The sport of fencing has a long history and traditions in countries such as Italy, France and Hungary. In the Nordic countries, however, it has a small following and according to the Norwegian Fencing Federation, as of March 2009, there are only about 1,200 fencers in 24 clubs. Kristiansand Fencing Club was registered in April 2009, thereby increasing the number of Norwegian clubs to 25.
Of fencers in Norway, approx. 350 are aged 13 and above. Approximate numbers of fencers (all ages) in the other Nordic countries are: Denmark - 1,450, Sweden - 4,200, Finland - 2,000 and Iceland - 350.
Since the 1980s, the Norwegian clubs have exclusively fenced with epee. The epée is one of the three weapons used in modern fencing. The other two are foil and sabre.
In 2009, Kristiansand Fencing Club re-introduced foil fencing in Norway in a modest way, using the foil in our introductory fencing courses. After approx. 2-4 months of basic fencing training with foil, our fencers have a choice of continuing with foil, or starting to learn epee or sabre. The club's ambition and aim is to develop into a 3-weapon fencing club for our members.
We also wish to form part of a revival of foil and sabre fencing in Norway. Our Nordic neighbours are already in the process of making efforts to develop these two weapns, in addition to epee.
In Denmark, there is the "Nordic Foil Project" which covers men's elite foil and young talent development in both foil and epee. The Swedish Fencing Federation has policy decisions to develop foil and sabre in addition to epee, and Iceland has the "Nordic Sabre Project".
More about the 3 fencing weapons here (click links):
See video links on the left for a short film introducing fencing and also clips showing the three weapons in action
And below, some examples of what fencing is not:
