of-way convention became commonplace. These increasingly stylised conventions remained even after the introduction of the mask in 1750.
Today, the foil is perhaps the predominant weapon in sport fencing. It is the first weapon most new fencers learn to handle. The rules of priority, based upon the right-of-way, continue to govern the use of the foil and make it arguably the most complex weapon of the three.
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The épée
The épée was developed in the mid-19th century for use as a dueling weapon. The foil was considered too light and the rapier too heavy and slow to be effective when fighting for one””s life.
Modern épée retains the entire body as a target and doesn””t have any right-of-way conventions. Many more attacks are possible than in foil – one might attack the arm, the wrist, the head, the leg and the foot of an opponent – and finer motions are possible, as there is no need clearly to establish a right-of-way in the eyes of the referee. Thus épée might be considered a more nuanced weapon than foil or sabre.
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The sabre
The fencing sabre was introduced by the Italians during the late 19th century. It was based on the heavier curved swords used by earlier cavalry, and soon became a fencing and duelling weapon. Due to its weight and speed formalised fencing with this weapon soon developed rules and conventions similar to foil, the big difference being that the sabre has an edge as well as a point.
The sabre is a very light and fast weapon, and the combination of this with the right-of-way rules and the availability of an opponent””s forearm as target area makes sabre a challenging weapon to succeed in. Whether for this reason or some other, sabre tends to be the more obscure weapon in modern fencing. Nevertheless, sabre fencing retains a faithful following and can be a satisfying skill to learn.
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3. Fencing Rules.
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The FIE Rules of Fencing
International fencing, and domestic fencing in Australia is governed by the rules of fencing of the Federation Internationale d””Escrime (FIE).
The British Fencing site hosts a copy of the translated French rule set. Here is a link to the copy.
PART I. GENERAL RULES AND RULES COMMON TO THE THREE WEAPONS
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An Expert Village Video Series:
Foil fencing is a complex fencing sport that utilizes the properties of a foil blade; learn the rules of foil fencing, including terms, fouls, the piste, and more in this free video fencing lesson.
Expert Village Video of basic fencing rules and etiquette
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4. Some fencing basics.
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The Target area (foil)
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An Expert Village Video Series:
Click the following link to learn all about fencing including footwork, stance, how to parry, riposte, attack, and score, in this free swordplay video series.
