A sport romanticized in movies and held as a privilege for the nobles is again on the rise in Armenia after years of obscurity.

Fencing as a sport began to develop in Armenia in the middle of last century when Hrachya Gasparyan, a coach from Tbilisi, united all fencing groups operating in the South Caucasus country. In 1945 Armenia held its first fencing championship.

In the 1970s Armenia (Yerevan and Gyumri) had its own teams for different age groups as well as Olympic champions performing for the USSR team. But in the troubled 1990s the royal sport (requiring some expensive outfit and equipment) proved too costly for the impoverished newly independent nation to sustain.

Fencing, however, has been on the rise again in the past four years. There are several fencing schools operating in Armenia, in particular in Yerevan, Noragavit (a Yerevan suburb) Byureghavan, as well as in the country’s second and third largest cities of Gyumri and Vanadzor.

Foil, saber, epee are types of fencing. Technically and tactically fencing is an exquisite sport requiring a lot of physical strength and intellectual adroitness bordering on that of chessmen.

Arm strength, flexibility, good reaction and… gallantry are prerequisites for a successful fencer.