On the Ukrainian land at all times a considerable attention was given to swordcraft. It can be proved by the ritual of our ancestors, that survived to the 17th century, devoted to the birth of a son in a family: when a son was born in Kyivan Rus the father took a naked sword and said: ‘bequest you no property, you will possess only what you will get with this sword’.

In the 10th century, at the period of formation of Kyivan Rus, fencing schools were founded in Kyiv. In the 9-14th century military training for warriors of Kyivan Rus existed in the form of tilting matches, entertaining competitions.

Cossack times belong to the brightest pages of our history. It was then that authentic system of training for Cossack-warriors was created; the most important part of this system was swordcraft. The Cossack school taught: pray to God with reverence, stick on the horse, saber and bay. Sword was thought to be so important that it was praised in songs, where it was called ‘sister’, ‘mother’, ‘wife’. As real knights Cossacks preferred sword, calling it an honest weapon. Cossacks of Zaporozhian Host wielded a sword perfectly. For example, Ivan Bogun was thought to be the best fencer in Europe; he fought knightly with two swords in his hands achieving victory in fights against several attackers at the same time.

The beginning of development of fencing in the territory of Ukraine dates from the end of 13th – the beginning of 19th century. Since 1790 fencing has been taught as a compulsory subject at midshipmen school in Mykolaiv, it was also cultivated in Kharkiv, Odessa and Kyiv.

Petro Zakovorot from Kharkiv – a great fencer of the beginning of the 20th century – reflected glory on Ukraine. He was the first Ukrainian World champion. He took the 3rd place in 1900 in Paris, but according to the rules of that time the first five athletes took the highest prize – gold medal. Petro Zakovorot was ahead of his time, he developed risky, rush and efficient fencing with active usage of muscles. At the age of 65 he won at the first official Ukrainian championship in 1935.

At that time a very powerful center of fencing located in Lviv. It was in popular sport clubs in Lviv – ‘Legia’, ‘Chern’, ‘Gonitvy’ that Adam Papee and Tadeusz Friedrich were brought up - the winners of the 9th Olympic Games in Amsterdam (1928) and the 10th Olympic Games in Los Angeles (1932) in team competitions.

Fencing in Ukraine is closely intertwined with the name of Grygory Kriss - Olympic champion in epee. He was one of the best fencers of the world in 1964-1972. He won gold and silver Olympic medals in individual competitions (1968, 1972) and silver and bronze Olympic medals in team competitions (1968, 1972). At the World championship 1967 and the Olympic Games 1968 he shared his triumph with YosypVitebsky from Kyiv.

The 1960s and 1970s were the best years for the Ukrainian fencing. In 1968 Viktor Sidyak became an Olympic champion in saber team competitions. In 1972 he won gold medal in individual competitions and silver medal in team competitions.

Viktor Putyatin became World champion in 1967 and silver medallist of two Olympic Games (1968, 1962) in team competitions in foil. Another great foil-fencer, Vasyl Stankovich from Lviv, got on the podium of the Olympic Games twice: in 1968 and 1972 he won silver medals in team competitions. In 1972 Sergy Paramonov – World champion in epee team competitions (1969) and silver medallist in individual competitions of the World championship in 1972 - became a bronze medallist of the Olympic Games.

Yuri Chizh – World champion in team competitions (1973,1974), Ghanna Dmytrenko, Sergy Kosenko - World champions in team competitions (1979), Sergy Mindergasov – silver medallist of XXIV Olympic Games (1988), World champion (1985, 1986, 1987, 1990), Myhaylo Tishko – XXIV Olympic Games medallist (1988), World champion (1987), Georgy Pogosov – World Champion (1983-1990), silver medallist of the Olympic Games (1988), gold medallist of XXV Olympic Games in team competition (1992), Sergy Kravchuk - bronze medallist of XXV Olympic Games in team competitions (1992).

Volodymyr Smirnov wielded both foil and epee perfectly and left his mark in the history of fencing. He became a gold medallist in individual and silver medallist in team competitions in foil, bronze medallist in epee of XXII Olympic Games in Moscow, World champion (1979, 1981 and 1982). He tragically passed away during World championship in1982. A fencing school in Kyiv is named after him.

After proclaiming the independence of Ukraine more and more Ukrainian fencers got a chance to perform on the international arena. The first great success came in 1992 at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, where four Ukrainian fencers won medals. Sergy Golubitsky – four-time World champion (1989, 1997, 1998 and 1999) – became silver medallist, Sergy Kravchuk won bronze in team competitions, Georgy Pogosov and Vadim Gutzeit became Olympic champions in team competitions.

Since 1991 our athletes have won more than hundred medals at World and European championships (adult, junior and cadet competitions).Olympic bronze of Vladislav Tretyak (2004), gold medals of World championship of Voloymyr Lukashenko and Nataliya Konrad (2003), silver medals of our national sabre and epee women team on World championships (2006, 2007) – prove that Ukraine is a powerful country with rich fencing traditions and it is on the right track.