Your Second Weapon????

[Shadow Fencer]

After much thinking about the pros and cons of which weapon I want as a secondary weapon... and the influence of my coach, I've chosen Epee. Shhhhh.... I haven't even told hubby I just ordered one and a few spare parts...guess he'll find out when that long skinny box shows up at our doorstep!

Bottom line for my decision is that I had a LOT of fun at one of the tournaments with Epee and I consider this to be my fun weapon. Foil is my competitive weapon.

So, how many of you have a second weapon and what is it and what made you decide to go with it?


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I live to fence and fence to live!!

[Purple Fencer]

I stared out with foil, like almost everyone. I picked up epee as a lark for our divisional team epee champs and decided I liked it, even though I did -- and still do -- suck at it.

I got into sabre in much the same way...we needed a third person for the sabre team and I'd done it for one semester in college (dry...it hadn't been electrified yet). When I came back to the sport, my original intent was to get back in the groove and then fence sabre all the time. I did not realise the sabre gear at the time, and decidd to do foil until I could afford sabre stuiff.

Now I'm a three-weapon guy...and loving every minute I'm out on the strip. I constantly joke about how bad an epeeist I am, but, like Foil Girl says, if you're not having fun, you've already lost.

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Sam Signorelli -- Boldly going forward...'cause I can't find reverse!

[Stryder]

It is illegal to use a second weapon.

I kill me!

Looks like its going to be epee. I have resisted it thus far, but tried it twice last week. I'm just too stubborn to tell my coach he was right and I sort of liked it.
Hehe.

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You CAN teach old dogs new tricks.

[damianip]

I chose épée as my second weapon (after foil).

Now it's my only weapon.

Paolo

Sabre as my first weapon, been fencing since the dry sabre days back in the early 70's. Since our Salle was mostly epee for the past two years, Ive learned to live with a couple of epees in my bag. I still tend to slap/slice my epee opponents from time to time.

[ladybug]

Sabre is my primary weapon, but i do fence foil for fun. At least I THINK its fun, generally, until I get in to a tournament and end up getting SLAUGHTERED because even though I'm winning the attacks and ripostes I CAN'T HIT WITH THE POINT ---- STOOPID WEAPON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (oops, sorry - bad tourney this weekend!!!) anyhow, I would think it would be easier to trasition between the point weapons than between one of them and sabre.

[big poppa]

Foil is my primary weapon,epee is my second, sabre I fence to relax and to warm up for foil. As I get older I can see what the old heads were talking about, the weapons compliment each other.

[Purple Fencer]

Originally posted by ladybug:
I would think it would be easier to trasition between the point weapons than between one of them and sabre.

I thought so, too. However, it turns out I'm better at right of way weapons. I'm starting to bring more of my foil game into sabre and I'm getting more parry-riposts then ever.

I have GREAT parry-riposts in epee, but the ripost always lands about 41 ms later than my opponent's. Oops


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Sam Signorelli -- Boldly going forward...'cause I can't find reverse!

[Link14]

Foil is my secondary weapon with sabre and my first love. While I love to pick on epeest who try sabre, I'm equally vunerable when it comes to fencing epee. I depend on ROW so much that I'm pretty much only good for a pin cushion.

As a matter of fact, I tried fencing epee in a competition in Wyoming several years ago. My first bout went well and then I went up against a little 4' nothing inch tall, 10 year old named Grace McGlade. Needless to say, I got my butt kicked and haven't fenced an epee in competition since.

I do make a good practice dummy for cuff shots though....

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If the pen is mightier than the sword, the writer must have a heck of a reach!!

[oiuyt]

Just over 2 years ago all the epeeists at my (collegiate) club stopped coming for a bit at the end of the competitive season. Actually, all the foilists (except for 1) stopped coming too, but that wasn't as big a problem for me. For a couple of weeks, the sabre fencers (who HAD continued coming) and the other 2 of us (myself and the abovementioned foilist) fenced sabre.... and I decided that I REALLY enjoyed fencing sabre.

