Anybody knows?

Hi !

Can anybody recommend me some good books on fencing? Either in french or
english, or any good book that involve swordplay. Im searching but cant
find. I was told that Nick Evangelista book were good, is that true? I know
that i wont learn fencing in books but it is a real good complement. If any
have suggestion, I am ready for any comments!

Agleos Arkeneight

Agleos,

Suggest you read the three part Fencing FAQ that regularly gets sent
to this news group. Conventional wisdom is that a fencing book is not
a good idea for a beginner. After you have spent some time with a
coach/maestro/maitre'd, then a good book can help as an illustration
and help you integrate your knowledge of fencing.

In the latter case I would recommend (in english translation from the
Hungarian) "Epee Fencing, a complete system" by Imre Vass. The original
title in hungarian uses characters my keyboard doesn't handle. Sorry.
But in the english translation, get the revised translation by Charles
Coutts. It's much more readable. I believe it is from SKA swordplay books
which also has several other fencing books.

J.


Trim Plus Expert wrote:
> Hi !
>
> Can anybody recommend me some good books on fencing? Either in french or
> english, or any good book that involve swordplay. Im searching but cant
> find. I was told that Nick Evangelista book were good, is that true? I know
> that i wont learn fencing in books but it is a real good complement. If any
> have suggestion, I am ready for any comments!
>
> Agleos Arkeneight
>
>

In rec.sport.fencing on Tue, 12 Aug 2003 13:37:17 -0400
Trim Plus Expert <trimplus@bellnet.ca> wrote:
> Hi !
>
> Can anybody recommend me some good books on fencing? Either in french or
> english, or any good book that involve swordplay. Im searching but cant
> find. I was told that Nick Evangelista book were good, is that true? I know
> that i wont learn fencing in books but it is a real good complement. If any
> have suggestion, I am ready for any comments!

Evangalista's "THe Inner Game" is a book of short essays about mindset.
THings to think about, paths to follow.

you will probably get more out of that than you will from a book on
fencing mechanics.

Zebee

"Trim Plus Expert" <trimplus@bellnet.ca> wrote in message news:<wz9_a.1276$VG.100802@news20.bellglobal.com>. ..
> Hi !
>
> Can anybody recommend me some good books on fencing? Either in french or
> english, or any good book that involve swordplay. Im searching but cant
> find. I was told that Nick Evangelista book were good, is that true? I know
> that i wont learn fencing in books but it is a real good complement. If any
> have suggestion, I am ready for any comments!

While no one can dispute Evangelista's acumen or authority, I find his
books condescending and patronizing. He does have some good things
to say, but they are often obscured by his prose which is carelessly
self-serving at best and haughty at worst. It seems his view
biased--nothing wrong with that, in moderation--in favor of his own
system above all others--and all others have nothing to reccomend
them.

In my opinion (and I won't pretend it's humble), the best book on
introductory mechanics is Muriel Bower's "Foil Fencing" 8th ed.

But there is another book...one which is much better suited to the
mindset of the fencer, and one which I have worn out about four times
in paperback. It's Joe Hyams' "Zen in the Martial Arts" (ISBN:
0553275593) and is as close a book to the Bible as I can imaigne. No
fencer, no coach, no ONE should be without this book, anywhere,
anytime.

Cheers,

TC

--

I (and a great many other people) will certainly debate his acumen and authority. He's never produced any
fencers of noteworthy success, and really was never strong himself competitively (fencers I know who were active
at the national
level when he would've been in his competitive prime had never heard of him back then). Certainly
he's in no position to cast aspersions on the likes of Ann Marsh, as he does in reference to a photo of her
fencing in one of his books.
He is known because he is a tireless self-promoter who figured out how to use the d-i-y review feature on
Amazon.com
to plug his own books. If you were to try and compare his achievements with those of Vladimir Nazlymov, Buckie
Leach or Simon Gershon, to name a few, you'd find there's nothing to compare.

That said, I'd have no big issue with him being off and doing his own thing, even if his sport fencing credentials
are less than he makes them out to be. However, he has an obsessive need to "validate" his approach to classical
fencing by spewing all manner of childish insults and rants towards competitive fencers (and anyone else who
doesn't share his views on fencing). There are folks in the CF and HF communities who are just as put off by that
as I am.

There are a couple of recent threads concerning Evangelista and The San Jose State University program (Gaugler et.
al) over at Fencing.net that would be worth reading.

In terms of books readily available in North America, Rudy Volkmann's "Big Book of Fencing" is the one I recommend
to beginners. Tons of well-illustrated, relevant material for beginners. The translations of Isvan Lukovich's
books also contain some useful items, although they're very dry and densely written. No books will be a substitute
for coaching, however. You should also be away that fencing books will almost
always be at least slightly out of date, since currently active top-level coaches generally don't have time to
write books.

-Dave

Thom Cate wrote:

>
> While no one can dispute Evangelista's acumen or authority, I find his
> books condescending and patronizing. He does have some good things
> to say, but they are often obscured by his prose which is carelessly
> self-serving at best and haughty at worst. It seems his view
> biased--nothing wrong with that, in moderation--in favor of his own
> system above all others--and all others have nothing to reccomend
> them.
>
> In my opinion (and I won't pretend it's humble), the best book on
> introductory mechanics is Muriel Bower's "Foil Fencing" 8th ed.
>
> But there is another book...one which is much better suited to the
> mindset of the fencer, and one which I have worn out about four times
> in paperback. It's Joe Hyams' "Zen in the Martial Arts" (ISBN:
> 0553275593) and is as close a book to the Bible as I can imaigne. No
> fencer, no coach, no ONE should be without this book, anywhere,
> anytime.
>
> Cheers,
>
> TC
>
> --

quote "You can't learn to fence from a book, but this as near as you will
get." London reader'Amazon'"
"Foil Fencing - The techniques and tactics of modern foil fencing"
ISBN 1840243317 suppliers listed at www.fencingmaster.co.uk

Trim Plus Expert wrote in message ...
>Hi !
>
>Can anybody recommend me some good books on fencing? Either in french or
>english, or any good book that involve swordplay. Im searching but cant
>find. I was told that Nick Evangelista book were good, is that true? I know
>that i wont learn fencing in books but it is a real good complement. If any
>have suggestion, I am ready for any comments!
>
>Agleos Arkeneight
>
>