Looking back 113 years ago, when the Olympic Games first started in Athens, Greece in 1896, you will find that fencing was one of the original nine sports that were featured at that time. Today, it remains to be one of the only four sports that have been played at every single Olympic competition since the beginning.

This truly says a lot about the sport’s colorful and rich historical journey in the prestigious sporting event participated by the almost all countries from different parts of the world. It is no wonder that even with the immense popularity of many other sports such as basketball and football, fencing continues to be a significant part of the world of sports.

Basics of Fencing

Fencing, which is a sport of sword fighting, is said to be a combination of combat and ballet. On one hand, swordsmen battle each other through aggressive flashing off blades while they parry, thrust, attack and evade like any warrior. On the other, they do all of these with exceptional coordination, grace, agility and speed like that of a ballerina.

Many fencing aficionados say that this sport is both a physical and mental game. In fact, many of them refer to fencing as a physical version of the chess, which as we all know, is a game of tactics and mental acuity.

Fencing is divided into three levels that are classified according to the type of weapon used, namely: foil, epee and sabre. A foil sword, which weighs 17 5/8 oz and has a maximum length of 3 feet and 6 inches, is used for foil fencing.

In this type of fencing, the fencers gain score by touching their opponents with the tip of the blade while aiming for the torso. Beginners learn this type of fencing first because it incorporates the fundamental elements of the sport. Moreover, it is the most technical form, which requires the most legwork.

The second type of fencing requires the use of a sword called an epee, which weighs 27 1/8 oz. It has the same length as that of the foil but the difference is that it has a thicker blade and a larger hand protector. The scoring method is also the same but unlike with the foil fencing which targets only the torso, with epee fencing you can aim for the entire body.

Sabre fencing makes use of a sword that is lighter and one inch shorter than a foil. Considered as the most physical type of fencing, the target here is the bend of the hips and the top of the head, which you can touch with the tip or sides of the blade.

The area where a fencing match is held is called the piste or strip and measures 14 meters in length, 1.5 to 2 meters in width. Competitors of this combat sport wear a set of protective gear, which include a jacket, gloves, and head gear. A fencing jacket is made of a doubly thick cotton cloth or ballistic nylon while the mask is made of stainless steel wire mesh that has 2-millimeter gaps and a gauge of 1mm in diameter.

Fencing in the Olympics

In the Olympics, fencing has events for the men and the women. The epee, foil and sabre events are both played by men and women. Fencing in the Olympics also has team events, in which the participating countries can enter three fencers. The first team to score 45 hits will be declared as winners.

Historical Milestones in the Olympics

Right from the beginning of the Olympics in 1896, fencing has gone through interesting milestones that are a significant part of the sport’s history. One of them happened in the year 1900 when the first Epee event was played in the Olympics. Another is in 1924, when the women made a debut in the Olympic fencing matches through the first women’s foil event.

In the Berlin Olympics in 1936, the first electronic scoring system made its way. The blades are equipped with a circuit that signals if a person scored a point. The first women’s epee event happened in the Atlanta Games in 1996 while women were not allowed to enter the sabre event until the year 2004 in the Athens Olympics.

Fencing Legends in the Olympics

Just like with any sport, there are also various superstars and legends in the sport of fencing. One of them is Christian d’Oriola who played foil fencing for France. He became a back-to-back Olympic Champion in 1952 and 1956. He also won team gold in 1948 and 1952. Aside from all these achievements, he was also awarded with four world titles in individual and team fencing events from 1947 to 1958.

Another legend in the field of fencing is an Italian national named Edoardo Mangiarotti who entered both epee and foil events. He has the record of having 13 Olympic medals, six of which are gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze. He won these in games from 1936 to 1960. He also won world team titles and is a double individual world champion.

In the event of sabre fencing, the leading name is Rudolf Karpati from Hungary. This fencer is proud to have won six Olympic gold medals, which he has gotten in individual events between 1956 and 1960. Between 1948 and 1960, he was also able to bag four consecutive team gold medals. A five-time world champion between 1953 and 1958, he had also become a double individual world champion.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics

In the recently held 2008 Olympics in Beijing China, 10 winners were awarded with gold medals both in individual and team events. These events include men's individual sabre, women's individual sabre, men's individual epee, women's individual epee, men's individual foil, women's individual foil, men's team sabre, women's team sabre, men's team epee and women's team foil.

The fencers from Italy are the ones who took home the most number of medals in the Beijing Fencing Olympics, as they were able to grab a total of seven medals (2 gold and 5 bronze medals). France was able to bag two gold and two silver. Germany has two gold medals and the United States were able to take six medals (1 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze).

European teams have long dominated the sport of fencing. In fact, in the Athens Olympics in 2004, they were able to get 25 of the 30 medals handed out. However, in the recent Beijing Olympics, the performance of other countries such as USA and many countries from Asia improved and they were able to get 10 medals while Europe’s medal count decreased to 20.

One of the highlights of the recently concluded sporting event was the winning of Zhong Man of China who was able to beat Nicolas Lopez from France in the men’s individual sabre gold match. This is the first gold medal for fencing that was awarded to China after a long wait of 24 years. It had been a long time since the year 1984 when Luan Jujie won a gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics for the women’s foil event.

Another historical moment was when Benjamin Philip Kleibrink of Germany was awarded as the Olympic champion in Men's Individual Foil. He became the first German Foil fencer to win gold at an Olympic Games.

In the women’s competition, Maria Valentina Vezzali, a fencer from Italy, became the first fencer in history to have won three gold medals that the three consecutive Olympic Games. The first in the gold medal series was won in Sydney Olympics in 2000, the next one was in Athens in 2004 and the third is at the recent Olympic Games in Beijing.

As for the women’s team foil, Russia took home the gold medal while USA won the silver medal and Italy only won the third place. Britta Heidemann of Germany trounced Li Na of China in the semifinal and the Romanian Ana Maria Branza for silver.

Past and present superstars in the sport of fencing can attest how important it is to have both physical and mental acuity when playing the game. A fencer needs to have proper coordination, speed, agility, and strength to become a powerful player.

But aside from this, he or she will also need to have the mental capacity to anticipate moves, formulate tactics and plan strategies to be able to give a good defense and offense against the opponent. Furthermore, the right attitude and discipline are also contributory to a fencer’s success.

Even if you have no intentions of participating in Olympic fencing events, you can benefit from the wide variety of quality fencing equipment at a fencing equipment store. Here are some important guidelines to follow. Select a mask that fits well and has an ample amount of padding on its interior. Your fencing jacket should include quality stitching and padding, to provide enough protection. Next, fencing knickers should fit fairly snugly, but allow enough room for lunging. Meanwhile, your fencing glove should fit well and the fencing glove's sleeve should fit well into the cuff of the glove. Finally, ensure that your fencing shoes include enough room in the toes.

Fencing has come a long way from the time when competitors still had to scratch lines on the ground to determine the playing area or used ink to determine how many hits they have endured to the time now when modern electronic system is utilized to score the game accurately. Truly, fencing will remain as one of the well-loved sports in the world for the years to come.