Fencing in Iran
Fencing was first introduced in Iran by Mir Mehdi Varzandeh and taught in the sports teachers' school. Then it was taught in the Nizam school of that time, which gradually expanded. In 1949, three young Iranians who had gone to Europe to study became familiar with fencing, and after returning to Iran, they made great efforts to further develop this sport. Mr. Engineer Ebtehaj, Engineer Nirnuri, and Dr. Basir are the original founders of fencing in Iran. In the same year, the Iranian Fencing Federation was established, and Engineer Ebtehaj was introduced as the first president of the Fencing Federation.
In 1946, another Italian trainer named Aniello Passarello came to Iran and spent 10 years training Iranian fencers and introducing them to the advanced techniques of the sport. However, at that time, there was no specific place for fencers to practice, and the basement of a building on present-day Palestine Street in Tehran, which was the location of the Iranian Club, was used by fencing enthusiasts. Engineer Houshmand Almasi, who was a student of the school of Andrea Marazzi, was sent to Italy to complete his fencing knowledge and benefited from the teachings of prominent Italian trainers for a long time. After returning to Iran, he made a significant contribution to improving the quantitative and qualitative level of fencing in the country.
In 1949, the Federation invited the Italian Andrea Marazzi to Iran to teach fencing. Although Marazzi was about 70 years old, he made great efforts and efforts to establish the classical school of fencing in Iran.
In 1951, using the experiences of the late Dr. Basir, a development and expansion plan was initiated, and renowned champions such as Mr. Houshmand Almasi, Amir Mehmandoust, and Torab Pezki were introduced to the fencing community.
In 1966, the World Youth Championships were held for the first time in Iran at the newly established Haft Tir Sports Hall located on the northern side of Tehran City Park. These competitions brought about a significant leap in Iranian fencing. The president of the International Fencing Federation attended these competitions, and with his help, three prominent Iranian fencers (Shapour Zarnagar, Bijan Zarnagar, and Abbas Afzali) traveled to France to complete a high-level coaching course and learned the principles and advanced techniques of this sport at the French National Institute of Sports LINS. After their return, these three people worked as coaches for the national team.
In 1967, Captain Houshmand Almasi was appointed as the president of the federation. From that date, extensive activities were carried out using domestic and foreign international coaches. In 1968, a special fencing stadium was built in the northern part of Amjadieh Stadium, and fencing in Iran took on a more active form. As a result of the expansion and greater attention to fencing, which was accompanied by the hiring of two coaches from the Soviet Union at the time (Mr. Pichkov and Mr. Tulakov), who were accompanied by the import of a large amount of modern fencing equipment, the Iranian national men's and women's teams won the championship in the 1974 Tehran Asian Games. Iran was able to win 16 gold medals, 3 silver medals, and 7 bronze medals in individual and team events, and deservedly became the Asian champions. One of the honors of this period was the appointment of the president of the Asian Fencing Confederation by Captain Almasi, which was held by Iran until a few years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
Among the famous Iranian fencing champions of that time are Mr. Ahmad Akbari, Asghar Pashapour, Parviz Almasi, Kiomars Toloei in foil, Pirouz Adami, Serjik Asadorian, Esfandiar Zarnegar, Iraj Dastgerdi and Ali Badr in epee, Hamid Fathi, Manouchehr Shefahi, Ahmad Eskandarpour Esmail Pashapour in sabre and Ms. Giti Mohebban, Mahvash Shefahi, Maryam Achak, Jila Almasi and Maryam Shariatzadeh in women's foil.
Fencing in the Islamic Republic
After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the Fencing Federation was governed by a council headed by Morteza Khanmohammadi until the end of 1970, when fencing activities were suspended by the decision of the Iranian Physical Education Organization, and this interruption lasted for 10 years. Then, in 1989, fencing resumed its activities. In the new period of the Fencing Federation's activity, Mr. Ali Rahimi, Seyyed Amir Hosseini, Mehdi Mohammadzadeh and Dr. Fadlallah Bagherzadeh were elected as the presidents respectively.
During the period of Engineer Ali Rahimi (1980-1994), the federation's dormitory was built and fencing resumed its period of revival. The first fencing team after the reopening was sent to the Asian Games in Beijing and came in third place in Asia in saber.
During Seyyed Amir Hosseini's tenure (1994-1998), significant activities were undertaken in the field of expansion and development of this discipline, including holding the international competitions of the Fajr decade _ Sattarkhan, Khazar, and Naghsh-e Jahan cups _ the first class A world fencing competition in 1996 in Tehran _ the Asian Men's Championship (Zolfaghar Cup) and the Asian Non-Asian Fencing Competition in 1997 _ holding the first international refereeing exam in Iran _ inviting Mr. Yuri Pichkov _ the then president of the Russian Fencing Federation _ and an international master of saber to hold a briefing class on coaching, management, and planning of modern fencing in 1998. Sending Abbas Ali Faryabi to the international coaching course at the Budapest University of Physical Education, Hungary in 1996 and Parviz Haghandish to the coaching course in France in 1997 were other actions of the federation. After Seyyed Amir Hosseini was elected as the Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran, he gave his place to Mehdi Mohammadzadeh.
During the period of Mehdi Mohammadzadeh (1377-1382), the internationalization of the Fencing Federation began, and at the same time as the then president obtained the position of Vice President of Asia, the World Cup competitions, which were held at the end of the Seyyed Amir Hosseini period instead of the competitions of the Fajr decade, grew extensively, and its finals were held in historical and ancient places as a festival, which had a global impact. After Mehdi Mohammadzadeh, Dr. Fadlallah Bagherzadeh was elected as the President of the Fencing Federation. He also won the position of Vice President in the elections of the Asian Confederation. The acquisition of several Asian and global positions and the sending of Peyman Fakhri to the international coaching course at the University of Physical Education in Budapest, Hungary are among the notable points of this period.