"Everything
changes fate, fate changes everything" - Unknown
The
History of Fencing
Fencing:
The Origin
Like
many of its fellow Olympics sports such as javelin and archery, fencing has its
roots in military and warfare.
The
earliest evidence of the existence of fencing had been discovered in an
inscription in the
Temple
of
Madinet Habu
in
Luxor
,
Egypt
.
In fact, to celebrate his victory over the Libyans, Egyptian Pharoah Ramses III
organized the earliest recorded fencing tournament similar to that of a modern
one, complete with masked and armoured competitors armed with blunted blades,
and a presiding jury.
History
of Fencing in the Greek and Roman Empire
The
Greeks used a heavy weapon in the art of combat. Their foot soldiers wore a
helmet, armor, round shield, metal side case fitted boots for protection and
short swords and long spears as weapons. Eventually, the practice of fencing was
included in the Olympic Games.
Towards
the collapse of the
Roman Empire
, major changes occurred
in fencing. The Roman conquerors, unconcerned with the Hellenic traditions,
transformed the Olympic Games into a circus, with swordsmen commonly known as
the gladiators. The gladiator's combat was greatly enjoyed by the Romans and the
Games were extremely bloody and entertaining; it was far beyond the conventional
combats and courtesies of the Greek fencers. For the Romans, it was another form
of fencing, military combat. Their most skillful soldiers became "Doctors
of Arms" and received a double allowance for living.
The
14th Century: The Birth of Épeé
In
the fourteenth century, the invention of gunpowder and development of firearms
made armor useless and inefficient, and thus it was progressively abandoned.
Unarmored opponents gave rise to the emergence of fencing in the common classes
and lighter swords called the Rapier became increasingly popular as a sidearm of
choice for many European nobles.
The
Italians
Around
about 1500, the Italians began extensive use of the Rapier. The right hand held
the 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. Many nobles at that time died in
duels, instead of in battlefields!
The
French
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. However, it was not till the 18th century that the Épeé became the
popular weapon for dueling.
The
17th Century: The Birth of the Foil
Older
version of the foil
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 that 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.
The Dawn
of Modern Fencing
The
first modern Olympic games featured foil and sabre fencing for men only. Epee
was introduced in 1900. Single stick was featured in the 1904 games. Epee was
electrified in the 1936 games, foil in 1956, and sabre in 1988. Early Olympic
games featured events for Masters, and until recently fencing was the only
Olympic sport that has included professionals. Disruptions in prevailing styles
have accompanied the introduction of electric judging, most recently
transforming sabre fencing. Foil fencing experienced similar upheavals for a
decade or two following the introduction of electric judging, which was further
complicated by the new, aggressive, athletic style coming out of
Eastern
Europe
at the time.
Women's foil was first contested in the 1924 Olympic games, and Women's epee was
only contested for the first time in 1996, although it has been part of the
World Championships since 1989. Women's sabre made its first appearance in the
1998 World Championships as a demonstration sport.
Article
by Elson Tan
Epee
Captain, SJFA
