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Fencing began as a form of combat. Over the centuries it became outmoded as a means of warfare and it gradually evolved into dueling. Today it is a sport of skill, alertness and fast footwork. It has developed into a popular sport, particularly in colleges.

Fencing, which is the art of armed personal offense and defense, originated as a form of deadly combat long before the Christian Era and continued as such for 2,000-perhaps more-years. Probably the oldest known sword is the short sword with its blade of bronze, found in the tomb of Saragon the first King of Ur. This would date the pioneer fencing weapon at 5,000 or more years, according to historians.

The most treasured blade in the world is the Divine Sword of Japan. It is over 2,000 years old and is called the Rusanagino Tsurugi. It was brandished by Prince Yamato Takeruno Mikoto, and legend has it that he used it first to cut down blazing grass which surrounded him and then whirled it with victorious result at his enemies in Eastern Japan. When the sword was moved on Nov. 1, 1935, to a new building in the Atusta Shrine at Nagoya, the occasion called for a national holiday in Japan and a ceremony in which over 500,000 took part. Thus one of the largest crowds in history assembled to pay homage to a fencing device of only legendary value.

From the time of Saragon of ancient Ur until the 12th or 13th Centuries A.D., the sword was not in general use for the reason that the blade was of bronze, which could not hold a sharp edge. Although sword combats -spears were used in earlier days-were common long before Christ, duels as the accepted means of settling disputes did not come into vogue until centuries afterward and it was this custom that gave fencing a tremendous impetus.

The early duels were to the death. Since no gentleman could afford to refuse a challenge for fear of social ostracism, all men gave much of their time and energy to learning the art of swordsmanship. Even today, when fencing is usually practiced only for sport's sake, there are instances of dueling to settle disputes. In most modern duels, however, the rules end the contest when one man has drawn the other's blood. Furthermore, modern fencers the world over frown on this vestige of the past and it is seldom indeed that a principal in the modern duel is an active participant in the sport.

Several countries lay claim to the origin of fencing as a sport, and each has a convincing basis for its claim. During the 14th Century the Germans decided that dueling could be a form of sport as well as a fight to the death. They pioneered duels with blunted sword points, and an official determined who was superior after a fixed length of time. A manuscript dated 1410 A.D. describes fencing as a sport in Germany, leading to the conclusion that it may have been established 50 or 60 years earlier, or near the middle of the 14th Century. The Marxbruder (Fencing) Guild of Lowenberg existed in 1383.

These data relative to fencing in Germany in the 14th Century weaken Italy's claim to creation of the sport because there was no fencing in Italy until the 15th Century. However, the sword used in the early years in Germany was a heavy, clumsy weapon, 32 to 36 inches in length, without a hand guard. The use of such a weapon set early German fencing apart from modern fencing, which is more directly traceable to Spain, Italy and France. The inventor of the hand guard, which he called pas d'ane, was Gonzalvo de Cordova, a Spanish army captain who died in 1515 and whose sword is in the Madrid Museum.