Fencing in the United States dates to the late 19th century, as French and Italian fencing masters migrated to America, bringing their fencing skills with them. At first, fencing was thought to be another form of dueling, using the sword instead of the pistol. Fencing schools began to appear throughout the United States around 1874 and gained a reputation as a nonviolent form of sport. The earliest traces of fencing date back to 1200 BC as evidenced by cave carvings found in Egypt. Modern fencing began with the Spaniards around the 15th century. The Olympics accepted fencing in 1896 featuring the sabre and foil, with the epee and women's competition added in 1996. Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt and Madonna studied the sport
Objective
The objective of fencing is to score more points against your opponent then he does against you. Points are score by making a touch, or strike, against your opponent using one of three weapons, (epee, foil or sabre), to attack or counter-attack your opponent.
Right-of-Way
During a foil or sabre bout, both fencers may record a touch at the same time. When this happens, the referee must determine which fencer was attacking, and which was defending. The attacking fencer wins the point, as he had the right of way.
Scoring
In modern fencing, electronic sensors attached to the fencer's uniform detect a touch. A fencer scores a single point for successfully executing a touch against his opponent. The scoring zone for foil and sabre bouts is the torso while epee bouts count the entire body as a scoring zone. In an epee bout, if both fencers record a touch within 1/25th of a second, both athletes will earn a point. A maximum of 15 touches are required to win a bout, determined by individual tournament rules.
The Surface
The strip or piste is 2 meters in width and 14 meters in length. There are five lines across the strip; a dividing line at the middle of the strip, one on guard line 2 meters on each side of the middle line, and a warning line on either side of the strip, 1 meter from each end.
Weapons
The foil is a weapon requiring great technique, and is used for thrusting the tip into an opponent. The sabre is used to thrust, cut or slice, and is a direct descendant of the sabre, used by the cavalry during the American Civil War. All parts of the sabre's blade can score a touch. The epee, a relative of the dueling swords used in the 19th century. The fencer thrusts the epee, scoring a touch with the tip of the weapon.
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