Fencing

[icemanliddell]

Does anybody here take up Sport Fencing? Now I know in this modern age, fencing is not a good MA because it's impractical and illegal to carry rapiers on the streets. But I admire the grace and speed of those fencers. Yes, it would be much practical to train in Kali instead but ironically, there are much more arnis/kali gyms in California than in Manila. I focus more btw on fitness than on self-defense.

My game is actually judo and some bjj where I train for free, but my coach is very busy because he's supporting a political party in our local elections. There's a bjj gym nearby which has a pricey session, but it's in conflict w/ my photography seminar, and the membership is quite high. The team also had a reputation for having pansy richy rich students.

One fencing coach offered me lessons. The price is pricier than bjj, but the instruction is one on one and he promised to lend me his equipment in the first few sessions. Plus, the membership and locker fee are very cheap for the entire year. Should I accept?

 

[eLbo85]

yes

 

[Halls]

Fencing can definitly help your footwork in your stand up fighting. I am involved in JKD and some of our footwork was derived from fencing.
Cheap one on one lessons, and free gear give it a shot what have you got to lose.

 

[Rinksterk**]

its fucking fun! I dont care about the practical appilcations for it, since nobody carries around swords, but it is sure damn fun. We used to divide teams and grab different weapons and fight a small battle. That was the shit. We would all scream shit like, "For glory!! Maintain formation!!" God I miss that.

 

[cowpaste]

If you find any coach who says sport fencing is useful for self-defense, then he's most likely full of bull or does "historical" fencing. Personally I fenced for over two years but had to quit when I moved to my present location due to the lack of competitive sport fencing clubs in the area. I know that might not seem like a long time, but I was very competitive; during tournament season, I would compete in tournaments pretty much every other week.

I've always regarded it as merely a sport and never considered it applicable to self-defense situations. If you get into it a bit, I bet you'll see pretty soon how different it is from "real" sword fighting.

However, I do see how sport fencing could possibly help in other martial arts. One MAJOR part of fencing is the mind game involved during any one of your bouts. I've lost to extremely old and slow geezers who had much better tactics and strategy. I've also lost to tons of complete beginners because they did random crazy stuff that I couldn't predict. If anything, I think the confidence and mind games you'll experience in fencing can translate very well into other martial arts.

Additionally, sport fencing happens to be one of the fastest sports out there. You'll work on your reflexes constantly and condition yourself to respond appropriately to various threats. Again, I can see this as being useful in other martial arts.

Would you mind me asking what this instructor would be charging you? Does he run a club? Is there a website?

 

[finnegan]

I do SCA style combat (swords, spears, etc) Dodging incoming attacks whilst wearing 50 lbs of steel most certainly improves your reaction time without it. Teaches you to keep your hands up too (Try holding a 10 lb shield at eye level for 5 minutes)

 

[XTrainer]

What's SCA? Is that like ARMA?

 

[Name goes here]

Fencing is definately fun, though it tends to favour the skinny and quick over those who focus on big weights. Though strong legs is a big help. In fencing though you lead with your right leg, unlike mma where you lead with your left, and wrist agility is big in fencing but irrelevent in mma. So basically they don't really have anything to do with each other, aside from reactions really. But yes it's fun

 

[philong]

If you find any coach who says sport fencing is useful for self-defense, then he's most likely full of bull or does "historical" fencing.

I've always regarded it as merely a sport and never considered it applicable to self-defense situations. If you get into it a bit, I bet you'll see pretty soon how different it is from "real" sword fighting.

I completely disagree with this assesment of fencing. I will gladly put my fencing skills up against anyone who wants to do "real" sword fighting. Fencing techniques are perfectly suited to self defence. My Sabre techniques translate over to stick techniques with no change. I can put the point of my weapon exactly where I want it (within a fraction of an inch), your throat, testicles, wrist, eyes, etc. I can slash to any target I desire, head, hand, elbow, etc. I have tons of time blocking strikes from other peoples weapons, and attacking back after the block.
The rest of your post concerning the positive aspects of fencing I agreed with.

I will gladly spar anyone who wants to test the effectiveness of their style of swordplay against classical fencing in the Washington DC area, I have a hard time finding people who want to actually put it to the test and I'm always up for a good workout.
FYI- I don't consider myself that good of a fencer either.

 

[philong]

What's SCA? Is that like ARMA?

Society for Creative Anachronism.
www.sca.org

 

[icemanliddell]

If you find any coach who says sport fencing is useful for self-defense, then he's most likely full of bull or does "historical" fencing. Personally I fenced for over two years but had to quit when I moved to my present location due to the lack of competitive sport fencing clubs in the area. I know that might not seem like a long time, but I was very competitive; during tournament season, I would compete in tournaments pretty much every other week.

I've always regarded it as merely a sport and never considered it applicable to self-defense situations. If you get into it a bit, I bet you'll see pretty soon how different it is from "real" sword fighting.

However, I do see how sport fencing could possibly help in other martial arts. One MAJOR part of fencing is the mind game involved during any one of your bouts. I've lost to extremely old and slow geezers who had much better tactics and strategy. I've also lost to tons of complete beginners because they did random crazy stuff that I couldn't predict. If anything, I think the confidence and mind games you'll experience in fencing can translate very well into other martial arts.

Additionally, sport fencing happens to be one of the fastest sports out there. You'll work on your reflexes constantly and condition yourself to respond appropriately to various threats. Again, I can see this as being useful in other martial arts.

Would you mind me asking what this instructor would be charging you? Does he run a club? Is there a website?

sixty dollars per ten sessions. but locker is 10 dollars a year, around 6 dollars membership also for a year.

 

[cowpaste]

What's a "session" exactly? Is it a private or group lesson?

Either way, that price isn't bad at all really. Fencing is a pretty "high-end" sport. I used to pay $150 in club membership fees a month, which included four private lessons normally priced at $25 a lesson. The truth is, fencing is just not as popular as say...Karate, and they are required to charge higher prices to make up for lower enrollment. If you get into it though, you'll soon realize that those private lessons are REALLY valuable.

 

[icemanliddell]

It should be a group. But for that particular sched, I'm his only student.

 

[philong]

What's a "session" exactly? Is it a private or group lesson?

Either way, that price isn't bad at all really. Fencing is a pretty "high-end" sport. I used to pay $150 in club membership fees a month, which included four private lessons normally priced at $25 a lesson. The truth is, fencing is just not as popular as say...Karate, and they are required to charge higher prices to make up for lower enrollment. If you get into it though, you'll soon realize that those private lessons are REALLY valuable.

Where are you guys at? Lessons are free around here, all you have to do is supply your own gear. Most of the clubs I've been to are just happy to have new people to fence with and an opportunity to grow the sport. Heck, most of us have enough spare gear that an interested person can come down and fence with nothing more than the desire for a little while to see if they like it before investing in gear.

 

[Name goes here]

Anyone here competed in a fencing competition?
I did as a kid, at a low level, I won my first match but was knackered by the second and lost quickly. You get very tired against an equal level opponent, lots of quick action, lots of back and forth, hard to get the point, a tiring stance and lots of sweat.