Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira! And I'm Finn! Before we jump into today's amazing adventure, we have some very special birthdays to celebrate. First, a massive shout out to Avon Lee in Arizona. Happy birthday for this July, Avon Lee! This episode is actually exactly what you asked for. We also want to wish a very happy 10th birthday today to Florence in Bethesda, Maryland. Florence listens with her brother Simon on the way to their grandparents' house. She even went to Italy this summer and loved hearing our episodes about Leonardo da Vinci and Julius Caesar while she was actually there. Have a wonderful birthday, Florence. Okay, so Avon Lee asked for the history of fencing. That's sword fighting, right? Did people actually fight with real swords? Oh, they definitely did. Long before it was a sport, people fought real duels with sharp swords. Wait, how long can a sword fight actually last? Like five minutes? Usually yes, but the longest continuous fencing marathon relay in history lasted exactly 15 hours, two minutes, and five seconds. Over 15 hours? Their arms must have felt like absolute jelly! Haha, definitely. That incredible record was set in London in November 2024. Fencers completed 390 individual bouts in a row with a final score of 1,950 to 1,942. Almost 2,000 points! That is a ridiculous amount of sword poking. Today, fencing is one of the fastest, most elegant sports in the world, but it wasn't always this graceful. So when did people start sword fighting for fun instead of just for war? Much earlier than you might think. Grab your time machine, Finn, because we are travelling way, way back to the ancient world. How far back are we going? Like to the Knights in Shining Armour? Even further! We are travelling back over 3,000 years to ancient Egypt. Specifically to the year 1190 BC. Whoa! The ancient Egyptians fenced. I thought they just built giant pyramids and wrapped mummies. They actually loved sports. There is a huge ancient temple complex near Luxor called Medinet Habu, built by Pharaoh Ramses III. And there's a carving of a sword fight right on the temple wall. Yes, the stone relief clearly shows a sporting competition. You can see two fighters holding sticks with padded bronze tips. Padded tips? So they were actively trying not to hurt each other. That definitely makes it a sport. Exactly! And they weren't just swinging wildly. The carving shows them wearing protective masks that were actually tied directly to their wigs. Haha, tied to their wigs. Imagine trying to sword fight while making sure your wig doesn't fly off. Did they have ear protection too? They did. They wore large bibs and thick padding over their ears, and there were even judges watching the match. It's amazing that over 3,000 years ago they were doing modern sports. What about the Romans? Did gladiators fence? The Romans brought sword combat to a highly systematic art. Gladiators trained in special schools called Ludi using a wooden practice sword called Arudis. Was a wooden sword lighter than a real metal one? Actually, no. The Roman instructors deliberately made the wooden practice swords heavier than the real ones. Oh, that's genius! That way, when they picked up their actual metal swords in the arena, the weapons felt super light and lightning fast. Exactly. But as time went on, things got a lot less organised. In fact, in the year 1286, King Edward I of England completely outlawed fencing schools in London. Outlawed them? Why would the king ban sword fighting schools? Because they were attracting too many criminals and troublemakers. Things changed a lot during the Middle Ages. Instead of organised sports, picture knights covered head to toe in heavy iron armour, clashing on a muddy battlefield. Oh man, I bet their massive medieval swords weighed like 50 pounds. You'd need arms like a bodybuilder. Actually, that's a huge history myth. A typical medieval longsword usually weighed only two and a half to four pounds. Wait, seriously? That's barely heavier than a big bottle of soda. True, but it still relied heavily on brute strength, because knights were trying to bash their way through thick metal armour. It wasn't very graceful. So, when did sword fighting turn into the super fast, elegant fencing we know today? That huge shift happened during the Renaissance, mostly in the 15th and 16th centuries, in countries like Italy and Spain. Why then? Did they just get tired of wearing heavy metal suits? Gunpowder changed everything. Once armies started using firearms, heavy metal armour became totally useless because bullets could pierce right through it. Oh, and if you aren't wearing thick steel armour, you don't need a heavy, bashing sword to break through it. Exactly. This led to the invention of a brand new, incredibly popular weapon, the rapier. It was a long, extremely thin sword with a sharp, lightning quick point. Like the swords the famous musketeers use in the movies. Swish, swish, swoosh! Exactly like that. Because the rapier was so light, swordplay became a graceful, high-speed skill. In Spain, they developed a fencing system called destrezza, which means the art of dexterity. So it became more about being quick on your feet and super clever than just being really strong. Yes. And in Italy, around the year 1500, Italian fencing masters became incredibly famous. A master named Agrippa actually invented the four basic fencing positions. Are those the same positions fences still use today? They are. The basic mathematical science of fencing was born right there in the Renaissance. But there was one massive problem. Practising with real, sharp rapiers was incredibly dangerous. Students were constantly getting seriously injured, just trying to learn. That's terrible! They