Fencing today is a combat sport involving swords. Both senses of the English word fence, a perimiter barrier and a form of swordsmanship, derive etymologically from the word defence, and the synonymous Old High German term skirmen or skrimen (Dutch schermen, Italian scherma, French escrime, Spanish esgrima, Polish szermierka, Czech sermovat) also indicates that originally fencing was understood defensively. On the other hand, the German term fechten, or Fechtkun…