The olympic sport of fencing combines skill, speed, strategy and the opportunity to stab your friends. It has a proud history, having been a part of every modern olympics, and an exciting future as the 2012 games come to Britain. 

The three fencing disciplines - foil, epee, and sabre - are each based around a different form of combat but share common rules. In all of them, you fence in an area 14 x 2 metres (the piste) and score points by touching your opponent with your sword.

Competition fencing usually involves one or two group stages in which bouts are fought first to 5, followed by knockouts fought to 15. In the BUCS leagues and other team events, each team's three fencers fight each other in a relay with the total scores added to give the winner.