History of fencing in Russia

Fencing is one of the ancient types of martial arts. The first fencing fight took place when the first human being took a stick in his hand and struck out, testing the strength of his opponent’s skull.

As a sport, however, fencing developed in the early 17th century in Italy, Spain and France. In Russia fencing first appeared in the early 18th century, when Peter the Great introduced obligatory bayonet fighting training, and made fencing an obligatory skill for members of his court. At that time, fencing became one of the main physical exercises for Russian nobility.

Soon fencing became an obligatory course in many educational institutions. For instance in 1755 Moscow State University inaugurated a gymnasium, which included four hours of fencing a week, quite an important part of the curriculum. At the end of the year the students were examined in fencing at an open public examination.

For a long time fencing was practiced only in the army and in two capitals, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Only in the second half of the 19th century fencing first appeared in other Russian cities – Kazan, Riga, Smolensk, and Kharkov.

The first official Russian championship in fencing was organized in 1860, with army officers and several students of private fencing schools taking part.

In 1910 Russian fencing masters entered the international stage. Saber fencers P. Zakovorot and Y. Misho took part in large international competitions in Paris, and Zakovorot won 3rd place, while Misho finished 5th.

Two years after that Russian fencers debuted on the Olympic Games, failing to get any medals in Stockholm.

The next appearance of Russian fencers on the Olympic Games came only forty years later. After the revolution of 1917 our fencers found themselves in international isolation. On the other hand, fencing soon started developing all over the country.

In 1918 first Soviet courses of gymnastics and fencing were introduced for soldiers and officers of the Red Army, and the Soviet Military Gymnastics and Fencing School was opened in St. Petersburg. A year later the Central Military School of Public Physical Education was opened in Moscow. These institutions trained professional fencers and fencing coaches and introduced basic techniques and methodologies. Several outstanding fencers appeared, including brothers Arkadiev, Boris and Vitaly, both of whom left an important mark in the history of Soviet sport. Boris Arkadiev was a great football coach, the first manager of the USSR national squad, and Vitaly Arkadiev stayed with fencing, and became one of the founders of the Russian national fencing school, helping bring up dozens of outstanding athletes.

In the early 1920s amateur fencing clubs were founded in various cities and towns, and city and regional tournaments were organized. On August 15-21, 1928 at the First All-Union Spartacus Cup the first fencing championship attracted 110 athletes from 13 republics, cities and districts. The first national champions were foilsmen Konstantin Feldman and Ekaterina Lopatina, saber fencer Yuri Mordovin, and A. Nechaev who won a fencing tournament in elastic bayonet fight.

At that time fencing departments were organized in Institutes of Physical Education, soon graduating professional athletes and coaches. In 1935 the first children’s fencing school was open in Leningrad. Some time later similar schools were opened in Moscow, Rostov, Kharkov and other cities. In the same year Leningrad hosted the second USSR Championship, and in 1938 these events became annual, interrupting the tradition only in 1941 and 1942 due to WWII.

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