Honorary fencing master Wojciech Zabłocki
The famous Polish master sabreur, multiple Olympic medallist, maestro Wojciech Zabłocki (6. 12. 1930 – 5. 12. 2020), represented Poland at the Olympic games in the years 1952, 1956, 1960 and 1964 in team and individual events. He won silver medals in 1956 and 1960 with the Polish team of sabreurs, and a bronze medal in 1964. He added four titles of world champion to his collection of Olympic medals with his team in 1959, 1961, 1962 and 1963. In the individual event he came fifth at the Olympic games in 1960, and in 1961 won third place at the world championships.
After finishing his sporting career in 1964, Wojciech Zabłocki started to study the history of the art of fencing and combat with bladed weapons in old fencing treatises from the 16th and 17th centuries.
He has produced many texts and drawings on the topic of the Polish sabre, these are the results of his research in European museums, and of his experimentation with various bladed weapons as part of the activities of the first historical fencing group on the territory of Poland called the “fellowship of sabreurs”, which he founded. This material gave rise to a book called Cięcia prawdziwą szabla, which was published in Warsaw in 1989. Despite initial trouble this book eventually became a bestseller, and in 2011 was published again under the title Szable świata.
His research led master Zabłocki along a similar path as lieutenant colonel Eduard Wagner. Just like lieutenant colonel Wagner, maestro Zabłocki wrote and illustrated his book himself, and like lieutenant colonel Wagner here in Czechoslovakia, Wojciech Zabłocki has great merit in the development of historical fencing in Poland, and is one of the founding fathers of Polish historical fencing.
Actually, Maestro Zabłocki told Michael Kňažko in 2015 in Warsaw that lieutenant colonel Wagner´s publications had a direct influence on Mr. Zabłocki´s own publications.
In 2016 Elka Press publishing house published Szable świata in Czech, as part of the Ars Dimicatoria book series. The presentation of the book Šavle světa in 2016 in Prague was attended by the author himself. At this significant event, the Ars Dimicatoria school of historical fencing had the opportunity to grant Mr. Wojciech Zabłocki the title of honorary fencing master for his long-term merit in the field of sport and historical fencing.
In 2018 and 2019 he was invited to Prague as the main guest and event patron of SabreSlash, an annual event established with the aim of promoting the art of sabre fencing in its various historical forms.
We keep the memory of Maestro Wojciech Zabłocki alive and honour his legacy!