Wheelchair fencing

[Katman]

I have tried it and enjoyed it. Foil and epee, no saber. I like the furious blade action.

[Katman]

I have tried it and enjoyed it. Foil and epee, no saber. I like the furious blade action.

[ReverseLunge]

I've tried it too. To do wheelchair fencing properly you need a "butt judge". The rules are you need to have atleast 1 butt cheek touching the seat at all times but thats not the case since they cheat so much. Those cripples were just jumping out of their seats flying at me whenever the director wasn't looking at their butts. But then I got carded everytime I lifted my a$$.

[Boo Boo]

Or maybe I could ignore your baiting.

Funnily enough I have not been "baiting" - just trying to constructively answer the original posters question: something you have obviously missed the point of completely...

[reposte]

My coach saw a movie about it before Athens and was very impressed at the degree of difficulty in terms of blade work.
I suspect the emphasys in W.F is about technique as well as hand strength in order to flick (old timings) as hard and long as possible.
I wouldn't infer that able bodied fencers are better unless I'd have seen high level W.F -ers against regular ones.

[ChubbyHubby]

Bingo.
An elite-level chair athlete will knock the snot out of an able-bodied opponent.

These sorts of comments really chap my hide: "I've never tried or seen it myself -- I have no experience whatsoever -- but I assuuuuuuume it must be easier." Likewise with polite dismissals and references to "real" or "actual" fencing.

Tell ya what, kiddos, you train your assets off day after day, year after year, to be the best at ANYTHING and then see how you feel when someone says it's not a "real" activity.

By "real" I think most people mean regular Olympic fencing. Wheelchair fencing is a paraolympic sport not Olympic as in *the* Olympic games but the paraolympic games. Of course it is a "real" activity but it is not the same.

As for "An elite-level chair athlete will knock the snot out of an able-bodied opponent.", that's only because the able-bodied opponent will be fencing on the chair athlete's terms. The able-bodied fencer will have the advantage if wheelchair fencing is all he/she trains for.

And yes, I've tried it too. I too found it "easier" in the sense there is less to worry about (ie.footwork), and did well against wheelchair fencers because I am good at flicks and because although legs are strapped in, being able to use leg muscles helps the leaning and stablising.

[Bayou Bum]

But then I got carded everytime I lifted my a$$.

Yes, but for you, that means you were removing your mask

[Captain Hook]

One of the guys who goes to my club is in a wheel chair and I fence him most of the time he come's along.

I find it very difficult due to the reliance on bladework, that and I'm still not very experienced fencing on my own two feet, let alone parked on the ol glutimus maximiser. It seems a little bit of a challenge for the more experienced fencers aswell, who aren't as used to fencing without being able to move about.

As there is only one wheelchair I end up sitting on this dingy old stool that wobbles like crazy whenever you really go for it. Still, it's funny when someone falls off it

[Charon]

Many years ago (mid to late 80's), I coached a wheelchair fencer. Given that he was a tetraplegic (no use of anything below the waist) and had to have the weapon strapped into his hand, my admiration for his determination to succeed is a memory i think i will always carry. Along with the memory of giving him his first lesson, with me sitting down and thinking "ohhhhhh my god, what the hell do i do now?"

[ReverseLunge]

Yes, but for you, that means you were removing your mask

does that mean my mask is my a$$?

[Joe biebel]

I had the great pleasure of visiting Salle Mauro in San Antonio a few years ago while there on business. I went to the club on a very bad night weatherwise (tornado warnings, etc.) and the only fencers there were an assistant coach and a wheelchair fencer. The wheelchair fencer, whose name I won't mention because my memory for names sucks, was one of the top wheelchair fencers in the country. While I have always been curious about wheelchair fencing, I would more than likely have fenced with the "unchallenged" fencers had there been any there. I would have missed out on a very interesting opportunity.

I thoroughly enjoyed having my butt handed to me and learned how different and demanding fencing is in a wheelchair. I could almost hold my own during the first two minutes of fencing but soon learned how comparitively weak my arm was and how little endurance I had compared to my opponnent. My arm was "falling off" in short order and made me basically helpless. The inability to "step out of reach" and recover my arm muscles by using footwork became almost immediately apparent. Well it was a lot of fun, anyway. The next day I found out how much my abs needed work as well. I don't know if I was "lunging" correctly by wheelchair standards, but it seemed to be all abdominal muscles. If you get a chance to try this, I highly recommend it.

[JackSparrow]

I only did it once but I found that it was always a good idea to attack the very moment play resumes as you are always within distance. It was great fun and completely different.

[Phoenix]

I was just looking around the club listings (I got bored, sue me) and I saw that Boston Fencing Club has a new wheelchair fencing program. That should be interesting to see. I guess if you guys know anyone who is interested, then they should sign up there.