Fencing, organized sport involving the use of a 

sword—épée, 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. For information on the art of Japanese sword
fighting, see kendo.

Early history

The earliest depiction of swordplay is a relief in the temple of Medīnat Habu, near Luxor in Egypt, built
by Ramses III about 1190 BCE. This relief must depict a practice bout or match, as the sword points are
covered and the swordsmen are parrying with shields strapped to their left arms and are wearing masks
(tied to their wigs), large bibs, and padding over their ears. Swordsmanship, as a pastime and in single
combat and war, was also practiced widely by the ancient Persians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans as
well as by the Germanic tribes.

The Romans brought sword combat to a highly systematic art that was taught to both their legions and
their gladiators. Gladiators were trained in schools (ludi) by professional instructors (doctores).
Beginners practiced with a wooden sword called a rudis. More-advanced training took place with
weapons that were somewhat heavier than those used in actual combat.

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. Many communities found that the only way to deal with this problem was to outlaw fencing
schools within their boundaries. For example, in London in 1286 King Edward I passed an edict that
decried “the most unheard-of villainies” perpetrated by swordsmen and threatened swift justice for
teaching sword-related skills. Despite such laws, fencing schools flourished.

Emergence of swordsmanship and weapons

Among the nobility of Europe during the Middle Ages, the adept handling of a sword was hindered by
the use of armour, which was virtually the only means of protection. Swords were heavy and used
primarily to broach the protective armour. With the introduction of gunpowder in the 14th century,
however, armour fell into disuse (musket balls easily pierced the armour, rendering it ineffective in
battle). The sword was still the only weapon that could be worn on the body for self-defense, but the
demise of armour required that the wearer learn to manipulate a sword skillfully—a matter that grew to
be of paramount importance both in times of war and in a gentleman’s daily life.

By the 15th century, guilds of fencing masters had been formed throughout Europe, the most notable of
which was the Marxbrüder (the Association of St. Marcus of Löwenberg), which was granted letters
patent by the Holy Roman emperor Frederick III in 1480. Early fencing methods as taught by the guilds
were somewhat rough-and-tumble and included wrestling moves. The guilds jealously guarded their
secret moves so that they could make use of the unexpected to defeat an enemy. Fencing was first
supported in England by Henry VIII, who, sometime before 1540, granted letters patent to several
fencing masters that allowed them to teach there. The early English style of fighting with a cutting sword
and a buckler (a small shield worn on the free arm) ultimately gave way to the continental European
rapier combat.

The Italians discovered the effectiveness of the dexterous use of the point rather than the edge of the
sword. By the end of the 16th century, their lighter weapon, the rapier, and a simple, nimble, and
controlled fencing style, emphasizing skill and speed rather than force, had spread throughout Europe.
Most of the wrestling tricks were abandoned, the lunge was developed and adopted, and fencing
became established as an art.

The long rapier was beautifully balanced, excellent in attack, and superb for keeping an opponent at a
distance, but it was too heavy for all the movements of combat. Defense when fighting with a rapier was
effected by parrying with the left hand, which was protected by a gauntlet or cloak or equipped with a
dagger. Opponents’ thrusts were often avoided by ducking or sidestepping.

In the latter half of the 17th century, the sword and swordsmanship changed dramatically with a change
in gentlemen’s dress. In France the court of Louis XIV set the fashion of silk stockings, breeches, and
brocaded coats, which replaced that of the doublet and hose, top boots, and cloaks. As the long, trailing
rapier was unsuited to the new form of dress, fashion decreed the wearing of a light, short court sword.
The French style set in throughout Europe as the Italian style had done earlier.

Although at first derided, the court sword was soon recognized as an ideal light weapon which allowed
for a multitude of offensive and defensive movements that would have been impossible with heavier
weapons. Its light weight permitted the sword to be used by itself, without the use of daggers, cloaks, or
the free hand. Hits on the opponent were made with the point of the sword only, defense was effected
by the wielding of the blade (fending off the opponent’s blade with one’s own sword), and what is now
recognized as modern fencing came into being. At this time the French style fully displaced the Italian as
the most-practiced form of sword combat.

The French school of sword fighting was an academic form, with much emphasis on strategy and form.
Conventions and rules were adopted to teach this form of swordplay. Additionally, the foil, or practice
sword, was used to create a safe training environment. To further enhance safety, a mask was designed
in the 18th century by the fencing master La Boëssière and the celebrated duelist Joseph Bologne,
chevalier de Saint-Georges.

