Some quite interesting facts about fencing ... or they may just be rumours or actual lies.
The foil has a blade made of pure steel, the swords maximum length is 3 feet and is not allowed to weigh more than 1.1 pounds. The sabre is a sword from the 18th century and is similar to the foil but weighs slightly less and is about one inch shorter.
The tip of the fencing weapon is the second fastest moving object in sport after the marksman's bullet.
The earliest known surviving treatise on fencing, stored at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, England, dates from around 1300 AD and is from Germany. Written in medieval Latin and German, it describes a system of using the sword and buckler (small shield) and is illustrated by over 100 ink and watercolour drawings.
For the London 2012 Olympics, Leon Paul created the "London Lights" - over 640 meters of LED color changing light rope with 38,400 individual LED’s and more than 5km of cable were used to make this spectacular visual effect.
The world’s oldest fencing club is the Confrérie de Saint-Michel, which was established in 1613 in Ghent, Belgium, where it still meets twice a week in the 17th century tower that has been its home for nearly 400 years.
