Information AboutFencing |
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In the broadest possible sense, fencing is the art and science of armed combat involving cutting, stabbing or bludgeoning weapons directly manipulated by hand, rather than shot or thrown (in other words, Sword s, Knives , Pikes , Bayonet s, Baton s, Clubs , and so on). In contemporary common usage, fencing tends to refer specifically to European schools of swordsmanship and to the modern Olympic sport that has evolved out of them. ETYMOLOGY From the Middle English ''fense'', circa 1330, ultimately deriving from the Latin ''defendere'' "ward off, protect," from ''de-'' "from, away" + fendere "to strike, push". {Link without Title} First used in writing as a verb in reference to swordsmanship by Shakespeare , in The Merry Wives Of Windsor ( 1598 ): "Alas sir, I cannot fence." {Link without Title} THE HISTORY OF FENCING See also Historical European Martial Arts Fencing can be traced at least as far back as and Romans had systems of martial arts and military training that included Swordsmanship , and fencing-schools and professional champions were known throughout medieval Europe. The earliest surviving record of Western techniques of fencing is the manuscript known as MS I.33 , which was created in southern Germany c. 1300 and today resides at the Royal Armouries in Leeds . Throughout the Middle Ages , masters continued to teach systems for using the sword (together with other weapons and grappling) to noble and non-noble alike. The wearing of the sword with civilian dress (a custom that had begun in the late fifteenth century on the Iberian Peninsula ) gradually gave rise to a new system of civilian swordsmanship based more on the thrust than on the cut, with the aim being to keep the adversary at a distance with the point, and slay him there. This gave rise to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century systems of using the Rapier and the seventeenth and eighteenth century Smallsword . Though swords ceased to be an article of everyday dress after the French Revolution, they continued to be used in warfare and to resolve disputes of honour in formal duels through the nineteenth century and into the twentieth. Though agonistic competition in fencing is as old as the art itself, the modern sport of fencing originated in the first Olympic Games in 1896. The first few years of fencing as a sport were chaotic, with important rule disagreements among schools of fencing from different countries, notably the representatives of the French and Italian schools. This state of affairs ended in 1913, with the foundation of the ''Fédération Internationale d'Escrime'' ( FIE ) in Paris. The stated purpose of the FIE is to codify and regulate the practice of the sport of fencing, particularly for the purpose of international competition. The foundation of the FIE is a convenient breaking point between the classical and the modern traditions of fencing. FENCING PHILOSOPHIES There are many autonomous directions in contemporary fencing:
Finally, fencing is often incorporated into recreational roleplay with a s). THE WEAPONS Three weapons survive in modern competitive fencing: Foil , épée and Sabre . The Spadroon and the heavy cavalry-style sabre, both of which saw widespread competitive use in the 19th Century , fell into disfavour in the early 20th Century with the rising popularity of the lighter and faster weapon used today, based on the Italian duelling sabre. Bayonet fencing was somewhat slower to decline with competitions organized by some armed forces as late as the 1940s and 1950s . Today these weapons are the preserve of Historical Fencing . While the weapons fencers use differ in size and purpose, their basic construction remains similar across the disciplines. Every weapon has a ''blade'' and a ''hilt''. The tip of the blade is generally referred to as ''the point''. The hilt consists of a ''guard'' and a '' Grip ''. The guard (also known as the ''coquille'') is a metal shell designed to protect the fingers. The grip is the sword's actual handle. There are a number of commonly used variants (see Grip (sport Fencing) ). The more traditional kind tend to terminate with a '' Pommel '', a heavy nut intended to act as a counterwight for the blade. Foil See Also: Foil_(fencing) The Foil is a light and flexible weapon, originally developed in mid 17th Century as a training weapon for the Court Sword (a light one-handed sword designed almost exclusively for thrusting). Hits can only be scored by hitting the valid target surface with the point of the sword. The target area is restricted to the torso. A touch on an off-target area stops the bout but does not score a point. There are "right of way" conventions or ''priority rules'', whose basic idea is that the first person to create a viable threat or the last person to successfully defend receives a "right" to hit. If two hits arrive more or less simultaneously, only the fencer who had the "right