ANCIENT ORIGINS

BAD BLOOD AND PRIDE PRECEDE THE ELECTRONIC DUEL

Swashbuckling heroes come to mind when fencing is mentioned but in these days when duels are settled electronically, there is a relatively modern tale that not even Errol Flynn and the silver screen managed to match in terms of intrigue, bad blood and bravery.

The story started in Paris 1924 and involved a certain Italian-born Hungarian master by the name of Italo Santelli. Controversy reigned over the decision of a Hungarian judge by the name of Kovacs in favour of France against Italy. Aldo Boni, of Italy, would have none of it and launched a verbal attack on the judge, who in turn demanded an apology. None was given and the judge called on Santelli as a witness to confirm Boni's abusive outburst. He did so, and the Italians withdrew from the Games, singing the Fascist hymn as they went.

Once back in Italy, the proud team accused Santelli of speaking out against Boni because he feared that Italy would beat Hungary, the eventual bronze medal-winners. The insult was too much for Santelli to bear; the 60-year-old challenged Adolfo Contronei, the Italy captain, to a duel. Government licence was obtained but Santelli's son Giorgio invoked the duelling code to take his father's place and sabres were drawn.

Abazzia, near the Hungarian border, was witness to the short duel; two minutes into the bout, Giorgio drew first blood, doctors rushed in and the honour of the Santelli name preserved. Santelli Jr later moved to the US, where he became national team fencing coach.

Kovacs, the Hungarian judge, meanwhile, had his own private duel with another member of the Italy team, Oreste Puliti. Puliti had beaten his three Italy team-mates in an extra qualification round ordered by Kovacs and his fellow judges. Still Kovacs was not satisfied and claimed that the Italians had thrown their bouts to allow Puliti through. Puliti retorted by threatening to cane Kovacs. Needless to say, the Italian was disqualified. Two days later, the two men met again and Puliti hit Kovacs in the face. Fighting was renewed between the two on the Yugoslavian-Hungarian border four months later, when a duel could not separate the men or settle the argument. Honour restored through the evenly drawn bout, the Hungarian and the Italian shook hands and went their peaceful ways.

Fencing history is littered with such intrigue and adventure that dates back more than 3,000 years if ancient Egyptian carvings showing fencers with masks and swords, and watched by referees, are to be believed. Battles both ancient and medieval employed the sword, though the origins of the modern sport can be found in the 15th century when gunpowder rendered sharp steel less effective as a weapon of war.

Fencing guilds were well-established by the middle of the 15th century, with the first manual of the sport scripted by Sierge de Valera, of Spain, in 1471. In the 16th century, the rapier became the most used sword, alongside the dagger or shield called a buckler, which gave rise to the term "swashbuckler".

Towards the end of that century, the épée was made popular in France and the lunge, an attack in which the feet stay put, was born through its use. At various times since the first demonstration tournaments between "professionals" just before the sport joined the Games in 1896, attempts have been made to drop the use of cumbersome protective clothing that made it difficult to tell one fencer from another. However, since Vladimir Smirnov, Olympic foil champion from the Soviet Union, was killed when a sword went through his mask at the 1982 world championships, strict safety measures have been observed. While special steels that are lighter but stronger have been developed, masks are now clear so that fencers' faces can be seen and coloured uniforms distinguish opponents.