FENCING
OCTOBER 6, 2021
All About Origin Of Fencing
The origin of fencing began from a military training to a sport around 14th or 15th century. The roots traces the development of swordsmanship for duels and self defense. It is believed to have originated in Spain, with some important books on fencing were written by Spanish fencers.
Germany and Italy also claim the origins of this sport, as the German fencing masters already organised the first guilds in the 15th century.
The word fencing derives from the Latin word “defensa” meaning “protection” and in the Old French it transformed into “defens” which is also means to protect. The official language of fencing is French by default.
According to Fencing Academy of Boston website, the object of fencing is to score a point or touch by hitting your opponent’s target with your weapon before they get the scoring touch on you.
The basic conventions were first collected and set down in 1880’s by the French fencing master Camille Prevost. It was followed by many fencing associations appearing in all parts of the world such as the Amateur Fencers League of America (1891), Amateur Fencing Association of Great Britain (1902) and Fédération Nationale des Sociétés d’Escrime et Salles d’Armes de France in 1906.
Today there are three disciplines in modern fencing : the foil, the epee and the sabre. Each of them uses a different kind of weapon and has different rules. A fourth discipline, singlestick, was played in the 1904 Olympics but was dropped after that. It is an indoor sport with singles or team relay members and semi-contact interaction between the players.
Fencing was one of the first sports to be played in the modern Olympics Games in 1896 and has been featured in the Olympic Games ever since. The other sports are athletics, cycling, swimming and gymnastics and since 1960 fencing is a part of Summer Paralympic game.
The international governing body of fencing is the FIE (Federation Internationale d’Escrime) with the head office in Lausanne, Switzerland. The FIE is composed of 157 national federations which is recognized by its state Olympic Committee as the representative of the country.
A Hungarian fencer, Aladar Gerevich is considered as the best fencer in the modern day Olympics history. He won a total of 10 medals in Olympic Games : 7 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals.
In popular culture, one of the film related to fencing is the 2015 film, The Fencer – a loosely based on the life of Endel Nelis, an Estonian fencer and coach, directed by Klaus Haro.
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