HISTORY OF FENCING
Fencing originated as the practice of swordsmanship to prepare men for duels and warfare. The Romans as well as Greeks educated their warriors in ludis or special schools on the art of using swords and fencing with light spears. Then, the fall of the Roman Empire gave way to the heavy broadswords of Germanic tribes, who were perhaps the earliest people to recognize combat with swords as a mean of settling questions of justice or grievances. It was not until the beginnings of the Renaissance Era in the 14th century that light, fast weapons such as the rapier came back into use for dueling. The publication of Treatise on Arms, by Diego de Valera of Spain in 1471, marked the birth of modern fencing. And as Spain became a leading power of Europe their armies carried fencing abroad and particularly into Italy, where the first great schools of fencing were established later on. Shortly afterwards, many countries began to ban dueling and thus saw the transformation of fencing into an organized sport.
MODERN FENCING
Fencing is only one of four sports that has been in every modern Olympic Games since 1896. Today hundreds of thousands of kids and adults in over 80 countries participate in this fast paced and exciting sport. International competitions and World Championships are sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale d’Escrime (FIE), the head governing body of fencing. It was formed in 1913 by the three dominant fencing countries: France, Italy, and Hungary. While fencing is a relatively new sport to the United States, compared to its European counterparts, it has gained enormous popularity in the last twenty years. Today, across the nation there are over 500 fencing clubs, nearly 100 high schools support fencing teams, and 42 university teams compete in the NCAA fencing tournament. In the summer of 2012 the United States Fencing Association, held the largest fencing tournament in the world with over 7,000 entries and 90 events held in the span of 10 days.Follow Us!
