FENCING IS ART
FENCING IS ART
Fencing in Italian is “scherma”, it derives from the Lombard “Skirmjan”, which means “to protect”, “to cover”.
The discipline itself reflects the meaning of its title. Fencing, in fact has its foundations in placing one’s weapon as a defense/shield between oneself and the opponent. A further analogy can be found with English itself; “fencing” derives from the Latin “defensa”, which means “protection”. It is perhaps the oldest sport in the world, perfected over the centuries to become the refined ART that kept many holding their breath at the last Olympics. Fencing today indicates the ART of fighting with different weapons: foil, sword, and saber. During the fight, called “bout”, two athletes face each other on a metal platform, called “piste”, firmly holding their weapon with their gloved hand: the aim is to be able to “touch” the opponent first. The bout ends at the 15th hit, or the 10th in SENIOR competitions, with the designation of the winner.
The key moves are:
- (for the attack) the lunge, a long step forward that allows to inflict a thrust to the opponent.
- (for the defense) the various types of “parries”, to avoid the opponent’s thrust.
There is a referee who ensures the regularity of the bout, recognizes the thrusts and assigns the score. The referee can also give, if necessary, yellow or red cards depending on the seriousness of the irregularities committed by the fencers. In extreme cases, there is the black card, which causes the expulsion from the bout of those who receive it.
