History of Fencing

Fencing always evolved with the human civilization - in ancient Egypt and Rome, in Dark Ages, during elegant Renaissance – fencing has always been one of key survival skills in the cruel world. It was popular among wide masses of people but the noblemen especially regarded fencing a must-to-have ability so they trained their children from early on.

In the modern world it is still increasingly popular. Fencing has always been more than a sport - it is a physical game of chess, a form of art and an ancient symbol of power and glory. Because it is an individual type of sport, it allows a deeply personal and individual form of expression.

History of Fencing Events

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	European fencing guilds, such as the Marxbruder in Germany, begin appearing.
1471	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	The Italians begin extensive use of the Rapier, developing fencing technique and popularizing the weapon for dueling.
1553	The fencing master Agrippa defines the four fencing positions - prime, seconde, tierce, and quatre.
1567	The French Fencing Academy is officially recognized by King Charles IX.
1573	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	The Italian masters Vigiani and Grassi describe the lunge.
1650	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	The Epeé becomes the dueling weapon of choice across Europe, and the Sabre becomes the national weapon of Hungary.
1780	The French fencing master La Boessiere invents the fencing mask.
1850's	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	The first American fencing school is founded by immigrant French and Italian fencing masters.
1896	Men’s Foil and Sabre are present in the first modern Olympic Games. Men’s Epeé is introduced in 1900.
1913	FIE (The International Fencing Federation) is founded.
1918	With the end of World War I, Dueling declines in popularity. The sport of Fencing, however, continues to grow.
1924	Women’s Foil becomes an Olympic sport.
1936	Electric Epeé is introduced. Electric Foil and Sabre follow in later years.
1950's	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	Women’s Epeé becomes an Olympic sport.
1998	Advance Lunge comes on-line.

Courtesy: http://library.thinkquest.org/

Olympic Fencing History

As can be seen from the below historic Olympic medals table, Canadian fencing at this time cannot boast about any medals unlike of course the hockey. However, fencing is being actively developed all over Canada including Calgary so victories are not too far around the corner. Fencing Academy of Calgary definitely says: "I am game!"

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	France (FRA)	37	37	29	103
2	Italy (ITA)	36	33	24	93
3	Hungary (HUN)	27	16	19	62
4	Soviet Union (USSR)	13	12	14	39
5	Cuba (CUB)	6	5	6	17
6	Russia (RUS)	6	2	4	12
7	Poland (POL)	4	8	7	19
8	West Germany (FRG)	4	6	0	10
9	Belgium (BEL)	3	3	4	10
10	Germany (GER)	3	2	5	10
11	Sweden (SWE)	2	3	2	7
12	Greece (GRE)	2	1	1	4
13	Romania (ROU)	2	0	3	5
14	China (CHN)	1	3	0	4
15	Switzerland (SUI)	1	2	3	6
16	Unified Team (EUN)	1	2	1	4
17	South Korea (KOR)	1	0	1	2
18	United States (USA)	0	5	8	13
19	Great Britain (GBR)	0	5	0	5
20	Austria (AUT)	0	1	3	4
21	Denmark (DEN)	0	1	1	2
22	East Germany (GDR)	0	1	0	1
22	Japan (JPN)	0	1	0	1
23	Netherlands (NED)	0	0	5	5
24	Bohemia (BOH)	0	0	2	2
25	Argentina (ARG)	0	0	1	1
25	Germany (EUA)	0	0	1	1
25	Portugal (POR)	0	0	1	1
25	Spain (ESP)	0	0	1	1
25	Ukraine (UKR)	0	0	1	1
Total		149	149	147	445

Courtesy: Wikipedia 2011