While fencing with the foil was becoming increasingly stylized, dueling with swords still continued. The
complexities of foil fencing as practiced under the ideal conditions of the schools, or salles, with
reverence for the set rules and conventions, produced a game that became an art of absorbing interest.
But this orthodox, controlled swordplay was of little account on a cold gray morning on a greensward or
gravel path when one faced a determined opponent with a sharp and heavier weapon who disregarded
all conventions. Ironically, however, by the mid-18th century, when fencing had reached its peak in
technique and theory, dueling with the sword had virtually disappeared because of the growing
accuracy of firearms. From this time on, fencing took on the nature of a sport, and in form the swordplay
of this time differed little from the modern sport of fencing.

For those few who continued to follow the sword as a method of resolving conflict, the épée de combat
was created in the second half of the 19th century. The practice version of this weapon was a regulation,
though blunted, dueling sword, and it was used without limitation of target or other conventions. Except
for the use of protective clothing, épée fencing closely approximated the conditions of a duel.

The last of the modern fencing weapons appeared in the late 18th century, when the Hungarians
introduced a curved sabre (adapted from the Eastern scimitar) for the use of their cavalry. The sabre
was soon adopted by other European armies. The heavy military sabre (and its counterpart, the naval
cutlass) was used in fencing schools until the end of the 19th century, when the Italians introduced a
light sabre that was soon accepted universally as a sport weapon.

Fencing became an increasingly organized competitive sport late in the 19th century. Basic conventions
were first collected and set down in the 1880s by the French fencing master Camille Prévost. Officially
recognized fencing associations also began to appear: the Amateur Fencers League of America was
founded in 1891, the Amateur Fencing Association of Great Britain in 1902, and the Fédération
Nationale des Sociétés d’Escrime et Salles d’Armes de France in 1906. Collegiate fencing in the United
States was organized around this time as well: the Intercollegiate Fencing Association held its first
matches in 1894 (the sport in American universities is now governed by the National Collegiate Athletic
Association).

Meanwhile, fencing for men had been part of the Olympic Games since their revival in 1896. In 1900 the
épée joined the foil and sabre as individual events in the Olympic program. Team competition in the foil
was introduced in the 1904 Games, followed by the sabre and épée in 1908. By the early 20th century,
numerous disputes had arisen over various fencing rules. For instance, at the 1912 Olympic Games,
France withdrew its entire team over a dispute regarding the target area for foil, and the Italians refused
to fence in the épée events because of a rejected request to increase the allowed length of the épée
blade. As a result, in 1913 the Fédération Internationale d’Escrime was founded and thereafter was the
governing body of international fencing for amateurs, both in the Olympic Games and in world
championships.

Events for women fencers were added to the Olympic contest over the years. Individual foil for women
was first included in the 1924 Olympic Games, and a team event for women was introduced in the 1960
Games. Women’s team and individual épée made their Olympic debut in the 1996 Games. The women’s
individual sabre event was added in the 2004 Olympic Games, and the women’s team sabre event was
added in the 2008 Games, and from 2004 to 2016 the Olympics rotated out two team events as a result,
as the International Olympic Committee declined to commensurately increase fencing’s medal count.

From the end of the 19th century until after World War II, épée and foil competitions were dominated
by the French and Italians. Thereafter, as fencing became more popular worldwide, the Soviet and
Hungarian fencers became dominant. Especially in sabre, the Hungarians dominated for much of the
20th century. Some of the most notable fencers of the 20th century included the Hungarian sabreist
Aladár Gerevich, who won gold medals in six consecutive Olympics, and the Italian Edoardo Mangiarotti,
who won 13 world championship gold medals.

