En garde!

[Sterling]

Although I've been terribly terribly busy for the last few months (and hence haven't been posting much), I have found some time to take up a new hobby: I've been learning to fence (starting out with foil).

It's huge fun, and a great workout (since you're essentially doing an awful lot of squats and lunges), plus taking out your stress by attempting to stab someone is quite effective.

Anyone else try something unusual recently? Did you enjoy it? Would you recommend it to someone else?

[whitecrow]

I used to fence (foil) and I sucked at it big time. It's a VERY difficult sport despite what some people think. Keep at it, Sterling - it's very rewarding.

[Diva]

When you say 'foil' I picture tinfoil rolled really thin. Am I on the right track?

[whitecrow]

Erm...maybe...what do you think of when I say Sabre? Or Epee?

[Sterling]

To follow up:

A foil is a sword with a thin flexible blade with a rectangular cross-section and a small bell-guard. It's a stabbing weapon - you score by touches with the tip only. The only valid target in foil is the torso (not arms).

An epee is a slightly longer foil with a bigger guard. It's also a stabbing weapon. All targets are valid in epee, including the head, legs, feet, hands, everything.

A sabre is similar size to an epee, but has a triangular cross-section and a big 'cutlass' style guard. You can score with the tip of a sabre, but you can also (and more usually) score with the edge of the blade. Everything above the waist is a valid target in sabre.

There are some other rule differences too (notably, foil and sabre have a 'right of way' concept, which promotes parrying, while epee does not).

[whitecrow]

Wow you know your shit, man.

[Diva]

I think an epee would be better for me. It would also be better for the person I practice with. There is a fencing school right down the street from me. I kept thinking of taking it it.

En-garde!

/me starts flailing swishing her epee around

[Sterling]

Epee's a pretty "no nonsense" weapon, because there's no "right of way" rule to worry about, and because everything is a valid target.

On the other hand, it's usually recommended to learn foil first, because the "right of way" rule forces you into better technique early on. If you jump straight into epee I think it can become a bit of an unstructured "free for all" which let's you get away with bad habits that more advanced fencers will chew you up with. Also, if you don't start off learning about "right of way" I've been told it's tough to think about it later if you ever wanted to learn foil or sabre.

I'm still learning foil. I think ultimately, I'm most interested in sabre (it's a bit more "swashbuckling" because you can score with the edge of the blade too), but getting a solid foil technique first is considered essential (or so my instructor tells me).