In the beginning

[JackSparrow]

Why did you start fencing in the first place?

I read in an interview which said that Dan Kellner got interested in fencing after he played a video game called Summer Games on his Commodore 64 computer. It had all the Olympic sports on it, including fencing. Amazing that he should end up an Olympic athlete himself.

Personally, I took up fencing because my mum was a fencer and I used to get dragged along as a kid (before getting totally hooked on it myself). There's so many reasons why you might want to start doing this sport of ours, so I'm really interested in why you took it up.

[davtsung]

I did kendo most my life, still do, and European fencing was always intriguing; it kinda sprung from there after I watched Atlanta olympics and decided to give it a try. Years later... I'm still trying.

[grotto]

I saw a college PE class and was interested, quickly realized I had finally found a sport I could be good at. No kicking, throwing, hitting, catching, any sort of ball. By being clever and sharp I could excell against even the truly athletic. (I can't believe that big guy beat me!) Now I'm in better shape because of it, and really wouldn't know what to do otherwise.

[telkanuru]

Well, I was fairly decent at x-country through middle school, but when I went to a private HS in Boston, I quickly realized that x-c ment dodging cars and other objects with goodly amounts of kinetic energy, and this was in all likelyhood an undesireable thing to do for any period of time. I also despise basketball with a burning firey passion that burns with fire and passion, and fencing was really the only other option. I was hooked in about 0.5 seconds from when I first picked up a sword.

[JackSparrow]

I did kendo most my life, still do, and European fencing was always intriguing; it kinda sprung from there after I watched Atlanta olympics and decided to give it a try. Years later... I'm still trying.

I'd love to try Kendo. I've always thought it looked great fun.

[Purple Fencer]

1981...summer break between graduating high school and college. A friend had some cavalry sabres (live steel!) on his wall and we went outside to VERY CAREFULLY AND SLOWLY go at it...a car drove by, windows came down, a cry of "Go find a fencing club and get outta the street!", and the car drove off.

Turned out there WAS a beginning fencing class at college...'nuff said!

[JackSparrow]

So basically to keep you off the street

[davtsung]

I saw a college PE class and was interested, quickly realized I had finally found a sport I could be good at. No kicking, throwing, hitting, catching, any sort of ball. By being clever and sharp I could excell against even the truly athletic. (I can't believe that big guy beat me!) Now I'm in better shape because of it, and really wouldn't know what to do otherwise.

That's funny cause those are exactly the reason I'm not that good at fencing...

[Cavatione]

I strongly wanted to do a traditional sport, far from the modern mess of soccer (YEUCH! ) or other activities...

I wanted something to state my identity as an european, not related to other foreigner and alien habits.

That'sd why I ended up in classical fencing!

[Pelle]

three words "Mask, Of, Zorro", i kid you not, i was like 10 when that movie came out, i think 10...whatever..and it blew my mind. in grade six we had the opportunity to learn any sport for a day and i with the help of some friends convince our class (and our gym teacher) to bring the the manioba fencing club (not sure if this was the organization but you get the idea) then i went to junior high and kinda forgot about it. a few years later the opportunity arose to take lessons and all i ha to do was remember the mask of zorro.

[sreckiki]

I was watching the final of the ME team event in the Sydney OGs and I saw Obry and his folks lost 45-44 against Italy. Even if France lost, this sport looked so great.

In the same time, I was wondering if I should restart to ski seriously... that means buy three race pairs and a lot of money. So, I made my mind, picked fencing and tried the Salle in my neighborhood.

I totally felt in love with this sport. Even if, after a while, I discover that it costs a lot of money too!

So for me, the reasons were the OGs and money!

[mackillian]

A friend taught some of us some basics and let us bout for a little while.

I got hooked. I loved it from the beginning.

[Morion]

At the age of 49 I realized I wasn't a kid anymore. My job is totally sedentary. In addition to that I'm a diabetic. I knew I had to do something to try to put off that first heart attack. I had tried gym memberships before but I always stopped going after a few months because it is so boooooring!

Thanks to a passing fancy with the SCA I started considering their Rapier combat, but found I couldn't attend their "Fighter Training" classes. So as an alternative I looked into fencing lessons. That was in Feb '02 and I'm still with it. Since then my insulin use has gone down by 25% and I have a much easier time controlling my blood sugar. I am also in much better physical condition than I was at the start.

[SwordSoul]

1) As a freshman in high school i didn't get the flag football class i so desperately wanted and
2) Ninjas use swords as well. And both ninjas and swords rock my socks.

[ls14evar]

I was at the activity carnival at the start of my freshman year in college and the fencing team had a booth. I go "oooooo swords! I wanna try!"
Can't say I was really aware of the sport in more than a very abstract way before then. Wish I had gotten a earlier start.

[Purple Fencer]

So basically to keep you off the street

Niiiiice!!!!

[edew]

I was watching the final of the ME team event in the Sydney OGs and I saw Obry and his folks lost 45-44 against Italy. Even if France lost, this sport looked so great.

In the same time, I was wondering if I should restart to ski seriously... that means buy three race pairs and a lot of money. So, I made my mind, picked fencing and tried the Salle in my neighborhood.

I totally felt in love with this sport. Even if, after a while, I discover that it costs a lot of money too!

So for me, the reasons were the OGs and money!

It was 30-29 or 29-28 for the Italians, not 45-44. The event was a great match. Just excellent to watch (even for those who think epee is boring to watch). I thought the rivalry between France and Italy reached a boiling point at this event. The France-Italy MST in the 2004 doesn't hold a candle to the F-I MET/2000.

The way Milanoli biatch slapped the French in a psychological way, and the way DiMartino tried to out slap Milanoli was great. Just great.

[Almightynoitall]

Two words, one name: Inigo Montoya.

[OffTarget]

In 1992 I fell 5 1/2 stories and broke my pelvis in half, fractured my left tibia and dislocated my right foot. The only long term problem I have is that my right ankle joint has no range of motion. So all my old sports, rugby, ultimate frisbee, raquetball and anything else that involved the need for side to side cutting, and extensive running, were out.

I eventually was drawn to fencing because it is linear. As long as I am going forward and back, and not requiring a lot of pressure on my front leg toes, its a-ok.

It is great to be off the couch after a lot of lame (figuratively and literally) years.

[The0ne]

wow, that's crazy Off-Target!!!

I started with a new club in Salem Oregon, helped start the club, then moved to VT and have fenced here for a bunch of years. I thought fencing sounded cool.