Fighting
with swords goes back thousands of years. Fencing was known in Egypt, China,
India, and Greece. Homer, a famous Greek author wrote about a fight with swords
in his book, the Illiad. There are four sports that have been included in
each modern Olympic Game since 1896 and fencing is one of them.
To be a fencer you need a sword, a protective vest and jacket, a mask, and a glove. Fencers also wear breeches and special fencing shoes. There are three different kinds of swords. The foil is the lightest, the epée was the sword used for dueling years ago, and the sabre is the heaviest sword. Fencing is an indoor sport. Fencers use a piste, it is a special surface about 46 feet long and 5 feet wide
Each bout has three rounds that last three minutes each, with one minute between rounds. The winner is the first fencer to score 15 hits on the opponent or the fencer who scores the greater number of hits by the end of the bout. If the players are even by the end of regular match time, one minute extra time will be fenced and the winner will be the first to score a touch on the opponent.
In the Olympic Games there will be six disciplines of fencing that will include six individual and four team events.
- Men's foil - individual
- Women's foil - individual & team event
- Men's épee - individual & team events
- Women's épee - individual event
- Men's sabre - individual & team events
- Women's sabre - individual & team event
