George Washington. Lex Luthor. Napoleon. Zorro. Blackbeard the Pirate. Romeo.
Stonewall Jackson. Obi Wan Kenobi. Inigo Montoya. René Descartes. Mr. Sulu of the
U.S.S Enterprise. Captain Hook. Errol Flynn. Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D’Artagnan.
All of these people, whether fictional characters or historic figures conjure up grand images and
fascinating stories. And they all share something in common. They all studied the art of Fencing!
Fencing is the art of swordplay, the combination of offense and defense with a sword.
Fencing is both a physical and mental sport. It requires stamina and speed, but even more so, it
requires an understanding of technique, a sense of time, balance, finesse and most importantly it
requires a sense of distance. A fencer must be able to move quickly and keep the pace up for the
duration of a match. A fencer must also compete psychologically with their opponent. The fencer
must learn a variety of strategies, various moves, and must judge themselves relative to their
opponent. Fencing is an intense and fast sport. Most of all, fencing is just plain fun.
Fencing is a broad term, but it usually refers to the Olympic style, for which there are
specific sub-types of fencing and a strict set of rules. This is the type of fencing to which we will
refer.