I don't fence yet. But I'm thinking about taking it up. My college has a decent program, as does another fairly local one. It looks like good exercise and a lot of fun. And I'd be able to sew an Utena patch on to my jacket.

Tamago wrote:

I did try my hand at fencing a year or so ago but thanks to the fact that I have very poor eyesight which prevents me from being able to see the foil blade when I am wearing the fencing mask. 

I also sweat like a pig which means I cannot even wear my glasses when I wear the mask as I drip sweat all over my lens.

That's too bad.

It's certainly invigorating; while the speed is certainly conveyed by watching, it's all the more intense when you're facing your opponent.  I find a large element of the experience to be getting up the confidence to make your move.  The speed is intimidating at first, so to save yourself you generally hold off from attacking, hoping you can deflect your opponent without sticking out your own neck.  Once you find out how you move best, though, it's a very calculated, precise sort of sport -- regulated footwork, specific parries, and so on.  I personally find I fare for the worse against new fencers than more seasoned opponents, as the amateurs are all over the place whereas someone with experience is using moves I can (hopefully) defend against, rather than warding off someone's flailing.

I would recommend some cross-training if you don't have very good stamina or lower body strength.  Proper footwork requires you to essentially maintain a squat -- you'll be sore after the first few practices, not to mention exhausted.

Archambeau wrote:

Tamago wrote:

I did try my hand at fencing a year or so ago but thanks to the fact that I have very poor eyesight which prevents me from being able to see the foil blade when I am wearing the fencing mask. 

I also sweat like a pig which means I cannot even wear my glasses when I wear the mask as I drip sweat all over my lens.

That's too bad.

Maybe I can try my hand at kendo instead, the bokkens are easier to spot than the foil even with my dismal eyesight.

I can do a little saber, but I never learned any foil beyond what I'd need to know to write Juri fics.  I find epee kinda silly, but that's just my opinion.

Last edited by angelicreation (12-19-2006 04:56:36 AM)

The only places I've known to teach fencing is colleges.  Occasionally you'll find a high school that has fencing, but usually they're the expensive private schools.  A lot of the college teams/clubs will allow non-students to join the team if they sign a bunch of papers, pay the dues and it's not written in their organization charter that members have to be students.  I learned the little saber I know from my friends who were on the college fencing team.  If they don;t allow you on the team cause you aren't a student, you can always find out who the instructor for the college group is and see if they'll let you take private lessons.  The whole fencing uniform and foil isn't terribly expensive if all you're going for is functionality.

No experience, whatsoever with the modern fencing, but I do occasionally practice the really classical Medieval European swordsmanship with two-handed longswords, in Italian style. It's damn difficult, I must say and it makes me so tired that I don't go to practice nearly enough. It's not the physical side that's so straining, though its rough enough, but incredibly complex and precise drills, emphasized by the fact that by screwing up I could seriously injure my pair. That sort of stresses me up.

I would recommend some cross-training if you don't have very good stamina or lower body strength.  Proper footwork requires you to essentially maintain a squat -- you'll be sore after the first few practices, not to mention exhausted.

Ah, yes, the guard-position. It hurts even after months of training, at least if you have long legs, like me. But if someone in the street suddenly shouted "En garde!", I'd propably fall in the position immediately. One of the few things that's been properly drilled in my backbone...

This thread inspired me to do some research on any local fencing activities. I've found several fencing clubs (including the one which a friend of mine from primary school attends :) that I could join. The only problem is... I'm such a wuss. The lack of any sort of confidence or determenation is what always pervented me from doing sports. Knowing myself, I'd most probably go emo after a month of attending. But the more I read about it, my wish to attend just seems to increase. x:

Last edited by Arki (12-19-2006 01:32:20 PM)

Fencing seems much more civilized than the SCA. I've heard horror stories about injuries from former stick-jockeys. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't seem fun.

KFAR here to revive another thread!

I took my first fencing lesson last night. It all happened on a whim... I had been telling myself I wanted to look into getting into lessons of some sort, piano, fencing, painting, sewing, cooking... really anything i could find. I decided to look up fencing first and discovered they had an open (and free for the first night!) group that fences both for fun and for competition. I called the guy up, and he told me to show up Thursday at 6:30... So I showed up!

Man it was such a blast. First of all, putting each piece of the armor on one by one was invigorating. As a woman, I was required to wear a chest protector -- and let me tell you a thing... that was hilarious. I'm a smaller chested woman, but having to poke through the different women's chest plates was quite the experience. After getting suited up w/ the exception of the helmet, he gave us our Epee (which, i had not learned that there were 3 types of fencing swords until i showed up!). 

After some safety warnings we started to poke the dummies on the wall. Thrusting, lunging, parrying, and shuffling about in front of these dummies in our armor / outfit / suit? what do you call it? ... Then the helmet came on.... what world! My heart was pounding. The suit was ridiculously hot, but once I had the helmet on it felt real.

Then we began fencing each other. This is what blew my mind... It really is just linear chess. You have the strip you stand on, but you are constantly thinking of your move and how to fake out the opponent. Everything is a mind game. Endurance is definitely key, but knowing to strike at the same time and knowing not to be afraid of the blade were all very important pieces that were trying to fit together in my head. Sadly, as it was my first night, i got my ass handed to me a few times, but over the course of the night I did better. The bouts can feel endless at times and fatigue will definitely begin to show towards the end.

As for muscles, man, everything but my left arm hurts!  I am right handed and got poked a lot on my right side, but that isn't what did me in. Legs, back, shoulder -- everything just sore from the new movements it was experiencing.

Overall it was a fantastic experience, but definitely a mental challenge. I highly recommend at least taking one try-it-out class. I did some googling and found a few places near me, so i'd suggest the same to you all!

Has anyone picked it up since 2006?

I hope you can find an awesome gym like the one I found. Its only $50 a month to practice and let you use their own gear. I'm definitely considering picking up my own kit because comfort factor seems to be a big hurdle for me when i'm sitting there thinking of everything going on around me.

I havent decided on a style, just playing with everything. Each month they switch the weapon up that we will use until we settle on one that we prefer. My first attempt was with the Epee.

Totally going to get a rose crest embroidered on my suit though, just you wait.

Wow, fencing sounds awesome! I've been considering taking up a martial art of some sort, and trying to decide between kickboxing and something like fencing or archery for a while now, but watching Olympic fencing made it look a bit meh. But it sounds fun to actually do, instead of just watch.