Any other fencers out there?

[subject_87]

I just wanted to know, are there any other members of the Escapist who like to partake in the fine sport of fencing? And for those who don't, I'll just tell you this: It's actually very safe unless you're doing incredibly stupid things, and it's not as snobbish and aristocratic as people think it is; it's actually quite accessible.

As an added bonus, you can share your personal stories of bizarre situations in bouting, hilarious coaches, etc. For instance, one of my coaches has had stars, Pac-Man, and the Atari logo shaved into the side of her head at various times.

EDIT: If you're in the Philadelphia area, one of the best places around is the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia (yes, it's a somewhat unfortunate acronym).

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Sadly not. I've never gotten into it but I've always wanted to. Just part of life I guess, picking what you have time for and what your priorities are.

Who knows. If I get financially secure at some point I might take a crack at it. In the meantime I'll just sit here and glance into the world of fencing.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

There was this one time when I was fencing, the farmer came over to me and said
"No point putting a fence up now, all my sheep have escaped."

It was a very sad day in my fencing career.

 

[loc978]

...I've trained with foils, but I didn't like the rules very well. I prefer historical rapier fencing.

 

[smearyllama]

I might be taking a class at a French festival that I'm going to in a month or two.

Other than that, I'm sad to say I never have.

Edit: YEAH!!!! 1337 posts!

 

[Scarecrow]

In the words of Yahtzee: "Who the fuck wants to be a fencer? Bunch of horty-torty cu*ts with sieves on there faces."

 

[Kestrel-50]

I Do
once i was fencing a bout where they hit me really hard and winded me when the asked if i was ok i couldnt tell them i was winded and they couldnt see my face and assumend i was ok so i fenced on without breathing for ages.

Another time i was watching the final bout for a teams competition and it was 40 to 25 (the match was to 45) but the person who was on the losing team was pretty awsome and the person on the winning team wasnt as good and the better guy kept getting hit after hit on the other guy and the other guy was getting really angry and ws yelling, then he pause the match because his foil had about 3cm less tape than the requirements but it passed inspection any was and they didnt let him change foil. Theeeeen he started complaining that the other persons breeches where too lose and that "Its a health hazard" and kept wining ect. Every time the other guy got a hit on him he would yell. In the end they won anyway but they where such assholes about it no-one has forgotten.

 

[darth.pixie]

Is it bad that I though of fencer as "fencing stolen goods" ? [sub]I'm sorry[/sub]

I've tried it, loved it but sadly had very little time for just about everything without adding fencing to the list. I would love to start now that I have more free time but I doubt I will. It's a wonderful sport, though.

 

[etherlance]

My mother used to fence years ago and even showed me a little bit about it but we sort of phased out of it over time till now we don't bother anymore.


Besides I prefer watch guys in knight armour fighting with swords, shields and maces.......Now That's what I call dueling.

 

[glyphseeker]

imma a bit of a fencer myself but not using my funds just find some sturdy sticks 2 peirs of gloves and duel with my bro (low income fencing)

 

[AceAngel]

Ace: Nope, I'm not a pale snicked rich kid who plays with sticks to and wastes mommy and daddy's money for a sport that will get me killed.

Angel: I did some fencing, and was more of defender, infact, counterattacking and avoidance in fencing is, for a lack of better terms, more fruitful then any sport or combat related arts I have experienced. You could say fencing is and could be the father of Gun-Kata one day.

Luigi: I was called the White-Devil...stuck with me from my Military Camp...

 

[Nooners]

En garde, good sir! Granted it's been like 10 years or something, but I would love to get back into it again.

 

[Zaik]

No, I wanted to when I was little, but it never worked out and if I took an interest in something like that now I'd pick something that would be more useful.

 

[Flig]

I've been interested in it for about a year now, however I haven't found any local places that instruct it, so I've just been researching a little about it while I scour my area for anything that will allow me to actually try it out. I have a question for the fencers though, from what I've seen I think I'd be most interested in the epee, but I've seen various sources that say you should start with the foil to get point control and such down before you try out the epee, is this true or can I just say fuck it and start out with the epee?

 

[Neverhoodian]

I used to practice fencing twice a week back in high school. My dad and I would go to the local fencing center where we'd spend the first hour warming up and practicing various moves with the coach. After that, we would go up against the other students in practice bouts. We even went to some tournaments in the area.

Our coach started everyone on foil first, as he felt its right-of-way rules were more conducive to beginners. After learning the ropes, I moved on to epee, as i preferred how any part of the body was fair game for a point.

And now, here's a joke that fencers will appreciate:

What do foil users talk about? Their technique.
What do epee users take about? Their weapons.
What do saber users talk about? Themselves.

 

[Lieju]

I haven't done it in few years, since I moved to the other city. I have the sword and other equipment, and I've been meaning to get back in the sport.

I didn't compete or anything, just did it for the exercise and fun. It's a good and suitable sport for me, you don't have to be a part of a team, and unlike most fighting sports, you are nicely protected and can poke people with sharp objects.

I don't really have any good stories. Except that I learned it from a Russian guy named Ivan who had a weird way af speaking and mixing English idioms to Finnish.
So I also learned all the names of the moves in a kind of Russian accent.

 

[Souplex]

Used to. It's been a while though.