Have you ever been in a situation where you had to quit your sport because you didn’t have the ideal physical attributes, like height and weight? Did this hamper your performance? It sure happened A LOT to me! In my younger years, I went through numerous sports, looking for the perfect one; I found out that you need to be tall in basketball and you need to weigh more in football. These are not the only sports that require a particular physical attribute. Although it may seem like all competitions are like this, fencing is different; it is free from this problem, but often mistakenly overlooked.

Fencing is misconceived in many ways, leading to a decline in popularity.

According to “15 Common Misconceptions About Fencing” by Irina Chirashnya, these inaccuracies include:

Fencing is dangerous
Fencing has no physical intensity to it
Fencing is all for show and movies
Fencing is easy
Also, many people believe that fencing is outdated. All of these misunderstandings have led to a decline in popularity for fencing. However, almost all of the misconceptions are formed by people who do not know the history of fencing.

Fencing dates back to sword fighting in the early 1190 B.C., which was played by children and older males. The activity later developed into military training and guilds in the 14th and 15th centuries, in which Italy and Germany lay claims to its origins. A century later (the 16th century), fatal and bloody duels involving quarterstaffs and backswords became popular. To prevent these casualties, the 17th-century folks created sophisticated rules, forming the foil style of fencing. Just like other sports, fencing developed even further and soon became an Olympic sport in the 1896 Olympics in Athens for men. Women’s fencing was later added in the 1924 Olympics in Paris, 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

As proven from the history: 

Fencing is not dangerous, for it has developed over centuries to prevent any injuries.
Fencing is shown to have lots of physical intensity, for one of the fundamental reasons for creating this activity was to train military personnel.
Fencing would not have been accepted as an Olympic sport where people compete for a gold medal if it was only for shows and movies.
Again, Fencing was created as a military training activity, meaning there is difficulty to it. 
Most of these inaccurate rumors were created by people who have not taken their time to learn or practice fencing at all. All of these lies have ultimately led people to be embarrassed to partake or reveal to the public that they are practicing fencing. 

Although fencing has developed somewhat of a negative reputation, many still practice the sport because of their love for it. Also, not only is fencing enjoyable, but it has many benefits. The article, “Why Fencing is the New It Sport for Kids” by Kidzu, lists that fencing improves the athlete by forcing them into thinking analytically while using their whole body. On top of that, “9 Reasons Why Fencing Is Good For Kids” by Igor Chirashnya explains that fencing terminates the child’s longing for their electronic device while building friendships, discipline, and self-esteem. Fencing also results in fewer injuries than most other physically inclined sports!

Although fencing is not popular, several children and adults practice it for the benefits it brings. People improve their personality through fencing without even noticing it themselves. Given a chance to begin a new hobby, will you choose to fence? 

Works Cited

“15 Common Misconceptions About Fencing.” Academy of Fencing Masters Blog, 27 Apr. 2017, academyoffencingmasters.com/blog/15-common-misconceptions-about-fencing. 

Chirashnya, Igor. “9 Reasons Why Fencing Is Good For Kids.” Academy of Fencing Masters Blog, 17 June 2019, academyoffencingmasters.com/blog/9-reasons-why-fencing-is-good-for-kids/. 

Doug. “Fencing-the-New-It-Sport-for-Kids.” Kidzu, 7 Nov. 2019, kidzu.co/sports-athletics/fencing/fencing-the-new-it-sport-for-kids/.