of way" receives a point. If priority cannot be assigned unambiguously, no points are awarded. The basic idea behind the foil rules was, originally, to encourage the defence of one's vital areas and to fence in a methodical way with initiative passing back and forth between the two fencers and no last minute counter-attacks which risk a double death. In modern competitive fencing "electric" weapons are used. These have push-button on the end, which allows hits to be registered by the electronic scoring apparatus. In order to register, the button must be depressed with a force of at least 4.90 Newton s (500 Grams-force )for at least 15 Milliseconds . Fencers wear conductive ( Lamé ) jackets covering their target area, which allow the scoring apparatus to differentiate between on and off-target hits. The 1980's saw the widespread use of "flicks" - hits delivered with a whipping motion which bends the blade around the more traditional parries and makes it possible to touch otherwise inaccessible areas, such as the of the back of the opponents. This has been regarded by a substantial number of fencers as an unacceptable departure from the tradition of realistic combat, where only rigid blades would be used. Flicks were not a recent development, however. In that is often blamed for the rise in the flick's popularity. In 2004 - 2005 , in an effort to curtail the use of flicks, the FIE raised the contact time required to trigger the scoring apparatus from 1 millisecond to the current 15 milliseconds. This has not made flicks impossible, but it has made them more technically demanding, as glancing hits no longer register, and it is essential that the point arrives more or less square-on. Épée See Also: Épée_(Fencing) The épée is the heaviest of the three weapons (approaching the weight of an actual Court Sword ). It has a comparatively stiff blade with a V-shaped or approximately traingular cross-section, and a large round guard which offers much more protection to the wrist than the foil guard. The épée was developed in the late of each other), a ''double hit'' is recorded, and both fencers get a point (except for in Modern Pentathlon one-hit épée , where both fencers immediately suffer a "double loss"). In order for the scoring apparatus to register a hit, the push-button on the end of the weapon must remain fully depressed for 2-10 milliseconds. To register, the hit must arrive with a Force of at least 7.35 Newtons (the equivalent of 750 Grams of stationary Mass ) - a slightly higher threshold than the foil's 4.9 newtons (500 grams). All hits register as valid, unless they land on a Grounded metal surface, such as a part of the opponent's weapon, in which case they do not register at all. At large events, grounded conductive pistes are often used in order to prevent the registration of hits against the floor. At smaller events and in club fencing, it is generally the responsibility of the referee to watch out for floor hits. These often happen by accident, when an épéeist tries to hit the opponent's foot and misses. In such cases, they are simply ignored. However, deliberate hits against the floor are treated as "dishonest fencing" and penalized accordingly (see "The Practice of Fencing" below). In the pre-electric era, épéeist used a ''point d'arret'', a three-pronged point with small protruding spikes, which would snag on the opponent's clothing or mask, helping the referee to see the hits. The spikes caused épée fencing to be a notoriously painful affair, and épéeist could be easily recognized by the tears in their jacket sleeves. These days, the adherents of the point d'arret are few and far between, and non-electric weapons are generally fitted with foil-style rubber buttons. Épée fencing tends to be more conservative in style than the other weapons, and the game tends to be somewhat slower and more contemplative. Sabre See Also: Sabre_(fencing) The Sabre is the "cutting" weapon, with a curved guard and a triangular blade. However, in modern electric scoring, a touch with any part of the sabre, point, flat or edge, as long as it is on target, will register a hit. The target area in sabre is everything from the waist up, except for the hands. Like foil, sabre fencing uses right of way rules. However, the definition of an "attack" is different for the two weapons, and as a result, the right of way rules distinguish sabre and foil significantly. Sabre right of way rewards very fast fencing (on offense and defense), and so sabre fencing tends to be more aggressive in style than the other weapons. Unlike in foil and épée, the forward crossover has been disallowed, as before both fencers could simply run and jump at each other at the start of a touch. Today, some sabre fencers use a "flying lunge", or "flunge", (this is somewhat frowned upon) to produce a similar result without crossing over, but much of sabre fencing stays entirely on the ground. PROTECTIVE CLOTHING |
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