Category:Sport Studies--Fencing

Overview

The shift towards fencing as a sport rather than as military training happened from the mid-18th century, and was led by Domenico Angelo, who established a fencing academy, Angelo's School of Arms, in Carlisle House, Soho, London in 1763. Angelo was the first fencing master to emphasize the health and sporting benefits of fencing more than its use as a killing art, particularly in his influential book L’École des armes (The School of Fencing), published in 1763.

As fencing progressed, the combat aspect slowly faded until only the rules of the sport remained. The first regularized fencing competition was held at the inaugural Grand Military Tournament and Assault at Arms in 1880, held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, in Islington in June. In the United States, the Amateur Fencers League of America drew up a rulebook for fencing in 1891,;[31][32] in Britain the Amateur Gymnastic & Fencing Association drew up an official set of fencing regulations in 1896.

Only Foil and Sabre events were part of the first Olympic Games in the summer of 1896.[33] Épée was introduced in 1900 (Paris). Foil was omitted from the 1908 (London) Olympics, but since 1912, fencing events for every weapon—Foil, Épée and Sabre—have been held at every Summer Olympics.

Women's foil was first competed at the Olympics in 1924 in Paris. The (so called) 'advanced weapons', Épée and Sabre deemed unsuitable or inappropriate for women, were not included in the Olympic program until late in the 20th century. Women's Épée events were first introduced in 1996 (Atlanta) Olympics and Women's Sabre events in 2000 (Sydney).

Edoardo Mangiarotti (Italy), Valentina Vezzali (Italy), and Aladar Gerevich (Hungary) are regarded as the best fencers of all time, along with Nedo Nadi (Italy), Stanislav Pozdnyakov (Russia), and Mariel Zagunis (USA). Among the top players are Pal Kovács (Hungary), Rudolf Kárpáti (Hungary), Sun Yiwen, Ruben Limardo (Venezuela), Katrina Lehis (Estonia), #5 Ildikó Rejtő, #7 Aleksandr Romankov, #8 Christian d’Oriola, #9 Viktor Krovopuskov, #11 Arnd Schmitt, #12 Paolo Pizzo, #13 Olga Kharlan, #14 Stefano Carozzo, #15 Áron Szilágyi.