by Tom Stewart

Created on: May 12, 2009   Last Updated: May 15, 2009

The sport of fencing goes back hundreds of years to the 12th century. French for 'sword', the epee, along with the foil and saber, is one of three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The epee was created especially for dueling back in the 18th century. Disputes being settled with sword fighting often led to duelers fighting to the death. The epee was developed to allow for non fatal methods of dueling, with the winner being the first to draw blood. In the beginning fighting to the death was still the primary goal but in time competitors gained skill and finesse achieving methods to cause nicks and cuts to their opponents for the win. Eventually the epee was modified to protect the hand and arm from being cut making it more like today's modern epee. Bell guards and cross bars were implemented to protect from injury on the weapon hand.

In time, fencing became less barbaric and more of a sport for fun and entertainment. Judges were soon being used to keep score and the tips of the epee swords were rounded off with three barbs that would pull on the opponents clothing during a strike. This modification made the sport safer and easier to keep score. In 1900 epee fencing became a sport for men in the Olympics. With the interest in fencing in the Olympics the International Fencing Federation or FIE short for the French translation of Federation Internationale d'Escrime was founded in Paris, France in 1913. The FIE began organizing and scheduling international fencing competitions with competitors from around the world. A universal set of rules and scoring for the sport were developed and the FIE began to sanction match types, equipment, and safety gear. Today the FIE head office is located in Switzerland.

Competitive fencing is now a sport for thousands of professional and amateur athletes from over 100 different countries. Aside from the Olympics, men and women compete regularly in the Fencing World Championships and Fencing World Cup among many other competitions. In 1996 women finally became eligible for epee fencing in the Olympics.

In today's society it is rare that fencing is used to settle disputes, but in some old world countries, challenges are still occasionally made between quarreling parties. However, fencing is more commonly thought of as a competitive combat sport for well trained athletes using the proper equipment and safety clothing.

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