Fencing

“Does anyone here fence? My son has been wanting to for quite some time. There is a local (hour away) club which is now offering a 13-week beginner course. I am in the process of buying the gear for him, but there are quite a few options.”

“fencing? is that legal? you mean buying stolen things?
teehee

check out your local YMCA”

“Nope, nothing at the Y.

The nearby fencing club seems like a good one with a level one rated Olympic coach and USFA rated referee. My question is on gear and what to choose. I am going to get him a beginner sabre set, but there are so many considerations.”

“I've never done it but when I was young my mom and dad let me try all kinds of different stuff. I think you should let him train to fight in the UFC.

:)”

“My dear, I believe that implement in question is properly called an "epee".

Also: rapier and foil”

“I've never fenced, but I shoot competitive target archery. That's a fun sport. Very zenlike, requires alot of mind and body coordination, and you can kill a varmint from far distances with a pointed stick!”

“bobo you for hire?”

“That could be useful info for your "Twiggy" thread. "That" would make 'em think twice...”

“There are different levels of "fencing". Epee and foil is one technique, sabre is yet another and there are a variety of other styles”

“There is an epee, a foil, and a sabre. Each one has a different set of rules and styles. For this particular class he is to have a sabre. Tuck is happy about that since that style is the closest to his idea of what pirates and Luke Skywalker do.

Interestingly, Bobo, Tuck is also taking archery in 4-H this year. His first shoot is coming up. He's pretty excited about that, too.”

“Happy clicker fences. I will tell her you have questions.”

“Serious afficionados generally use chain saws. When I was a kid we used slats from a snow fence and garbage can covers as shields:)”

“i'd talk to the instructor. he might even have a package deal for beginners.”

“Sure Nimblefoot, but mom always got pissed when we beat the crap out of the galvanized steel trash can lids.

One day we were tossing the lids like frisbees and swinging a bat at them.
Man, it took a while to beat out the dents.

Ruby, I learned the word "epee" from crossword puzzles and that is the extent of my knowledge on the matter.”

“as in "epee ki yi yay, mother #&%!$er"?”

“epee is always in crosswords!”

“That's great Ruby! We have a youth league at our club that keeps getting bigger every year. Kids really like pointed sticks!”

“Fence?

Yes, we fence in our Martial Arts Class. In fact we learn to use several different weapons. For a list of weapons and a discussion of each weapon, see: List of martial arts weapons

Here is just one section from there, without the links:

Sword
* Arming sword
* Bokken (Japanese wooden swords, also known as bokutō)
* Bolo
* Broadsword
* Butterfly sword
* Chisakatana
* Claymore
* Daitō
* Dao
* Dopplehänder
* Falcata
* Federschwert (Steel sparring sword used in European martial arts)
* Gladius
* Golok
* Grosses messer
* Iaito (Practice weapon used in Iaido)
* Jian
* Kampilan
* Katana
* Kodachi
* Khopesh
* Kopis
* Longsword
o Bastard sword
o Greatsword
* Nodachi
* Nagamaki
* Pata (weapon)
* Pulwar
* Rapier
* Shamshir
* Scimitar
* Scramasax
* Shinai (Katana-like sword made of Bamboo strips, used in Kendo)
* Single-sword (Cut & Thrust, sometimes called the "German rapier")
* Talwar
* Tachi
* Taijijian
* Wakizashi
* Waster (Wooden European sword simulator)
* Xiphos

---

NOTE: Weapons are dangerous! A very advanced, expert in Martial Arts lost his vision in one eye a year or so ago in a sword accident.
last edited: 5/08/07 9:02:01 AM”

“Ruby,

My daughter and I took a fencing class last year with the local fencing club. Its very strenuous (the workouts they make you do before you even touch an epee. He will be working muscles he hasn't worked before. The fencing club provided everything we needed for the class and the fee was pretty cheap. I wouldn't buy him anything before checking with the fencing club first, but if you are rolling in money knock yourself out.

The fencing club where we took lessons was very family friendly. Mom's, dads, sons daughters, there were old peeps, college peeps, 30 somethings, fit peeps, fat peeps (if they are good they are not as easy to hit as you would think), etc. I had a good time, but my daughter lost interest so once the class was over we didn't go back.”

“This club is offering the 13-week beginner course for $50. We have to provide his equipment. They recommended buying a beginner set and also gave us a list of vendors.

My problem is trying to figure out which sabre beginner set to get. They all range in price from $100-$150. There are a variety of options (much like bp gear).

Tuck has been asking to do this for a year or two. I told him if we were going to do this, he had to be committed to it for at least a year and that he had to have his dad's approval and agreement to support it as well. His dad won't help out financially, but I wanted to at least have the assurance that he will get him to lessons...has been problematic in the past.”

“Would he rather wear the pirate outfit or the beekeeper outfit?”

