Fencing is the skill of using three types of weapons: foil, sabre and épée. The sport is fast and athletic; fencers battle in a dance wherein the score is electronically detected. Fencing itself is divided into Olympic fencing, the sport fencing seen in modern Olympic games, Classical fencing, which approaches fencing more as a martial art, and Historical fencing, which is a type of historical martial arts reconstruction established on surviving texts and traditions.
So a brief history: Fencing’s history follows the evolution
of human civilization in which the earliest evidence came from a carving in
Egypt that dates back to around 1200 BC and shows a fencing battle without
masks, protective weapon tips, and judges. The ancient Greek and Romans
preferred the sword swords and light spears and taught their warriors in
schools called ludi. Around 476 AD, with the collapse of the Roman Empire, barbarian
invaders brought their crude, heavy weapons with them and caused a regression
of fencing in the dark ages. The use of armor in the middle ages did not favor
the use of light swords in battle instead, the broadsword that makes use more
of shear strength rather than skill to hack armors open were widely used.
Egyptian Carving
18th Century Fencing
Fencing was nearly nonexistent until the rebirth of the Renaissance period in the 14th century, wherein light, fast weapons such as the rapier came back to use with the primary reason that gunpowder made heavy armor out of date. It was also used as a recreational activity by gentlemen hence the title “gentlemen’s sport”.
Olympic fencing refers to the usual fencing duel seen in
most competitions in the Olympic games. The competitions follow rules laid down
by the Fédération Internationale d’Escrime (FIE), which is the international
governing body of fencing. These rules originated from a set of conventions
developed in Europe among mid 17th and early twentieth century in
order to regulate competitive activity. Three weapons are used: foil, sabre and
épée. The scoring is determined electronically so as to minimize human error
and bias opinions of referees.
The Battle Field
Foil
épée
Sabre
Classical or modern fencing is a lot closer to swordplay as
a martial art compared with competitive fencing. Classical fencers are said to
support authentic practices that has little to no emphasis on sport
competition. In this fencing community, there is also a strong interest in
reviving the European fencing practices of the 19th and early 20th
century, wherein fencers are expected to be able to fight a duel. The weapons
used are the standard (non-electric) foil, standard épée which is often
equipped with pointes d’arret, and the blunted duelling sabre.
Historical fencing on the other hand is a type of reconstruction
of historical martial arts by looking through surviving texts and traditions.
Historical fencers study a broad range of weapons from various regions and
periods. This includes: bucklers, daggers, polearms, navajas, bludgeoning
weapons, etc. with the main preoccupations of weapons of realistic weight.
Realistically-weighted weapons must be assured more through the wrist and
elbow. There is an overlap with classical and historical fencing regarding to
19th century fencing practices.
There is also a type of fencing called wheelchair fencing.
It is a Paralympic sport developed in post-WW II England. There are minor
modifications to the FIE rules in which they permit disabled fencers to fence
all three weapons. Each fencer sits in a wheelchair fastened to a frame and
footwork is substituted by torso or arm movement, depending on the fencer’s
disability. The proximity increases the pace of the bouts, requiring significant
skill between the two sides.
Wheelchair fencing
Fencing is not really my style of a martial art but the stories that a friend of mine relays about her experiences gave me a bit of interest, and surely fencing has a deep and unique style, fitting for an art that has a rich legacy throughout history. Fencing or more specifically the use of light swords was the very basis of war in ancient times, in the period wherein skill and finesse is the trump card in winning a battle, very different compared to the use of the broadsword in later years. Practicing fencing itself reminds one the rich history and the chivalry like style of ancient times. My friend says that although learning it is expensive (well, in our country anyway; with all the required equipments and such) it is very self-fulfilling since fencing itself is a form of self-expression. It also amazes me on how widely fencing is distributed. It can even be played by those with physical disability, without taking out any of the art's primary basis or style, just like any other popular sport like basketball.
Here is a video from Youtube on fencing:
Sources:
World of Sports Indoor. New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House.
Video:
Pictures:
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