Stone age sword
The change of sword can be divided into five stages: the age of ignorance-the stone age, the age of near weapons-the dagger, the age of aristocratic samurai-the long sword, the age of sabre, and the age of declining sword.
Aristocrats and Warriors: The Age of Long Sword
In ancient times, soldiers always wore an armor on the battlefield to protect their bodies from harm. With the continuous upgrading of iron smelting and steelmaking technology, scales and chain mail have replaced simple leather armor as protective gear. Protective gear made the armor-piercing ability of swords a test, so the shape of western swords was upgraded from Greek daggers to long swords, and the west entered the era of long swords.
Now that armor piercing has become the main purpose, improving the ability of stabbing is what the swordsmen of that era need to do most. "Knight Sword" is their solution for cavalry. The front end of this classic sword is sharper and the cutting part is greatly reduced. Because the body of the sword is long (the whole sword can reach1.5m), the slashing ability is reduced, but the stabbing ability is greatly enhanced. The knight's sword allows the cavalry to stab and pick on the horse, and its lethality is also good. Most importantly, this weapon can break the enemy's heavy armor and cause damage to steel drums.
However, the fighting ability of the knight's sword dismounted was too poor, so the broadsword became a classic alternative weapon for the English people, retaining the chopping ability while stabbing. Among the infantry swords, kopis is probably the most classic.
Keeping pace with the knife method is the armor-piercing sword, which originated in14th century. At that time, the manufacturing technology of armor reached an unprecedented level. Armor replaced chain mail, lighter. The swordsmen made a final resistance to defeat the new armor. At that time, many knights and mercenaries used it as a second weapon. Although the armor-piercing sword exists like a demon for soldiers wearing armor, its function is far less than that of a much lighter hammer, so after less than half a century of use, the armor-piercing sword disappeared from the battlefield and its use technology disappeared. This was the last time that the sword tried to outdo the armor, and then this attempt was abandoned.
The Last Glory: The Saber Age
Sabre, saber, or saber in motion (can only effectively hit the trunk and head). It is actually a variant of the Arab machete. Sabre has replaced long sword as cavalry equipment all over Europe. In a sense, the two-handed sword was pushed out of the historical stage with the joint efforts of bayonet and foil. In fact, saber wins in weight and cutting ability.
With the last heavy ride-the bleak curtain call of armored cavalry, sabre has become the equipment of performance team and honor guard together with cavalry, rather than combat equipment.
Decline and Beginning: Fencing Age
Lightsaber can be said to be the last swan song of European infantry single-handed sword. Tracing back to the origin of lightsaber, it should be the aforementioned armor-piercing sword. As we said just now, the armor-piercing sword has disappeared from the historical stage of cold weapons. It was not until the beginning of15th century that the invention of gunpowder and the birth of guns completely lost the military value of fencing on the battlefield. /kloc-In the late 5th century, a thin sword, which is different from the typical cross-armguard wide-edged sword in the Middle Ages, began to appear in Spain. This typical thin-edged sword was subsequently welcomed and widely used as a weapon for duel and self-defense among the people.
/kloc-At the beginning of the 0/7th century, the technology of lightsaber was developed, and a mature knight sword guard appeared, that is, a composite disc guard. Moreover, this kind of hand guard also minimizes the possibility that the opponent will attack his sword holder. /kloc-in the 0/7th century, the lightsaber reached its peak, and duels using it were everywhere. Influenced by the Renaissance, it became more and more elegant. /kloc-at the end of the 0/7th century, the nobles simply gave up the sword-stabbing, which still had great lethality. Thus, the lightsaber house "Little Sword" appeared. This dagger completely abandons the design of the blade. They are light and thin. But at this time, there are still a lot of effective sword grabbing actions in fencing, but they were later cancelled, and the main stab sword gradually became a toy for nobles.
The change of sword
After that, foil appeared in France, which is an almost harmless weapon. Its length is shorter than the previous sword, and even the design of the tip of the sword has been abandoned. The tip of the sword is wrapped like a bud, hence the name foil. The cross armguard, which can provide good protection for swordsmen, gradually degenerates into an ornament. The early foil inherited Xiao Jian's hilt and had two hollow 8-shaped petal armguards. In the foil competition in the19th century, this kind of hand protector was preserved and a leather pad was added. Then use the traditional disc-type hand guard. The use of technology has gradually begun to use modern fencing techniques such as foil and epee.
Fast sword, indoor sword, early fencing, modern fencing
The continuous improvement of the defensive ability of protective gear forces people to constantly study and strengthen the attack power of weapons, which directly leads to the continuous evolution of swords. With the appearance of firearms, cold weapons and knights gradually declined and were finally used in fencing.
Fencing originated from dueling.
The development history of "sword" is actually the development history of fencing. Understanding the changing history of "sword" will help us better understand fencing.
Ancient fencing
Fencing is very popular in ancient Egypt, China, Greece, Rome, Arabia and other countries. According to historical records, fencing lessons appeared in ancient Greece as early as 1 1 century BC, and were taught by swordsmen.
The earliest description of fencing competition can be found in a relief of Madinathab Temple near Luxor, Egypt, around BC 1 190. The fencer attacks with a sword, while the other defends with a shield, wearing a mask and a big neck protector, and there is a well-dressed referee standing next to him, surrounded by many spectators cheering. Ancient Persians, Babylonians and Greeks also practiced fencing, sometimes in friendly matches and sometimes in battles.
The Romans discovered that Germanic tribes used fencing to settle disputes. This simple and fair way is called "duel", which was very common in medieval European countries.
/kloc-in the 0/5th century, men used swords as a fashionable decoration, and the situation of fighting for honor often appeared, although their reasons for "duel" seemed ridiculous today.
In order to learn how to defend, young gentlemen came to fencing school, received training from Italian teachers, learned fencing skills and speed, and developed fencing into an art.
By the late19th century, fencing had become a competitive sport; 1882, the first fencing association in the world was established in France; 1893, the American Amateur Fencing Association was established.
Fencing was included in the first Olympic Games in 1896, and it was the only event that allowed professional athletes to participate.
What are the benefits of fencing for children?
1, exercise children's reaction ability
In the process of fighting, both sides need to observe and think constantly, and react quickly within the distance of confrontation and limited time, thus forming a brand-new thinking mode, which can promote the rapid adaptation ability of trainers, especially for the good development of teenagers' mind, intelligence and body.
2, can play the role of self-defense.
In the face of crisis, calm down, pay attention to observation, and quickly judge each other's motives and the possibility of next action; Fencing is a long-distance defense. So you will never let your opponent get close to your body, so as to seize the opportunity to defeat the enemy. Fencing can gradually become an instinctive reaction through constant training.
3. Let children experience different happiness and passion.
Fencing can make people enjoy the fun of the game in the confrontation between the two sides, release the pressure, experience the happiness of success, and stimulate the fighting spirit and enthusiasm of hard work and enterprising. It is an exciting sport that won't cause any sports injuries.