needed some serious safety gear before someone got poked in the eye. Exactly! And clever inventors stepped up. First, in the 17th century, French masters invented a blunt practice weapon called the foil. Why was it called a foil? Does it look like aluminium foil? Not quite. They flattened and folded the metal at the tip of the blade to make it look like a leaf, which made it completely blunt and much safer. Phew! A blunt tip definitely helps. But what about their faces? You still don't want a metal stick whipping near your nose. Believe it or not, for a long time, fencers absolutely refused to wear protective masks. They thought wearing a mask meant you were a coward or just a sloppy fencer. That is the silliest thing I've ever heard. I would definitely want a mask. Did they finally figure it out? They did. In the 1780s, a French fencing master named Nicolas Texier Laboissire invented the very first wire mesh fencing mask. Way to go, Nicholas! I bet that wire mesh design saved a ton of noses. It definitely did. The wire mesh mask changed the entire sport. Because fencers finally felt safe, they could practice way more difficult and lightning fast moves without any fear. That's the coolest thing about safety gear. It doesn't just protect you, it actually lets you push the extreme limits of the sport. Exactly! Fencing went from a deadly street jewel to an incredibly complex, high-speed game of physical chess. How did they know if someone actually scored a point before electronic scoreboards were invented? They used a super clever trick. Sometimes they would dip the blunt tips of their swords in wet ink, so if you poked your opponent's white canvas jacket, it would leave a colourful spot to prove you scored. Ink spots on a white jacket, that is brilliant. But wait, are there different types of swords in modern fencing? Yes. Today fencers use three specific modern weapons: the foil, the epae, and the sabre. And they each have totally different rules. How are they different? Do you wear different outfits? The outfits are similar, but the targets are different. With the foil, you can only score by poking your opponent's torso. With the heavy epay, the entire body is a target. From your head all the way down to your toes. Watch your toes. What about the sabre? The sabre is the fastest weapon of all. You can use both the point and the edge of the blade, and you can score anywhere above the waist. Wow! So you have to learn totally different strategies depending on the sword you pick. Did fencing become an official international sport? It did. When the very first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece in 1896, fencing was one of the premiere events. Whoa, 1896? That's over 120 years ago. Has it been in every single Olympic since then? It has. Fencing is one of only five sports that have been contested at every single modern Olympic Games in history. That is awesome! But wait, do you have any super weird facts about fencing? You know I love the weird, surprising stuff. Oh, absolutely! Did you know that in an 1897 Epe tournament in Paris, there were no time limits? One match went on for an hour and 25 minutes without a single point being scored. An hour and a half of just dodging and poking at the air? Didn't they get absolutely exhausted? They did. They were so tired, they actually paused the official match, took a nice lunch break, and then came back to fight for another 25 minutes before someone finally scored a hit? Excuse me, sir. Would you like to pause our intense sword fight for a cheese sandwich? That is hilarious. Alright, Finn, it's time for the quiz. Are you ready? Okay, I've got my invisible wire mesh fencing mask securely fastened. I am totally ready. First question. Which ancient civilization carved a picture of a fencing tournament on a temple wall around 1190 BC? Next one. What thin lightning quick sword became super popular during the Renaissance in Italy and Spain? Question 3. What super important safety device did Nicola Texier La Boissiere invent in the 1780s? Here's number four. What are the three modern fencing weapons used in the sport today? Last question. Fencing was included in the very first modern Olympic Games. In what year? Great job! Let's see how you did. The first answer is the ancient Egyptians. For question two, it was the rapier. Number three, the answer is the wire mesh fencing mask. Question four, the three weapons are the foil, the epae, and the sabre. And the final answer is the year 1896. Five out of five! I still can't get over the fact that the ancient Egyptians used padded sticks and tied masks to their wigs. They were so far ahead of their time. And I just love that the invention of the wire mesh mask is what finally allowed swordplay to become super fast, acrobatic, and safe. History is full of brilliant problem solvers. Hey listeners, if you love learning about the history of fencing with us today, we would love it if you could leave us a five-star review. Yes, give us five stars to help us slash through the podcast charts like a lightning fast rapier. Just scroll down on your podcast app and tap those five stars. Oh, and don't forget to check out our site kidopoly.com. We've got tons of fun learning games and awesome activities waiting for you there. Absolutely! Head over to kidopoly.com to explore even more cool stuff. And if you want a special shout out on the show, or just want to say hi, email us at hello at kidopoly.com. We love reading your emails and finding out what amazing history topics you want us to cover next. You can reach us any time at hello at kidopoly.com. Thanks for exploring the thrilling world of fencing with us today. See you next time on History is not boring. Bye everyone. Keep learning and keep exploring.