WHAT IS FENCING?

Fencing, organized sport involving the use of a sword—epée, foil, or sabre—for attack and defense according to set movements and rules. Although the use of swords dates to prehistoric times and swordplay to ancient civilizations, the organized sport of fencing began only at the end of the 19th century. The history of this sport is very eloquent, it often relates that of humankind through that of the sword and, if we analyze the feature of the art of weapons, we immediately notice that it corresponds to the customs of the era in which it appears. The human being has always tried to invent weapons to defend himself against the nature and other human beings, and this since Cain: he used his strength, resorted to his material, improved his dexterity and used his intelligence. The history of fencing gives a marvelous account of all that. Fencing is now a sport but in the past, it was much more than that. It was a form of combat, it was not something with rules, it was simply meant to survive. Fencing traces its roots to the development of swordsmanship for duels and self defense. Fencing is believed to have originated in Spain; some of the most significant books on fencing were written by Spanish fencers. Treatise on Arms was written by Diego de Valera between 1458 and 1471 and is one of the oldest surviving manuals on western fencing shortly before dueling came under official ban by the Catholic Monarchs. In conquest, the Spanish forces carried fencing around the world, particularly to southern Italy, one of the major areas of strife between both nations. Fencing was mentioned in the play The Merry Wives of Windsor written sometime prior to 1602. The fencing track measures 14 meters in length and varies between 1,5 and 2 meters wide. This same track is divided into several zones as you can see in the image below. It has a half line dividing the track into two, 7 meters for each side. Then there are two guard lines, each one 2 meters from the center line. At the ends of the track, in an area of 2 meters long is an area called Signalis, this is usually another color and serves as a warning to fencers that they are almost out of the valid area of the track. Whether we consider fencing as an art of enjoyment or as a science of arms, a method of education or a sport, its wealth emerges from its study. Wealth of a thousand-year-old history, of a large technical skill and a laudatory record of achievements, wealth of champions and masters who force the respect, and above all wealth of values that fencing knew how to generate and that it still tries to inculcate today through its practice. From the time of the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages, the practice of sword fighting continued unabated, although sword training became less uniform and began to reflect the ideas of the individual masters-at-arms. At this time, schools of sword fighting also developed a somewhat unsavoury quality, attracting members from the criminal element of society who wanted to learn the skilled use of weapons. An almost exclusively thrusting style first became popular in France during the 17th century. The French were enthusiastic adopters of the small sword, which was light and short, and, therefore, well suited to fast, intricate handwork. Light, smaller training weapons were developed on the basis of an existing template: narrow rectangular blade with a "nail head" at the end. 토토사이트웹