In 1936 the electrical épée was adopted for competition, eliminating the sometimes inaccurate
determinations by fencing officials. The arrival and judgment of hits is completely registered by the
electrical apparatus. In 1955 electrical scoring was introduced for foil competitions, making its Olympic
debut at the 1956 Games, but judges are still required to interpret the priority of the arrival of hits.
Electrical scoring for the sabre became part of the Olympic program at the 1992 Games. The electrical
system used in fencing works on the same principle as the door bell. Fencers wear clothing made of
lamé interlaced with copper threads; the lamé is sensitive to the electrical weapon. In épée the entire
suit is sensitive, as the entire body is the target in that fencing variant; in foil, only the vest worn by the
fencer is sensitive; in sabre the vest and mask are sensitive. Cords are connected to the fencer’s
clothing, to the weapon, and to the scoring box. (The cords connected to the fencer coil into a reel that
is spring-loaded to take up any slack in the cords and prevent the fencer from tripping.) When a weapon
touches the fencer with even a small amount of pressure, a circuit is created and the scoring box reflects
a hit. In Olympic fencing, the first fencer to record 15 points wins the bout. Bouts can also be of a
predetermined duration, in which case the fencer with the highest score wins.
 Ancient History
The earliest known depiction of boxing comes from a Sumerian relief in Iraq from the
3rd millennium BC.[2] A relief sculpture from Egyptian Thebes (c. 1350 BC) shows both
boxers and spectators.[2] These early Middle-Eastern and Egyptian depictions showed
contests where fighters were either bare-fisted or had a band supporting the wrist. [2] The
earliest evidence of fist fighting with the use of gloves can be found on Minoan Crete (c.
1500–1400 BC).[2]
Various types of boxing existed in ancient India. The earliest references to musti-
yuddha come from classical Vedic epics such as the Ramayana and Rig Veda.
The Mahabharata describes two combatants boxing with clenched fists and fighting with
kicks, finger strikes, knee strikes and headbutts. [3]. During the period of the Western
Satraps, the ruler Rudradaman – in addition to being well-versed in “the great sciences”
which included Indian classical music, Sanskrit grammar, and logic – was said to be an
excellent horseman, charioteer, elephant rider, swordsman and boxer. [4] The Gurbilas
Shemi, an 18th-century Sikh text, gives numerous references to musti-yuddha.

In Ancient Greece boxing was a well developed sport and enjoyed consistent popularity.
In Olympic terms, it was first introduced in the 23rd Olympiad, 688 BC. The boxers
would wind leather thongs around their hands in order to protect them. There were no
rounds and boxers fought until one of them acknowledged defeat or could not continue.
Weight categories were not used, which meant heavyweights had a tendency to
dominate. The style of boxing practiced typically featured an advanced left leg stance,
with the left arm semi-extended as a guard, in addition to being used for striking, and
with the right arm drawn back ready to strike. It was the head of the opponent which
was primarily targeted, and there is little evidence to suggest that targeting the body
was common.[5]
Boxing was a popular spectator sport in Ancient Rome. [6] Fighters protected their
knuckles with leather thongs wrapped around their fists. Eventually harder leather was
used and the thong became a weapon. Metal studs were introduced to the thongs to
make the cestus. Fighting events were held at Roman Amphitheatres.

Records of Classical boxing activity disappeared after the fall of the Western Roman
Empire when the wearing of weapons became common once again and interest in
fighting with the fists waned. However, there are detailed records of various fist-fighting
sports that were maintained in different cities and provinces of Italy between the 12th
and 17th centuries. There was also a sport in ancient Rus called Kulachniy Boy or “Fist
Fighting”.

As the wearing of swords became less common, there was renewed interest in fencing
with the fists. The sport would later resurface in England during the early 16th century in
the form of bare-knuckle boxing sometimes referred to as prizefighting. The first
documented account of a bare-knuckle fight in England appeared in 1681 in the  London
Protestant Mercury, and the first English bare-knuckle champion was James Figg in
1719.[7] This is also the time when the word “boxing” first came to be used. This earliest
form of modern boxing was very different. Contests in Mr. Figg’s time, in addition to fist
fighting, also contained fencing and cudgeling. On 6 January 1681, the first recorded
boxing match took place in Britain when Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle
(and later Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica) engineered a bout between his butler and
his butcher with the latter winning the prize.
Early fighting had no written rules. There were no weight divisions or round limits, and
no referee. In general, it was extremely chaotic. An early article on boxing was
published in Nottingham, 1713, by Sir Thomas Parkyns, a successful Wrestler from
Bunny, Nottinghamshire, who had practised the techniques he described. The article, a
single page in his manual of wrestling and fencing, Progymnasmata: The inn-play, or
Cornish-hugg wrestler, described a system of headbutting, punching, eye-gouging,
chokes, and hard throws, not recognized in boxing today. [8]
The first boxing rules, called the Broughton’s rules, were introduced by champion Jack
Broughton in 1743 to protect fighters in the ring where deaths sometimes occurred.
[9]
 Under these rules, if a man went down and could not continue after a count of 30
seconds, the fight was over. Hitting a downed fighter and grasping below the waist were
prohibited. Broughton encouraged the use of ‘mufflers’, a form of padded bandage or
mitten, to be used in ‘jousting’ or sparring sessions in training, and in exhibition
matches.
These rules did allow the fighters an advantage not enjoyed by today’s boxers; they
permitted the fighter to drop to one knee to end the round and begin the 30-second
count at any time. Thus a fighter realizing he was in trouble had an opportunity to
recover. However, this was considered “unmanly” [10] and was frequently disallowed by
additional rules negotiated by the Seconds of the Boxers. [11] In modern boxing, there is a
three-minute limit to rounds (unlike the downed fighter ends the round rule). Intentionally
going down in modern boxing will cause the recovering fighter to lose points in the
scoring system. Furthermore, as the contestants did not have heavy leather gloves and
wristwraps to protect their hands, they used different punching technique to preserve
their hands because the head was a common target to hit full out. Almost all period
manuals have powerful straight punches with the whole body behind them to the face
(including forehead) as the basic blows.[12][13]
The London Prize Ring Rules introduced measures that remain in effect for professional
boxing to this day, such as outlawing butting, gouging, scratching, kicking, hitting a man
while down, holding the ropes, and using resin, stones or hard objects in the hands, and
biting.[14]

