Single Sticks, Individual, Men

Single stick fencing was a form of fencing using either a single wooden stick or similar to sabre but with a wooden stick replacing the metal blade. Instead of a metal guard to protect the hand, a wicker basket or thick leather guard was usually used. The single stick was used initially as a way to train fencers using equipment that was less expensive and less subject to breakage but evolved into a competitive event.

As sword fighting on the battlefield became rare, soldiers in the Army were taught foil fencing because they were only likely to need to know sword fighting for formal duels. Sailors in the Navy were taught sabre fencing because they were likely to need sword fighting when boarding enemy ships where sabre techniques would be more beneficial. Sabres made out of metal, though, were expensive and prone to breakage because of the state of metallurgy at that time and so fencing techniques were usually taught using single sticks. By the early 1900s, the boarding of ships and hand-to-hand combat were no longer being done and so single stick fencing ceased being practiced. Single sticks was only contested at the Olympics in 1904. There were only three competitors and it was won easily by Albertson Van Zo Post who scored 11 touches against 8 by the runner-up, William Scott O’Connor.