Fencing As a Sport

The sport of fencing emerged thousands of years ago. It is one of the oldest Olympic sports. In fencing, two players face off against each other. The first player to score 15 points by jabbing, or "touching," wins. Fencing can be difficult for novices to watch because the action happens so quickly. Matches last a maximum of nine minutes.

  1. History of Fencing

    • The earliest version of fencing dates back to 1200 B.C. The collapse of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D. caused fencing to take a barbaric turn. At that time, fencers used heavy, deadly weapons for the sport. Once the Renaissance began in the 14th century, however, fencing once again became sophisticated and artful, and fencers returned to light weapons. Modern fencing emerged in Spain in the 15th century. French and Italian immigrants brought the sport to the U.S. in the 1860s.

    Game Play

    • The sport of fencing pits two opponents against each other. The object is to score 15 points (or 5 points in a qualifying round) before your opponent does. Points are scored by touching your opponent with your fencing weapon. There are three 3-minute periods in each elimination match. Gameplay changes slightly depending on which weapon the fencers are using.

    Weapons

    • There are three primary weapons used in fencing: foil, epee and saber. Typically, fencers opt to choose one weapon and compete only in matches that call for that weapon. All three weapons are considered point-thrusting, since the main purpose is to jab them at an opponent to score points. The saber is also a cutting weapon. Because of the different shapes and weights of the weapons, each one has different target areas on an opponent.

    Olympic Fencing

    • Fencing is one of the oldest Olympic sports and is one of only four sports that was played in every Olympic Games since 1896. In fact, the father of the Olympic Games---Baron Pierre de Coubertin---was a fencer. Women's foil fencing became an Olympic sport in 1924, though women's epee fencing was not added as a sport until 1996. Though the USA often sends a fencing team to the Olympics, it is not one of the country's strongest sports. Still, the U.S. did pick up a gold medal at the 2004 summer Olympics in Athens.

    Modern Fencing

    • Fencing has evolved a great deal since its inception in ancient Greece and Rome. Fencers have traditionally worn white and added ink to the end of their weapons so that points could be more easily seen on an opponent's uniform and, therefore, properly scored. Today, fencing uniform are equipped with electronic scoring technology, but many fencers still wear white out of tradition. Also, early fencing was played without time limits. In the early 1900s, judges began imposing a 4-minute time limit, and today, bouts last only 3 minutes. Though fencing is not as popular in the U.S. as football or baseball, many modern-day celebrities---including Madonna, Tom Cruise, Will Smith and David Beckham---are proud fencers.