Mind you, I've only been fencing (like actually fencing, not practicing footwork, which I did for upwards of three months) for six months or so, but I feel qualified enough to talk about it (especially with the Internet and my boyfriend, Lankasaurus, being so close for questioning).
First, form is the most important weapon a fencer has. If one has improper or bad form, recovering from an attack, attacking, or retreating can be exceedingly difficult. One fences from their dominant hand, naturally. Essentially, we crab walk forward and backward, moving our feet without moving our upper bodies. One's other hand must be positioned either behind their head or back as a way of counterbalance. We basically stand like this:
Second, there are three weapons in Fencing: Foil, Saber, and Epée.
In Foil, the target area is the torso, minus the arms, neck and head. Foil is based on the traditional training methods of the monarchies in Europe way back in the day when monarchies actually had power (no offence, England). The weapon doesn't need to be pushed very hard to obtain the touch. Foil also has this funny thing called 'right-of-way.' Yep, just like driving, only Fencers obey it more than drivers. Say one fencer (fencer A) attacks the other fencer (fencer B), fencer B can parry (aka push the attacker's sword out of the way to avoid being hit) and reposte (aka hitting fencer A after defending with a parry). It's not always this clean, however. There's all kinds of wibbly-wobbly madness that can occur. It's usually really nice to have a director watching the bout to determine what in the world just happened.
In Saber, there is also right-of-way and the target area is similar to Foil but is extended to include the arms (minus hands) and head. Saber is based on fighting on horseback- you wouldn't hit a guy on a horse in the legs, that's just silly. This style of fencing is a lot quicker than Foil, usually the fencers attack each other right after the director says 'Fence!' The forward crossover (a piece of footwork where the back foot passes the front to obtain lots of space) thus making the flèche (where one forward crossover's and basically leaps at the other fencer and runs past them) illegal as well. To make up for this, Saber fencers have created the 'flunge,' a flèche and a lunge combined without a crossover. It's a sight to behold, actually, seeing a person essentially fly through the air into a lunge without much propulsion.
Last, but not least, is Epée. I am particularly fond of Epée. All of the body, from the bottom of the foot to the top of the head is target area. There is no right-of-way in this weapon's rules, making that little bit of security one feels in Foil and Saber disappear, and one must be creative and confident in their distance to obtain the touch. There are parries, but they are strong, more like binds, instead of the quick tap needed in Foil or Saber. The weapon needs to be pushed down rather hard to engage the weapon and get the touch- the minimum amount of force needed is 7.4N or 750 grams-force. Needless to say, you'll get bruises if you're not careful or a madman like me. Here are my bruises from my very first time fencing Epée:
Fencing is possibly the most fun sport I've ever participated in. I mean, c'mon, you get to stab people with swords! And it's consensual! This, of course, isn't everything one needs to know about fencing, there's more footwork and parries and other stuff, but meh. Primer!
The Fencing Club of MSU meets at the upper gymnasium in Romney Gym on MSU's campus on Mondays and Wednesdays 7-9pm. Bozemanites, I hope to see you there!
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