Fencing For Dummies!

Snapshots In My Time...
Of My Time.....Hauntings.

I have only known one person in my life who actually fenced. He was a co-worker of mine at a part time job I used to have. He was a ex-police officer and his hobby was fencing. We worked at a store at the local mall and he used to claim all the body mannequins from our department when they were worn out. He used them for fencing. He always beat me to them and it made me mad. I wanted the mannequins to use for clothing I would sell on EBay. He always worked an earlier shift than I did, so he always beat me to those mannequins.

I only saw him fence once. It was on a saturday a few years ago. He had just come from the Highland Games in his kilt no less and he was on his way to meet his fencing partner. He had his swords in the car. I am not sure what type they were. They looked similar to the Royal Musketeer Sword. A couple of us went with him to see. We all planned to go out to eat afterwards. I must say it was interesting to watch. I did not know a lot about the sport at all. Just the bare bones. I have found out a few things about the sport of fencing. Here are a few facts.

1. Fencing is one of only four sports to be included in every modern Olympic Games, since the first in 1896. Fencing was also a sport in the original Olympic Games in ancient Greece.

2. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic Games, was a fencer.

3. The tip of the fencing weapon is the second fastest moving object in sport; the first is the marksman's bullet.

4. Fencing is conducted on a 14m x 2m "strip" or "piste" to replicate combat in confined quarters such as a castle hallway. The end of the fencing strip represents the line drawn in the earth by duelists' seconds: to retreat behind this line during the duel indicated cowardice and loss of honor.

5. The 750 gram weight test used to ensure a touch is scored with sufficient force is based on the amount of tension required to break the skin. In a duel, honor was done when blood was first drawn -- even if from a minor wound such as a blister.

6. The target area in sabre, originally a cavalry weapon, is from the waist up because it is contrary to the rules of chivalry to injure an opponent's horse.

7. There was originally no time limit on a fencing bout, until a Masters Championship bout in New York in the 1930s lasted for seven hours. Thereafter, bouts were limited to 30 minutes. Today, the time-limit has been reduced to just 3 minutes for 5-touch bouts and 9 minutes for 15 touches.

8. Fencers wear white uniforms because before the advent of electronic scoring, touches were recorded on the white surface with a wad of ink-soaked cotton on the tips of the weapons.

9. Famous Fencers: Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer of Iron maiden - foil. Neil Diamond, entertainer - sabre. Prince Albert of Monaco - sabre. Andrew Jackson fought a duel of honor with swords. General George Patton, competed in fencing in the 1912 Olympics and once owned a riding crop with a blade in the handle made by Georgio Santelli, New York fencing instructor and equipment manufacturer. Most recently, movie star Jerry O'Connell - saber.

10. The New York Fencers Club, founded in 1883, is the oldest continuous running club devoted exclusively to fencing in the U.S.

11. The first electronic scoring machine for fencing was invented in 1936 by Alfred Skrobisch, an engineering student at Columbia and a future U.S. Olympian.

12. In April 2003, Men's Saber Keeth Smart became the first United States Fencer to acheive a Number 1 World Ranking. He was quickly joined by Sada Jacobson, who claimed the Number 1 spot in Women's Saber, and still holds that spot going into the Athens Games.

13. Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.) is the first fencer in the world to hold four World Championships titles in one season: 2001 Cadet World Champion, 2001 Junior World Champion, 2001 Junior Team Champion, and 2000 Women's Sabre Team World Champion.

14. Women's Foil was added to the events at the Olympic Games in 1924. Women's Epee was added in 1996. The 2004 Olympic Game in Athens, Greece will be the first time that Women's Sabre is an official part of the Olympic program.

15. Athens will mark the 20-year anniversary of the United States' last Olympic medal in fencing - Bronze won by Peter Westbrook in Men's Saber.

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