I spent the next 1/2 year practicing and competing in both, and the last 1 1/2 years practicing (almost) only sabre (RARELY practicing epee) but competing heavily (multipe times a month) in both weapons. My rating's the same in both weapons, so I'm not sure which you'd want to count as my primary and which my secondary....

-B

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"Oh but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"

Yay for sabres! (And I think I'm being converted quite well from foil.) And actually, in the few months I've been away from my school year club, I've learned that epee CAN actually be fun. Always a surprise...

As a new foil fencer, I'm a little distracted by epee but I find myself adopting it as a second weapon by chance.

In class, all my training is foil. But after class, the only guys hanging around to fence happen to be epee fencers. Since I am eager to learn as much as possible, I never decline when encouraged to "go and fence so and so" with an epee.

I'm learning a lot, despite the distraction of switching between the different styles at this early stage in my training. But I do sometimes worry that I'm missing out on something by not mastering one weapon (at least becoming confident with it) before moving on to a new one.

Anyone have a similar experience? Did it mess you up, so to speak?

Not that I am by any means an expert in anything, but I started on foil and fenced foil for about 6 months before picking up a sabre. Somewhere in the foil months I picked up an epee out of boredom. (Once I drive hours to a tournament, I want to fence as much as I possibly can.) I generally found that as long as I can remember which weapon I'm holding at the time, fencing different weapons has helped me. The point control I had to learn for epee helped me control my foil better. My sabre parries made my foil parries stronger and cleaner. (So yeah, that's my uneducated opinion.) (But yes, I definately have picked up a foil and said "O wow, her wrist is exposed!" after finishing an epee bout.)

[oiuyt]

Fencer2000- Not quite the same thing, but back when I first started fencing (epee) I also started to learn SCA rapier at the same time (actually, starting a couple months later, but close enough). I discovered that I had a REALLY hard time fully utilizing my off hand in rapier (it was hard enough to pull it forward from the classical over-the-shoulder en garde so that it at least LOOKED like a threat to parry), and started discovering that at times my hand would start sweeping forward into a parry when fencing epee. It never quite made it into a hand parry, but I could feel it begin the sweep several times.

I quickly decided that trying to learn both at once was a problem and that the styles were similar enough that they were affecting each other and ended up choosing the one I enjoyed more. Five years later when I started playing with sabres I didn't experience any similar problems. Either the differences epee/sabre are great enough that it doesn't conflict in my brain the way epee/rapier did, or the five years of really learning epee meant that I could start a second weapon without those problems. Couldn't tell you for sure which it is. I suppose I could start up with rapier again to figure it out, but I think I play with swords on enough weekends as it is right now.

-B

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"Oh but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"

[Rick]

First weapon is Foil... second weapon is another foil... third is yet another foil... I always keep at least 4 in my bag at tournaments...

(Has the delayed punchline taken effect yet)?

[epeemike81]

oiuyt,

We all know Epee is your primary weapon.

I finally had a chance to do some foil fencing with some guys in my club (until now, all my lessons have been foil but the only post-lesson casual fencing has been with a fellow who only fences epee).

Turns out, as I predicted, I LOVE IT! It was awesome. From the point of view of a rookie, foil seemed to be everything I've read that it was: more blade work, more tactics, more control...what a blast.

I can appreciate the "no rules" nature of epee as somewhat more representative of an actual duel. But I can now understand what I've read about foil being the perfect "teaching" weapon. With all those double touches in epee, I found myself feeling like each encounter was a ten second countdown to an inevitable double touch! But last night, with foil in hand, it seemed I could think clearly and really develope some strategy. I had much longer (and more interesting) bouts than I was used to with epee.

It also gave me a new understanding of how right-of-way, while on the surface a "whimpy" rule, is really the opposite. It forced me to take all attacks seriously instead of accepting a double touch; something I'm sure we would do with sharp blades. Forgive the ramblings of a beginner but it's my observation that most epee bouts are full of double touches.

I'm glad I can be exposed to both weapons in my club but I intend to devote my attention to foil before I become too distracted.