Fencing

Usually reserved for the "better" parts of society, fencing is a nobleman's sport. While anyone essentially can pick up a stick each and go at it until one gives up, this is not considered proper fencing. Fencing requires finesse and, according to many, class in order to get right.

History

Fencing is as old as the sword, the tradition of play fighting being taken to another level. Fencing is simply a name for a tradition that has been around forever, the idea of fighting another individual, yet instead of victory through death, no one dies in this battle will always be a fun activity among those who do not wish to participate in duels to the death.
The sport of fencing is very old, though not as ancient as the act of fencing. Modern fencing refers to a rulebook for the duel to be official, and the creation of the rulebook is usually where most historians would argue the sport of fencing startet. When the first rulebook was created is unknown, however some of the rulesets are only a few years old, while others are older than many empires, it all depends on what rulebook one uses.
Fencing has throughout history been a display sport, earning much attention and gambling, much gold and power has changed hands thanks to fencers bladework.

Execution

Of course it depends on the rulebook on exact execution, but most fencing rulebooks follows some standards which are detailed here.
Fencing is usually a duel, meaning there are only two fighters, their weapons are usually one handed swords with no shield. Depending on the ruleset and on the occasion sometimes these swords are not sharp and so can't draw blood, in these cases it is up to the judge to determine effective hits. For the fencing duels that do use sharp blades, usually drawing blood on the torso is considered an effective hit, of course killing your opponent or wounding them severly is very frowned upon.
Fencers fight for points, each effective hit on an opponent is a point and the winner is the one who earns a certain amount of points first.

Components and tools

The most essential tools for fencing is of course the weapons. As mentioned before this is typically one handed swords, however there have been many examples of other weapons and tools being used such as warhammers, clubs, nets, spears, axes and so on. Sometimes the weapons are not sharp so as to not cause accidental damage, however this is not a neccesity. 
Armor is usually also a part of the fencing duels, however where normal armor is meant to keep you from suffering damage, fencing armor is usually only to protect the parts of you that wouldn't work as effective hits, or it is your head. Of course a headshot is an effective hit in most rulesets, however even with blunt weapons an attack to an unarmored head would be very risky, and so almost all fencers use helmets. Beyond this most use gloves, arms and knee armor because even if they were hit, they do not count as effective hits in most rulesets, so it makes sense to not risk damaging them for hits that are worthless. Most also wear some type of body armor, usually if this is the case they are also using blunt weapons, however if sharp weapons are used then the armor could prevent drawing blood and is therefore not used in these cases.

Participants

The most important roles in fencing are the two fencers, the masters of bladework. Beyond this most official matches also have a judge, an expert who makes sure no rules are broken, award effective hits and punish breaking the rules.

Observance

While many fencing matches are simply for the entertainment of the two fencers, fencing is an excellent observer's sport. Some cultures hold great tournaments for fencing, with thousands of people watching every clang of blades with great interest.