Dry fencing

[LUDICROUS]

Dry fencing... Do you hate it?

Luckily for you people, I forgot to enable "see who voted"..

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

I don't like it... its so much more imformal, and unless you have the panel of 4 judges, theres alot of arguing.

[AndrewH]

The only time I dry fence is at a club practice, because sabre practice doesn't really require a strip setup. Less hot without the lame too, which is handy in the spring/summer months.

I do notice though, that casual directing for dry sabre tends to differ a lot from electric. For example, I hardly ever see mal-parre called dry, it's almost always parry-riposte. Versus, with an electric setup, 2 light situations with a parry often get called as mal-parre. One might argue that one interpretation is the "correct" one, but what really matters is consistency, you don't want to have your parries working in dry practice but not work in electric competition.

[VERITAS]

I must be the only one, but at the salle where I fence, dry fencing is the norm and is far superior to all electric bouts I have seen.

There is no argument or bickering tolerated. It's strictly discouraged by word and example.

With a good director and four good judges, the dry fencing is far more interesting, personal, traditional, and instructive than electric fencing, in my opinion.

Every touch is expertly explained by a director, and the judges are consulted.

This makes it much more spectator-friendly, and allows for reflection on one's mistakes or one's success as the director picks apart the phrase.

The beeping box en masse gives me a headache, in fact.

Electric fencing is necessary, I suppose, when good judges are few and far between, or when the results need to be "scientifically accurate".

Anyway, if you have never experienced the joy of a properly juried assualt, you don't know what you're missing.

[Rolls]

I went with 50/50. The truth is I hate it, but sometimes there just isn't a box around or they are all taken up. Because fo those situations, I had to get it some credit.

Rolls.

[bwoodward]

I don't mind dry fencing at all. In my club only 6 of us have electric gear so if you want to fence a variety of people you need to fence dry occasionally. I don't need a box to know if I'm sucking or kicking a**. We call touches against us honestly. In my case, if there's ever a question I give the point to the other guy - I'm trying to train myself to get points that no one can argue with. Besides, my two 30 year old practice foils are light, flexible, and way better than my electric one. My electric foil feels like it has a can of dog food taped to the point.

[mrbiggs]

This poll is flawed because I'm not a moron and I disagree with it.


I think that dry fencing is okay for practice, but in a bout you really want to win, it just doesn't cut it. Because, with dry fencing, you know the moves that you and your oppoenent did, and you have a good idea of who would have won the touch. That's good for practice. But, in even a friendly competition, it can become very chaotic.

[ThatReallyHurt]

As long as I'm fencing another human being, I'm happy. I really don't care if there are lights or not - everyone in my club is good about admitting when they've been hit.

No complaints with dry fencing at all.

[dreamer90024]

I'm an epeeist and I don't like it because I find it is often hard to decide what was a double touch, what was a single, and who hit first. When I fence foil and saber (both rarely) I don't mind it though.

[KShan5[PrFC]]

Well since I'm a sabre fencer who is taught to attack hand (it being the closest target to me) it makes it slightly difficult to see if it hit about or below the cuff-line. Plus I just hate the arguing.

[Zilverzmurfen]

Originally Posted by LUDICROUS

Do you hate it?

I don't exactly hate it, but I think it's quite boring.

At our club we only dry/steam fence when doing pair-exercises, and that's not exactly fencing as such...

[Nusy]

I voted I hate it, but I forgot about saber... In saber it's OK, but in foil I truly hate to fence dry.

[Inquartata]

Poll is FLA---oh, wait, biggsie already pointed that out. Never mind.

I started in the olden times of "dry" sabre, so while I don't really "hate" it I have come to prefer electric fencing greatly, because after all I am practicing for competitions, all or which are held with the scoring apparatus. And there's a different dynamic to dry sabre, even aside from the stop cuts to the arm that few referees and no side judges ever saw, the parry issues, etc. Practicing dry on a regular basis and then competing electrically seems like a good way to bollix up one's results...

I will do it in extremis, but would much rather use the apparatus.

[howtobrew]

At our Salle, it's all electric. The only time we aren't hooked up is when we are having a lesson with the coach.

When I was fencing last Friday night, there were several times during bouts (epee) that my opponent and I both had touches that didn't Light because they slid off the arm, thigh, or the jacket. How would those be "judged" Veritis?

[jeff]

I put 50/50 even though I mostly dislike it: it's an impediment to preparing for competition, and you have to throw out so many abstentions. Sometimes, though, it's just nice to step onto the strip without having to put on all the other kit, so "hate" isn't the right word.

[sabreur]

It's ok for drilling, but really not so good when fencing for touches--too much is missed.

And even when drilling, it is better to work with a machine if possible.

IMNSHO.

[Alain]

I don't hate it; I think it's part of fencing. Although my club fences mostly épée, the beginner courses at our club start out with foil and, in Week 6 (of 10), we introduce fencing with referees and judges. Everyone has a turn at fencing, judging, and presiding. The week after, we let the class have a go on the electrics.

Everyone loves both of them, and I think they're both useful to people that have just come into the support. Obviously, fencing electric is more practical and common, but I think that "steam" (as we say in the UK) fencing helps people understand the principle of ROW a little better

[Zara_athlen]

In my opinion fencing dry usually just reinforces bad habits. People tend to call shots when they see a very obvious strike. Subtle touches go unnoticed. Sabre is probaly the worst weapon of all to fence dry in. The light touches to the arm are never called.

[mrbiggs]

Originally Posted by Zara_athlen

In my opinion fencing dry usually just reinforces bad habits. People tend to call shots when they see a very obvious strike. Subtle touches go unnoticed. Sabre is probaly the worst weapon of all to fence dry in. The light touches to the arm are never called.

It could be argued that electric fencing reinforces bad habits, with things like light touches to the wrist that would get you killed in an actual duel/classical fencing.

[fencer1960]

Dry fencing is better than no fencing, but if you want to compete you have to practice electric. It's the only way to learn what works with the box.