wearing jeans while practicing

[sword crazy]

I have fenced for two years and have yet to be in a tournament. when i fence, i usually wear jeans ( my usual attire ). does this affect my movement too much? will my fencing improve if i wear sweat pants? Thanks!

Alex

[jip3]

I wore jeans when i first started fencing, but i ended up buying some breeches from Leon Paul a few weeks later. BIG difference, especially while lunging. Jeans can be very constricting as im sure you know.

breeches > sweats > jeans

And you cant forget aesthetics, of course.

[bwoodward]

Originally Posted by sword crazy

will my fencing improve if i wear sweat pants?

Why ask us? TRY the sweatpants and see how you like it. When I practice at the club sessions I wear a fencing jacket on top and shorts below. Way too hot otherwise.

[Go? Fencing?]

Personally, I don't like wearing jeans ever, but especially not for fencing. The material just doesn't have the stretch that other fabrics have. I'm captian of my team, and there are a few people with whom I always have an argument about whether or not they should be able to wear jeans to practice/matches. Sometimes I let them get away with it for practice, because it's right after school and they often won't bring any other pants, and I'd rather have them fence in jeans than not at all. For matches, though, I insist that they wear knickers, or at least sweatpants if they don't have knickers. Not that they always listen to me...

[Philippe]

Originally Posted by bwoodward

When I practice at the club sessions I wear a fencing jacket on top and shorts below. Way too hot otherwise.

Err...hope you're not fencing epee...

I normally wear warmup pants. They provide some protection for my legs (which sweat pants may not) and don't restrict movement, especially when lunging.

If you plan on competing, practicing in knickers is a good idea to get used to wearing them.

[Phoenix]

I used to wear baggy jeans when I began, but my coach told me to buy knickers because they do affect lunges in terms of being able to reach farther. They way they are sewn don't leave much movement. Defiantly get sweatpants.

[cornflower]

I hate jeans. Jeans suck. I don't understand why people wear jeans for fencing. Like, wtf?! I see a lot of teenage "skater" boys wear baggy jeans while fencing! WTF WTF WTF!

[Go? Fencing?]

Originally Posted by cornflower

I hate jeans. Jeans suck. I don't understand why people wear jeans for fencing. Like, wtf?! I see a lot of teenage "skater" boys wear baggy jeans while fencing! WTF WTF WTF!

I have to agree. Some people just don't get it, but knickers are hot. Especially if you've got cool socks.

[noodle]

Originally Posted by cornflower

I hate jeans. Jeans suck. I don't understand why people wear jeans for fencing. Like, wtf?! I see a lot of teenage "skater" boys wear baggy jeans while fencing! WTF WTF WTF!

thats because girl jeans are super tight and probably chafe pretty badly if you get a bit sweaty and lunge. guy jeans are usually at least a little less tight and have more leg mobility. i've worn jeans to fence in before.

on a separate note, i don't anymore. i've split several pairs of pants fencing. i guess that shows how tight my pants are, huh.

edited to note: tight in a sexy way, not in a morbidly obese way.

[cornflower]

Nah, they don't chafe. The miracles of modern technology have allowed girls to wear stretch jeans. I can lunge safely and comfortably in my jeans... but they're sticky and uncomfy when sweaty.

[cornflower]

Note: I don't fence in jeans, only sweatpants.

[mackillian]

In my club, we aren't allowed to fence anything electric unless we're wearing protective pants of some sort. This means either knickers, or pants that are thick (jeans), not shorts or sweats or warmups.

*shrug*

I got knickers.

[Grasshopper]

You wear jeans while fencing? Disgusting.

[leia]

Jeans work okay. Before i got the breeches we had to wear jeans if we didnt have our whites for the school competition for safety resons. They are okay, but not that comfortable, manuverability is a problem, i have split a pair of 3/4 length jeans lunging (which was not cool...).

The breeches are much more comfortable.

[Hurriranger]

leia: beep wrong! :P

If you can do fencing in ur jeans, they're not going to look good on you. I got a great looking pair of jeans but it restricts movement. Then i got a crappy pair of jeans that don't look right but i can move around all i want. I'd say get some whites, they're much better! and not normal pants, they have a a habit of ripping....several times at our school training followed by howls of laughter AT the boy, not with him.

/rant

[Zilverzmurfen]

You wear jeans when you fence?!

That sounds really odd to me, but perhaps it's an american thing? I prefer to wear at least some type of sporting clothes when doing sports...

Wearing a pair of tracksuit bottoms/sweatpants may not improve your fencing as such, but I dare promise that it'll be more 'roomy', thus giving you more movement.

Eventually you may want to invest in a pair of breeches ('knickers' ), they're even more comfortable to move around in as they end by your knees.

[VELISARIOS]

You wear jeans?????????????????and you fence confordable?It sounds strange to me!
I wear sport clothes and I feel confordable.

[Dar Tanyon]

I am surprised that no one (save one) has mentioned the safety issue with sweatpants and/or jeans. Knickers overlap with the jacket preventing the blade from going in-between the clothes. They are more puncture resistant. You can lunge better. I suppose if you are a beginner or just to poor to afford a good set of knickers that would be one thing. But just for style and "comfort" seems just plain silly. I have seen people with the low hugger jeans, skin exposed. That just isn't safe. The baggy jeans are also just an accident waiting to happen. To easy to trip over. This is a sport where safety should be foremost in the minds of every particiapant.

good luck to all.

[veeco]

In terms of safety, it's probably better to wear jeans than sweat pants while fencing. Denim fabric is probably stronger than whatever they use to make sweat pants.

But ideally you still should always wear knickers. Jeans might be OK for someone who is just trying fencing for the first time, after that they should wear fencing knickers all the time.

[Go? Fencing?]

Originally Posted by Dar Tanyon

I am surprised that no one (save one) has mentioned the safety issue with sweatpants and/or jeans. Knickers overlap with the jacket preventing the blade from going in-between the clothes.
...
I have seen people with the low hugger jeans, skin exposed. That just isn't safe.

I've seen someone from my team get carded because she wore jeans and the shirt underneath her jacket slipped up, and skin was showing. Actually, the director of the other strip (and he was also the coach of the team we were fencing) came over to our strip and pointed it out, so our director had to card her.