In 1867, the Marquess of Queensberry rules were drafted by John Chambers for
amateur championships held at Lillie Bridge in London for Lightweights, Middleweights
and Heavyweights. The rules were published under the patronage of the Marquess of
Queensberry, whose name has always been associated with them.

There were twelve rules in all, and they specified that fights should be “a fair stand-up
boxing match” in a 24-foot-square or similar ring. Rounds were three minutes with one-
minute rest intervals between rounds. Each fighter was given a ten-second count if he
was knocked down, and wrestling was banned. The introduction of gloves of “fair-size”
also changed the nature of the bouts. An average pair of boxing gloves resembles a
bloated pair of mittens and are laced up around the wrists. [16] The gloves can be used to
block an opponent’s blows. As a result of their introduction, bouts became longer and
more strategic with greater importance attached to defensive maneuvers such as
slipping, bobbing, countering and angling. Because less defensive emphasis was
placed on the use of the forearms and more on the gloves, the classical forearms
outwards, torso leaning back stance of the bare knuckle boxer was modified to a more
modern stance in which the torso is tilted forward and the hands are held closer to the
face.
Through the late nineteenth century, the martial art of boxing or prizefighting was
primarily a sport of dubious legitimacy. Outlawed in England and much of the United
States, prizefights were often held at gambling venues and broken up by police.
[17]
 Brawling and wrestling tactics continued, and riots at prizefights were common
occurrences. Still, throughout this period, there arose some notable bare knuckle
champions who developed fairly sophisticated fighting tactics.
The English case of R v. Coney in 1882 found that a bare-knuckle fight was an assault
occasioning actual bodily harm, despite the consent of the participants. This marked the
end of widespread public bare-knuckle contests in England.
The first world heavyweight champion under the Queensberry Rules was “Gentleman
Jim” Corbett, who defeated John L. Sullivan in 1892 at the Pelican Athletic Club in New
Orleans.[18]
The first instance of film censorship in the United States occurred in 1897 when several
states banned the showing of prize fighting films from the state of Nevada, [19] where it
was legal at the time.
Throughout the early twentieth century, boxers struggled to achieve legitimacy. [20] They
were aided by the influence of promoters like Tex Rickard and the popularity of great
champions such as John L. Sullivan.
In wrestling, a pin (or a fall) is when you bring down your opponent on his/her back with
any part of both shoulders or both shoulder blades. Your opponent’s back or any body
part said above should stay in contact with the mat for at least two seconds.

If nobody gets pinned, the wrestler who scored the most points during the match is
declared as a winner. Let us see the rules regarding points and illegal actions on the
mat −

Wrestling – Weightage of Points

There are multiple ways you can score points of the following weightage in a wrestling
match legally −

Takedown (2 points)

Escape (1 point)

Reversal (2 points)

Near Fall (2 pints if lasts for 2 seconds or 3 points if lasts for 5 seconds)

Penalty Points (1 or 2 points)

Wrestling Rules Regarding Illegal Holds

The referee can penalize you for −

Grabbing the singlet, the mat, or the headgear.

Locked or overlapped hands: If you are down on the mat in control of your opponent,
you cannot lock or overlap your hands, fingers or arms around your opponent's body or
both legs unless −

You have fulfilled the criteria for a near pin of your opponent.

Your opponent stands up and has all his/her weight on two feet.

You have lifted the opponent off the mat.

Wrestling Rules Regarding Technical Violations

The referee can penalize on the violation of the following rules −

Going off the mat or forcing your opponent off the mat to avoid wrestling.

Leaving the mat during the match without the referee's permission.

Reporting to the mat not properly equipped or not ready to wrestle, or with the illegal
equipment at the time of starting the match.

Bringing roughness in the game unnecessarily.

Conducting oneself indecently or unsportsmanlike.

Incorrect starting position or false start

The first and second time you are penalized, your opponent is awarded one
point. The third time you are penalized, your opponent is awarded two points. The fourth
time you are penalized, you are disqualified.

The rules for various wrestling styles in the Olympics and international
championships are different.