Fencing
Though the Greeks and Romans had systems of martial arts and military training that included swordsmanship, and fencing-schools and professional champions were known throughout medieval Europe, the earliest surviving record of Western techniques of fencing is the manuscript known as MS I.33, which was created in southern Germany c. 1300 and today resides at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. Throughout the Middle Ages, masters continued to teach systems for using the sword (together with other weapons and grappling) to noble and non-noble alike. The wearing of the sword with civilian dress (a custom that had begun in late fifteenth-century Spain) gradually gave rise to a new system of civilian swordsmanship based more on the thrust than on the cut, with the aim being to keep the adversary at a distance with the point, and slay him there. This gave rise to systems of using the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century rapier and the seventeenth-and-eighteenth century smallsword. Though swords ceased to be an article of everyday dress after the French Revolution, they continued to be used in warfare and to resolve disputes of honor in formal duels through the nineteenth century and into the twentieth.
Though agonistic competition in fencing is as old as the art itself, the modern sport of fencing originated in the first Olympic games in 1896. The first few years of fencing as a sport were chaotic, with important rule disagreements among schools of fencing from different countries, notably the French and Italian schools. This state of affairs ended in 1913, with the foundation of the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) in Paris. The stated purpose of the FIE is to codify and regulate the practice of the sport of fencing, particularly for the purpose of international competition. The foundation of the FIE is a convenient breaking point between the classical and the modern traditions of fencing.
As a sport, the emphasis of the modern sporting tradition is on training athletes to win at competitions with often arbitrarily defined rules, as opposed to the older, "classical" tradition of fencing, seeking to preserve training with the sword as a means of self-defense and for the formal duel.
The effects of this split, however, have manifested only slowly since initially all training was done by fencing masters of the classical tradition. After over one hundred years of practice, though, the differences may be considerable.
In both its modern and its classical guise, fencing consists of three different weapons: foil, épée and saber. These three weapons had become standard by the late nineteenth century. All but Women's Saber (which will make its debut at the 2004 Olympic Games) are represented at Olympic-level competition. Additionally, in classical academies, one will often find historical fencing weapons, such as grand canne and rapier and dagger, being taught.
Foil used to be the first weapon taught to beginners, because the techniques of foil teach, in abstract form, the fundamentals of fencing. Additionally, in the past, women were only allowed to fence foil, and the lightness of the weapon made it easier to handle by children. Today, while it is advisable to gain at least a fundamental grasp of foil, fencers often begin with any of the three weapons.
The modern foil is descended from the training weapon for the small-sword, the common sidearm of the eighteenth-century gentleman. However, it has long since been altered to be similar length to the epee. (Rapier and even longsword foils are also known to have been used but they were very different in terms of weight and use.) It is a light weapon, with a flexible, quadrangular blade, that scores only with the point. (In modern sport fencing, which makes use of electrical scoring apparatus, one must hit the opponent with the tip of the blade, with a force of at least 4.90 Newtons (500 grams).)
The valid target area at foil is limited, due to it having evolved from the time when fencing was practiced with limited safety equipment. Hits to the face were dangerous, so the head was removed from valid target. The target was then further reduced to only the trunk of the body, where the vitals are located. A touch which lands on a nonvalid target stops the fight, but no point is scored.
The modern épée is the closest weapon to an actual classical duelling weapon that is used in modern fencing. Following the great social revolutions of the late eighteenth century, gentlemen no longer commonly wore swords, and so the épée, carried to the field of honor in a case, was developed as a means of settling disputes. The épée is a long, straight and relatively heavy sword (at least compared to the foil), with a triangular, relatively inflexible blade and a large, round, bell-shaped guard.
Like the foil, the épée is a point weapon. The reason for the large guard is that the hand is valid target, as is the rest of the body. Since double-hits are a possibility -- and, since there is no right-of-way (see below), épée fencing tends to be conservative in the extreme. In electric fencing, in order for a point to register, one must hit the opponent with the point, registering at least 7.35 Newtons (750 grams) of force. Classical fencers sometimes use a point d'arret, a three-pronged attachment that will actually catch the opponent's jacket.
Double-touch is a legitimate, albeit usually unhelpful, way of scoring. Double-touches are considered less drastic due to fencers usually having the ability to work with five or fifteen "lives".
The modern sabre is descended from the classical northern Italian dueling sabre, a far lighter weapon than the cavalry sabre. The method and practice of sabre fencing is somewhat different from the other weapons, in that they are edged weapons. In modern electric scoring, a touch with the sabre, point, flat or edge, to any part of the opponent's valid target (head, torso, or arm) will register a hit. Classical fencing, naturally, has more stringent requirements.
The target area originates from dueling sabre training. To attack the opponent's leg would allow him to "slip" that leg back and attack one's exposed arm or head given that the higher line attack will outreach the low line (there is a classic example of the leg slip in Angelo's Hungarian and Highland Broadsword of 1790). The target area is from the waist up excluding the hands. Similar right of way rules exist for sabre as they do for foil.
