Why did you choose .....

[LordTofuDog-jnr]

So why was it that you chose your weapon, what inspired you to be the kind of fencer that your are?

-People who do two or all of the weapons talk about your main weapon.

---

I chose foil for a few reason:

-First one being that the foil coach at my club is one of if not the best in Australia.
-I like the point work element more than epee's "poke 'em on the wrist thing."
-I like the blade work more than sabre blade work. (Parry, riposte kind of blade work)
-There's something satisfying about knowing that I can pick up any weapon and be reasonable at it. I couldn't do that with epee or sabre.
-There are more foilists than sabreurs or epeeists around me.

There's more but I can't be bothered listing any more, and you probably can't be bothered reading it.

[Katman]

I chose foil because it makes the least sense.

My actual reasons are a mystery to me. I like the right of way and I like stabbing instead of cutting. Solution? Foil.

[ls14evar]

Originally Posted by LordTofuDog-jnr

-I like the point work element more than epee's "poke 'em on the wrist thing."

Hmmm. I think if anything, point work in Epee is more demanding than foil. The targets are smaller, and generally move faster.

[LordTofuDog-jnr]

Originally Posted by ls14evar

Hmmm. I think if anything, point work in Epee is more demanding than foil. The targets are smaller, and generally move faster.

I said I prefer foil point work to poking people in the wrist, not that foil point work is harder. Big difference.

The difficulty of poking your opponent is also relative to the opponent, if the person just counter-attacks everything and leaves themselve open it's easy to get them, wrist or otherwise. In foil on the otherhand you have disengaging and junk like that, which can be demanding as well.

[Aeric]

Epee, and I started out in foil for three years. I enjoy the opportunity game, because I'm a dirty rogue. An opportunity presents itself on the opponent, and I will take it as quickly as possible. It may be a preparation, or just a target coming into view, but I enjoy the lightning-fast reflex game.

Another area I like is the lack of Right Of Way. In foil, the opponent could bull**** with marches and feints, and there was nothing you could do about it. In epee, you can arrest their attack with a point on the wrist or arm before it arrives. You better have real combat skill to survive.

The game is just so realistic with footwork, bounces, feints, and strategy. You need to control their blade SO much. Know where it is at every moment without every looking at it, because once you focus on their blade, you lose your target, and thus you lost the touch. Many times you need to attack and defend at the same time, and not like a screening flick in foil, but a real bind.

The bout is so much like a real fight, and that what drives me to play.

[Balaestra]

I chose foil because:
- I don't like epee or sabre, because in sabre you wack your opponent, and I don't think it would require that much control over your weapon to do that (I could be wrong, I never done sabre, only seen people do it), and epee has no RoW so I don't see how it works, and also because epees are heavy, stiff, ugly, and you can't Balestro lunge in epee because your opponent would just stab your foot.

-last time I picked up and epee just to look at it, my coach (Fioretto) had a heart-attack (not literally), so I haven't touched another weapon besides a foil ever since (literally).

-many of the sabreuers at my club fence brutally, and break their weapons from wacking somewone's blade too hard (I know that all sabreurers are not like this, these people are social fencers, many of them anyway).

-all the sabreurers want me to do sabre (I refused)

-and all the epeeists want me to do epee (I refused again)

- Foils are pretty (if they have mini guards), flicky, fast and you can Balestro lunge with them.

And I just loooooooooove foil!!!!

[ThornOfTheBlood]

The game is just so realistic with footwork, bounces, feints, and strategy. You need to control their blade SO much. Know where it is at every moment without every looking at it, because once you focus on their blade, you lose your target, and thus you lost the touch. Many times you need to attack and defend at the same time, and not like a screening flick in foil, but a real bind.

The bout is so much like a real fight, and that what drives me to play.

I'm an epeeist myself, but how is bouncing a REALISTIC strategy? because it isn't.

The bout is so much like a real fight, and that what drives me to play.

It is, to an extent, real dueling was circular, and as you obviously know, fencing as we know it, isn't.

