Colophon

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The image on the cover of Mastering FreeBSD and OpenBSD Security depicts fencers. Whether used for sport or for war, the art of fencing can be traced back to some of the earliest known civilizations. For example, fencers entertained Pharaohs in ancient Engypt. The Greeks and Romans, meanwhile, had systems of martial arts that included swordsmanship. The modern sport of fencing originated in the first Olympic Games, in 1896, and consists of three different weapons: foil, \351p\351e, and sabre. The lightest of these weapons is the foil. A foil fencer can only score hits by landing thrusts to the trunk of the body. A modern electrical scoring apparatus, worn by the fencer, will record a hit for any blow landed with a force of at least 4.90 newtons. Less flexible and heavier than the foil, the \351p\351e usually has a large hand guard. This bell-shaped guard is important because the \351p\351e fencer is not as limited in her targets-the entire body, including the hand, is considered a valid target to score hits. An \351p\351e fencer registers a hit with 7.35 newtons of force. The sabre differs from these first two swords in that it is an edge, rather than a point, weapon. A sabre fencer may land points to any part of the upper body ...