Like the épée, sabers originate from more deadly backgrounds. However, in the original fights with sabers, slashing was considered a mounted way of attacking while thrusting with the tip was considered a more deadly, but slower, way of attacking. Early in sword history, it was concluded a stab wound, although smaller, is much more damaging and deadly than a simple slash, except where the removal of body parts is concerned, where blood loss may be more deadly than a stab to an organ. However, in mounted combat, to stab an opponent would mean the loss of the weapon, so a curved blade that could easily slide into the opponent and out, causing a laceration, was much more ideal. The saber's point may have been meant for combat on the ground, if the rider was dismounted, voluntarily or forcibly.
The "right of way" principle in foil and saber is that the first person to attack has priority. Simply put, if one is attacked, one must defend oneself before counterattacking -- rather than attempting to hit one's opponent even at the risk of being hit oneself. Attacks can be made to fail either by bad luck, mis-judgement or by action on the part of the defender. Parryinging (deflecting the attack with the blade) causes priority to change and for the defender to have the opportunity to attack. For instance, if one fencer attacks, and the other immediately counter-attacks into the attack, and each hits the other, the first fencer's attack is considered successful, while the second is considered to have misjudged. If, however, the second fencer parried the first attack and then responded with an attack of their own, they would have taken the right of way away from the first fencer. It would then be incumbent on the first fencer to defend him- or her-self.
In the modern sports of foil and sabre, both fencers will register a hit if they contact within a certain time of each other. Then the referee must decide who had right of way at the time of the hits, and therefore who gets a point. If the referee cannot tell, then they will declare the touches null, and restart the fight from where it stopped.
The clothing which is worn in modern fencing is made of tough cotton, nylon or kevlar. It includes the following items of clothing:
Traditionally, the uniform is white in color, to assist the judges in seeing touches scored (black being the traditional color for masters). However, recently the FIE rules have been relaxed to allow colored uniforms. The color white might also be traced back to times before electric scoring equipment, when the blades were sometimes covered in soot to make a mark on the opponents clothing.
Fencing takes place on a strip, or piste, with two fencers facing one another. In modern fencing, the piste is between 1.5 and 2 meters wide, and 14 meters long. Opponents start in the middle of the piste, 4 metres apart, in the en garde position.
A referee (formerly called president of jury, or director) presides over the contest, which called a "bout." The referee's duties include keeping score, keeping time (if there is no other time keeper), awarding points and maintaining the order of the bout. He or she stands on one side of the piste, watching the bout.
It is also possible to fence "in the round," meaning that the bout takes place in a circular or square area instead of on a strip, and fencers can circle in addition to moving forward or backward. This style of fencing is mostly practiced today by the SCA.
Electronic scoring is used in all major national and international, and most local, sport competitions. (Classical fencing does not use such devices, as classical fencers feel that such devices negatively impact the practice of the art.) The electrical scoring system requires additional clothing for foil and saber: Foil fencers wear a conducting vest which covers the torso and groin. Saber fencers wear a conducting jacket, gauntlet and mask. In both weapons, the fencers' weapons are also wired. When a fencer scores a touch on an opponent, this completes an electric circuit which turns on a light and an audible alarm to notify the referee that a touch has been scored. The referee observes the fencers and the scoring machine to determine which fencer has the right-of-way.
In épée and foil, the fencers carry special weapons with compressible tips. When a touch is scored, the tip of the épée compresses, completing a circuit and signalling a touch. In foil fencing, the competitors wear special conductive vests covering the target area that allows a "valid" circuit to be completed, and a colored light turns on. If the touche lands off of the valid target area, an "off target" circuit is completed, and a white light turns on. In épée fencing, since target area is the entire body, the fencers do not wear special clothing. In both, the strip itself must be grounded, to prevent a touch from scoring when the tip of a weapon hits the strip (as opposed to striking the opponent's toe, for example).
Although only the most expensive contests bother to ground the piste, the coquille (hand guard) is always grounded as it is hit often when trying to strike at an opponent's hand.
Electronic scoring was introduced to épée in 1936, to foil in 1957, and to sabre in 1988.
Prior to the introduction of electric scoring equipment, the president of jury was assisted by four judges. Two judges were positioned behind each fencer, one on each side of the strip. The judges watched the fencer opposite to see if he was hit.
When a judge thought he saw a hit, he raised his hand. The president then stopped the bout and polled the judges to determine whether there was a touch, and (in foil and sabre) whether the touch was valid or nonvalid. Each judge had one vote, and the president had one and a half votes. Thus, two judges could overrule the president; but if the judges disagreed, or if one judge abstained, the president's opinion ruled.
Épée fencing was later conducted with red dye on the tip, easily seen on the white uniform. As a bout went on, if a touch was seen, a red mark would appear. Between the halts of the director, judges would inspect each fencer for any red marks. Once one was found, it was circled in a dark pencil to show that it had been already counted. The red dye was not easily removed, preventing any cheating. The only way to remove it was through certain acids such as vinegar. However, Épée fencers became renown for their reek of vinegar until the invention of electrical equipment.
The Emergence of Modern Fencing
Modern and Classical Fencing
The Weapons
Foil
Épée
Sabre
Right of Way
Protective Clothing
This equipment serves to protect the fencer.The Practice of Fencing
Electronic scoring equipment
Non-electric scoring
Notable modern fencers and fencing masters
Notable United States fencers and fencing masters
Notable classical fencers and fencing masters
Related articles
External links