Fencing, a sports event that has gradually become popular in recent years, has been talked about by more and more people as China has repeatedly achieved good results in this event. However, for ordinary people, fencing may only have the concepts of “noble sport” and “elegant sport”. In fact, the history of fencing is much longer than we imagined.
Fencing, judging from the equipment it uses, evolved from the development of cold weapons in history. That said, all ancient races, including the Persians, Greeks, Romans, and Chinese who used swords in military and warfare, have contributed to the evolution of fencing.
As a well-deserved aristocratic sport, fencing in medieval Europe, including in the French court, some gentlemen such as princes and earls wore swords with them. One of the noble sentiments.
In ancient France, fencing, also known as swordsmanship, occupied an extremely important position in French life, love and career. King Louis XIV of France even formalized at court the dress requirements for swordsmen, i.e. fencers. Clothing is divided into men’s clothing and women’s clothing, both exquisite and noble. Of course, being such an important French characteristic, fencing also appears in various films, novels and other works of art.
In the movie “Fangfang Tulip”, in order to protect his lover, the male protagonist seized the weapon of the military police and put on an actual combat posture while jokingly explaining the knowledge of fencing, while repelling the enemies who tried to hinder his love over and over again. attack. A more representative movie that describes the importance of swordsmanship in the French court struggle should be “The Three Musketeers”. Dedicated to the Musketeer Captain Treville, did not know the Three Musketeers, and unexpectedly became a sympathetic friend. At the same time, he also ran into the Queen’s maid, and fell in love with him at first sight. Not long later, everyone unexpectedly learned that the powerful cardinal wanted to provoke the relationship between Britain and France for his own plan to destroy the country, intending to create a royal scandal. When King Louis XIII misunderstood Queen Anna, he felt a sense of justice. In order to resist the evil conspiracy of the cardinal, maintain the innocence of Queen Anna, and maintain the peaceful relationship between Britain and France, the people fought wits and courage with the enemy. In this battle, it was the excellent swordsmanship and resourceful mind Let d’Artagnan emerge. Although the title of the movie is the word “Musketeer”, we can clearly see that small thermal weapons were not very popular at that time. It is said that it is the foundation of being qualified for the honorable position of the King’s Guard. At the same time, the film also shows people living in contemporary times how extensive the development of fencing and its importance in the 16th and 17th centuries.
It is said that fencing originated in Europe. In fact, it is more accurate to say that Spain is the cradle of modern fencing. The first book on fencing techniques was written by two Spanish coaches. And the Spaniard Doled improved the original bulky, long and large traditional sword, and transformed it into a light and slender triangular sword similar to the modern epee.
As a well-deserved fencing development center, France has emerged many fencing masters. Saint Didier and Tipo synthesized the fencing technical principles of Spain and Italy, and wrote many fencing theoretical monographs to promote the development of fencing. It is worth mentioning that in modern competitions, the essential face shield was invented in France by the famous fencing master La Boisier. This invention saved fencing from rough, bloody and death duels. liberated.
The fencing competition we see now is composed of three different types of swords: epee, saber and foil. So how did these three sword types evolve? This goes back to the 16th and 17th centuries. Because fencing was too popular at that time, many gentlemen died in duels. “Will you go to the countryside with me?” It sounds like a verbal agreement now, but at that time But a catchphrase that challenges you to a “duel”. In the 20 years from 1588 to 1608 alone, more than 8,000 gentlemen died in duels in Paris alone. So a kind of sword that does not hurt life came into being. This kind of sword has a square body and is lighter. The tip of the sword is wrapped with leather. It is different from the triangular sword used in fighting. It reduces bleeding during sparring. and casualties, has been widely welcomed by the people, and has been widely carried out. This is the prototype of the foil. In order to pursue simple and practical fighting, the three-edged sword continued to be used in practice from 1855, which was the prototype of the epee. As for the saber, it combines the design of a short and curved saber with a hand guard, and was gradually formed by the transformation of the fencing master. The disadvantage of this kind of sword is that it is relatively bulky and not suitable for promotion.
Modern fencing has always been a traditional event of the Olympic Games, and even Coubertin, the “Father of the Olympics”, is a fencing enthusiast. The fencing competition that appeared in the first Olympic Games has continued to this day. Although limited by the Olympic slimming plan in the development process, we can still enjoy 10 fencing Olympic events in each Olympic Games: men’s foil individual and team; women’s foil individual and team; men’s epee individual and team ; women’s epee individual, team; men’s saber individual competition, etc. On November 29, 1913, the first meeting attended by representatives of nine countries was held in Paris, France. At the meeting, the “International Fencing Federation” was established, which was later recognized by the International Olympic Committee and governments of various countries. Its function is to organize and manage various work such as fencing competitions. In June 1914, the “Rules for Fencing Competitions” were adopted in Paris. Fencing competitions before 1930 were judged manually, and there were many misjudgments. In 1931, the epee began to use electric referees. In 1955, the electric foil referee was also used in the competition. In 1989, the saber competition began to use electric referees. The invention of the electric referee is also a milestone in the history of modern fencing, which makes the fencing competition tend to be fair and reasonable. In addition, there are special regulations for the venue of modern fencing competitions: the venue for fencing competitions is called Kendo. Ordinary kendo is 14 meters long, 1.5-2 meters wide, 0.3-0.5 meters high, and has 1.5-2 meter extensions at both ends. The entire kendo is covered by metal and metal mesh. On the final stage, the metal kendo shall cover the entire width of the final stage. The height of the final platform shall not exceed 0.5 meters, and its sides shall be at least 25 centimeters wider than the kendo. Each end of the final platform is equipped with a slope with a gentle slope extending to the ground. As an athlete, it is truly an honor to be able to step onto the final track of a championship in world-class fencing.
China’s outstanding achievements in fencing have promoted the spread and development of fencing among Chinese fans. As the old saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning, and Chinese fencing was struggling at the beginning of its development. However, since my country’s female foil athletes won the individual gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, China’s fencing performance has been booming. Until today, China is still breaking various records and creating new brilliance in fencing.