A Brief History of Fencing
Fencing, both for fun and as military training has been recorded in history as far back as the high Egyptian civilizations. Moving forward throughout both recorded and unrecorded history, fencing as an elite sport comes to the fore in the hands of the 13th Century Europeans. It is from these written works that we can trace the modern fencing we see at the Olympics.
13th Century Europe was a place of armed and armored men-at-arms. Because of the influence of movies and television, we have a view of these warriors as barbarians, aimlessly hacking their way through opposing troops, however a monastic fighting treatise written and illustrated in Germany around 1230 reveals a much more interesting and complex history.
This manuscript, known only as I.33, shows a monk and his partner engaged in various attacks and defenses with buckler (a small shield) and sword, with notes detailing the uses in combat of each move. This is the first recorded evidence of a long history of high skill on the part of the Medieval knight.
The reason there is no record previous to I.33 is simple; books were rare and hand-copied, and even if they existed most of the target audience didn't know how to read. It was with the introduction of the printing press and the spread of literacy that more manuals made their way into the hands of soldiers and civilians alike.
For example, the venerable fight master Johannes Liechtenauer published his treatise on fighting with long sword, sword and buckler, sword and dagger, and grappling in the 1380's. This famous book was to influence other fighting manuals for the next 2 centuries.