“Ruby, go to the club some night that they are in session and talk to people. Fencers are like backpackers. They have tons of gear, they encourage people to take up their sport and they don't mind loaning there gear to someone who is interested in learning. I'm not saying you should be wearing anything with a plunging neckline, but, well, a lot of fencers are guys ... wink wink.

The club I went to had a gear room with club owned epees, sabres, etc, both practice and competition, masks, the sexy thick getup they wear, everything you need to fence. maybe your club is fairly new and hasn't reached that point yet.”

“We have visited the bluc and watched the guys fence. The night we were there, there were only 4 people although they indicated there are usually more. They don't seem to have a club gear room from what I could tell. I was encouraged by the fact that it is a small club and Tucker would get a lot of individualized attention. The club coach (who also coaches a high school team) was pretty enthusiastic about Tucker starting at his age (12). He said it was an optimum time for kids to get into the sport.”

“Wow, someone who is against private ownership of firearms to want to have THEIR 12 year old child learn to use a sword.

In the UK they are busy banning swords, only 10 years after sucessfully banning guns.
http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/samurai-sword-ban


The primary purpose of a sword is to kill people.
Historically words have killed a lot of people.

Have you seen some of these arguments before Ruby ??

Good luck with Tuck, I hope he does not emulate pirates too much, they were mostly pretty nasty people.”

“an epee is a peice placed over the end of a foil to prevent harm....”

“No an Epee is a different style of sword.

The scoring areas for Foil, Epee, and Sabre are different and the equipment is different to facilitate scoring.

Foil fencers wear a metallic vest, and the sword carries a low electric current, but only at the very tip. Contact with the vest - with the sword point = point scored.

Sabre allows contact with the entire blade, and the target area is larger. A long sleeved metallic shirt, and a metallic face mask as anything above the waist is a target except the hands.

Epee is point only like the foil but the epee has an electric pressure button on the end. Contact with the end can be any part of the opponent, hand, ankle, any part.
last edited: 5/08/07 10:25:32 AM”

“yep, what manuka said.

Ruby, more people is better. You get to try yourself against different styles and people, which keeps you from always being overmatched or undermatched. The place I went was located in an old school gymasium converted to public use. They had 4 strips for fencing, they call them pistes, but thats just seems odd, some tables around the walls, different areas for practice, not to mention a weapon room where they stored and worked on weapons, a gear room that had masks, gloves and the jackets, pants and stuff, plus a bunch of other stuff, a locker room and showers, and up stairs was a basketball court where they taught the classes.

I don't know how often the club met, but we went tuesday and thursday and they always had at least 10-15 people there, not counting the people in the class. More when they had a club tourney.”

“I took a fencing class when I was around Tucker's age. It was pretty informal and was coordinated through a local college. They supplied all the equipment.

I didn't pursue it any further after the class finished, probably because I wasn't aware where else to look for opportunities. As hyway said, it can be quite strenuous. I remember being sore in all kinds of weird places after the first couple classes.”

“"Wow, someone who is against private ownership of firearms to want to have THEIR 12 year old child learn to use a sword. -manuka"

Manuka, just checking since I wasn't sure. Was that statement in reference to me or to the article? I most certainly am not against private ownership of firearms. I'm all for it.


Hubcap, how's daddy life?


Thanks to all who have given me advice. I know Tuck is really looking forward to this. I really want him to have a sport that he embraces and loves so I am going to encourage this.”

“BTW, I don't know about where you live, but a lot of young females were either taking lessons or active in the club I went too. Don't know if Tucker will be disgusted by that or very happy. Depends on where he is on his male journey to slobbering leach.”

“Ruby, if Tucker is more into the Swashbuckling Pirate aspect of bladesmanship, you might want to see if there is an SCA group (Society for Creative Anachronism) nearby with a Youth Rapier Marshall. He can learn to fight with a Schlager rapier, case (one blad in each hand), rapier/dagger, and case of daggers (two daggers - my personal favorite), among others. Plus he can wear cool historical-style armor, rather than a beekeeper's suit.

Email me at knox [underscore] chickadee [at] yahoo [dot] com if you have any questions about that.

I can't remember who it was that said that the dulling thing at the end of the blade is called an epee...that's incorrect. The plug at the end of the blade is called a "blunt" and an epee is a style of sword blade. Other blades include rapier, sabre and foil.”

“The last time I looked into SCA was quite a while ago but it was my impression that youngsters were severely limited in their participation. It was my impression they could do no fighting until at least 16. Have things changed or am I remembering wrongly?

FWIW SCA is an awesome group, but the members tend to be as bonkers as backpackers. If you are looking for a dose of sanity you might want to lower your expectations some.”

“opps, me bad.”

“Ramblinrev, I think the limiting of the youngsters may depend on how active the local SCA group is and whether or not they have a youth fencing program.

And boy howdy - they (we) are *definitely* as nuts as backpackers...though I have to admit that when the attention to historical detail creates the most incredible meade, i'm willing to put up with all kinds of strange behavior!”