[davtsung]

Foil for me was most representative of the 'physical chess' mantra we all subscribe to. The action involves more strategy on how to open up your opponent, and pure reflexes enough just won't do against a equal level opponent. While many people dislike the artificialness of foil and its rules which have spawned many-a-threads on this forum, but I find those constraints challenging. True it's probably not as true to the 'duelling' tradition, but when has a shot to the ankles really ever killed an opponent? Saber for me tends to be too quickly over and the action sometime can be all sound and fury but signifying......? I've tried epee and saber through the years, admittedly never seriously, but never quite enjoyed it as much as a good ol' fashioned ROW battle; I do however think we're all blessed to find our own weapons sacred and enjoy it as much as we do. Oh yeah, foil women are hot (a small but not insignificant reason).

[ls14evar]

Ive done all 3 weapons and come back to Epee.
Why?
- I dont like ROW. I feel like people are hiding behind the rules instead of facing you straight up. It also feels like ROW calls are highly subjective.

You know... thats really it. I could live with the reduced target areas of the other weapons, but its ROW that really bugs me and takes away from the feeling of a real martial art for me.

Epee for me just feels.... "pure" Very little feels different than the old duels to first blood.

[davtsung]

Interesting how ROW can be such a deterrant to foil!

[prototoast]

I chose sabre because I was too impatient to fence foil or epee.

[davtsung]

Certainly a valid reason,

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

I picked epee because I picked it up, and I had talent for it. I've gotten good, and I'm meeting success. Also, I'm rather tall for my age group, so the advantage, and winning, makes me happy. I wouldnt do it if I wasnt happy.

[Point_Left]

I chose sabre because: The club only has one left handed foil working (somebody had broken the other, and the armorer hadn't replaced the blade yet.), and the other lefty in the begginer class took it. We have no left handed epees (although starting with epee is not a choice.) So that left...Sabre! I then became addicted to the cut (what the uneducated call the "slash") However, I think I would have ended up in sabre, anyway. I like it. Foil reminds me of the poking bouts I had with my sisters when we were younger. If epeeists didn't bounce so much, I would consider it.

[davtsung]

In visual reasons:

[Hamley]

Because right of way makes no sense. I poked you and i dont get a point.

[SouthPaw]

Epee is most like a duel, and makes the most sense to me. Whoever hits first. Period. End of story. If you do something, it has a purpose, other than to just get the right of way. Parries are real, and you don't just beat so the director gives you a point. If you get a touch, it's because you were crafty and were able to overcome your opponent, not the rules.

Plus... right of way rules suck, and I got sick of the subjectiveness of it all. Epee forevah... until they make a mixture of sabre and epee... sabre without right of way. That would keep people from just charging at each other.

[ViewtifulMisho]

I chose sabre because I like to depress myself by visiting local tournaments and watch people murder the beautiful weapon.

[Torg]

i originally started out in saber at my high school, last year. for the midwest, there is a huge individual competition every year, and about 15 or 20 high school clubs/schools participate, with maximum 4 people per sword, and everyone had to be in grades 9-12. i was person number 6 on saber, so about 2 weeks before this competition, i switched to epee, and became number 4 (the other people were in middle school). after such a short time, i managed to win one of my pools and then place 41 out of 51. i was so proud of myself!

anyway, i've improved a lot in epee, and i'm gonna stick with it at least for a while.

[peet]

I fence all 3 weapons and really enjoy them, each for their individual characteristics, but I keep coming back to foil because IMHO, in foil, explicit control of the action changes hands between the fencers most frequently. I really like the back and forth shifts in control, and it seems llike there are more "back & forth"'s in foil.

In epee, there are similar shifts of control, but they are more implicit: "I could do A, but you could do B, so i'll act like i'm gonna do C, so you'll start to do D so that in the end i can do E and hopefully score."

We have the same thing in foil, but we actually DO all that stuff, instead of just implying it, which for me is more fun. It seems like epee rewards caution over action, and given the choice, i'd rather do something than not do something.

And how many compound actions or counter-ripostes do we see in saber? Not many. We win saber touches with the feet, and hit in one simple action usually. Still, I love saber for how fast, vigorous, and aggressive it is, and i like epee for how heady it is.

Foil: "My turn, your turn, my turn, your turn, my turn."
Epee: "My turn, my turn, my turn, my turn, my turn!"
Saber: "..................................MY TURN!"

Just my $.02


-p