According to the 19th-century fencing master Louis Rondelle,[1] A classical fencer is supposed to be one who observes a fine position, whose attacks are fully developed, whose hits are marvelously accurate, his parries firm, and his ripostes executed with precision.
Masters and legendary fencing figures such as Giuseppe Radaelli, Louis Rondelle, Masaniello Parise, the Greco brothers, Aldo Nadi and his rival Lucien Gaudin are today considered typical practitioners of this period.
Fencing as a sport was one of the original events in the Olympic Games and widely practiced at schools and domestic competitions.
Fencing tournaments were extremely popular events, with spectators flocking to see the most celebrated swordsmen battle it out on the piste.
There also were problems with bias: well-known fencers were often given the benefit of mistakes (so-called "reputation touches"), and in some cases, there was outright cheating.
Aldo Nadi complained about this in his autobiography The Living Sword in regard to his famous match with Lucien Gaudin.
Starting with épée in the 1930s (foil was electrified in the 1950s, sabre in the 1980s), side judges were replaced by an electrical scoring apparatus, with an audible tone and a red or green light indicating when a touch landed.
The electrical scoring apparatus and the 20th century's overall modernization of athletic activities occurred alongside an increase in the emphasis on fencing as a sport.
The electrical scoring apparatus encouraged an emphasis on the athletic and offensive (rather than defensive) aspects of fencing by altering the ways in which a touch would be considered valid.
At the time electronic scoring was introduced, all fencers were classically trained, but there were differences in accepting 20th-century changes in fencing practice.
[citation needed] This should not be confused with the Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA), which was renamed to the current United States Fencing Association (USFA) in 1981, which is affiliated with the FIE.
It includes: Fencers also usually wear breeches of material similar to the jacket, with knee-high white socks, or long pants and athletic shoes.