A view of fencing.net

[fencerontheline]

Originally Posted by A friend of mine via aim

sushiisgood563: Fnet is the only place in the world where a scrub can tell an olympian "you're wrong" and have it be completely appropriate, often gaining the support of other scrubs.

What do you guys think???

[MyrddinsPrecint]

Originally Posted by fencerontheline

What do you guys think???

in the water cooler?

every time.

[LUDICROUS]

Yeah, but that's the water cooler, and hopefully non-fencing related subjects.

Otherwise it's true. But it's a forum, not the Supreme Court of the World - Who cares about arguing? The more knowlegeable (bah) fencer should be happy knowing he/she is right.

[ReverseLunge]

Some People like to count the sins of others.

[Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by fencerontheline

What do you guys think???

I agree. The proof is in the pudding. But, FNET is a great place to stimulate your mind about fencing and MAYBE learn something new.

[downunder]

its a waste of time. Every second you spend on here you could be doing footwork, fitness, personal bladework.

Any good fencer has learned nothing on here.

[veeco]

Yeah, but the idea isn't necessarily what you can get from FNET, but what you can give to the fencing community by helping others and answering questions.

You're absolutely right, as a high level fencer and one who competes in world cups, you will get better education about fencing by your coach and other fencers on the world cup circuit. However, in general other fencers here aren't where you are at, and sharing your experience with them might help them grow faster.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

I think its provoked some pretty thought provoking discussion. Its also provoked alot of bull**** that I wish I hadnt read. Getting the opinion of a WC/Olympic level fencer is something that I likely wouldnt have gotten anywhere else. It also gives me some different views into the fencing community, and helps me understand the entire sport better, not just the part that effects me.

[glowstix]

Originally Posted by downunder

its a waste of time. Every second you spend on here you could be doing footwork, fitness, personal bladework.

Any good fencer has learned nothing on here.

dude, i've learned so much from this website that its ridiculous (from armouring, to tactics/strategy, general footwork and you guys even motivate me to train that much harder ).

as veeco said, not everyone is on the world circuit and we could learn a bit from you guys.

[keith]

Originally Posted by fencerontheline

What do you guys think???

I hope your friend grows into his ego .


.... and who says avoiding productive work isn't a useful way of spending time.

[mrbiggs]

Originally Posted by fencerontheline

What do you guys think???

I have no idea what he's talking about. I have yet to find one example of a thread where clearly incorrect advice went uncorrected. Sure, in the RoW threads, there's some incorrect viewpoints, but I think that's a tribute to the respect forum members have for each other and each other's opinions.

Why do you keep bringing this up?


We've got four members, so far as I remember, with the "fencing expert" designation. None of them currently fences in the olympics. I don't know why people think that fencing skill and fencing knolwedge have anything to do with each other. They're related, but skill is not the only factor in determining knowledge. If your friend is so smart, why doesn't he post here and help us out? If he really is so good, we'd be happy to have him.

[fencerchica]

My favorite forum here is the Armory. The armorer at my club is an amazing, super skilled person, but I don't have access to her advice 24/7, and also sometimes I have problems even she hasn't happened to encounter before. That's when I fling my calls of distress out here and hope one of the half-dozen or so armoring gods notice me. ;-)

In addition, it's a great place to get the scoop on equipment none of my clubmates or competitors have happened to have, so I can kinda "try it before I buy it", at least by word of mouth.

Finally, though yeah, sometimes things are on the dramatic side, it's also a useful resource for learning what the perception of certain clubs and coaches out there is. When I moved to Baltimore, I posted here for the intel on the clubs in the area, since I was a clueless NJ-area scrub. I already had a good idea of where I wanted to go, but the information I got confirmed my impressions and made me more fully confident in my decision.

I'd like to know how the people who grumble about how one would learn more by being out doing footwork and bladework think that'd replace all the above.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by aim commentary

sushiisgood563: Fnet is the only place in the world where a scrub can tell an olympian "you're wrong" and have it be completely appropriate, often gaining the support of other scrubs.

It's not the only place in the world. Go to any online forum and you'll find "Experts" or "Those in the know" being told that they are wrong by a total newbie who has read 10 pages on the subject.

That's one of the pitfalls of the Internet and of the discussion forum and is something that I've talked at length with others "In the know" about.

Most of the issues are self-correcting. Someone posts bad advice and those who know better are quick to correct it. I've also designated a few "Experts" based mainly on what I judge to be the quality of the posts and advice provided.

I've also worked to beef up the articles side of the site, but that tailed off this season as I'm working through some issues around finding good (and dedicated) writers.

There will be more improvements in the future, but this is a living, breathing community and is dependent on what people put into it.

As always - comments are welcome either in public or to me directly (craig at fencing.net)

Craig

[Peach]

If I did footwork and bladework all day long I'd have stress fractures, insomnia, a high fever, and universal tendonitis. Or, as I like to say, "That which does not kill me gives me overuse injuries." And that was as true in my 20s as it is in my 50s (I know, I trained and planned to run marathons several times in my 20s before I ever completed one, mostly because I overtrained the first few times).

Balance, balance, balance.

This is a discussion forum. It serves to promulgate news, offer different points of view, share information, encourage friendship and (for some) provide a place to blow off steam, argue, troll, play pranks, and give the paint a chance to dry on the kitchen woodwork before applying the second coat.

[Gav]

I started to write a long reply to this and then thought "why bother".

I find this to be a pointless topic, but let me point a few things out ...

First of all it's not the only place. There are plenty of fora where a scrub can tell an Olympian to 'get stuffed' and be backed up by his fellow scrubs. The number of sites seems to be increasing and I am not sure whether this is the result of: an increase in Fencing's popularity or we geeks (sorry Fencers) trying to discuss it more.

Secondly: What would these 'Olympians' have us do? Vet every reply? We've been over this time and time again (well I have, both here and over on the UK board) - it's democracy. Should we consider a Fencing knowledge quiz before members get to join?

And what that means in this context is that you have to join in. If you don't join in then you have no right to complain. It's up to the members to decide how the discussion forums, and that's only part of this site, should operate.

Lastly: So what? What is everyone supposed to do? Kowtow to said Olympian? All members should be respectful to each other. We try our best to instill respect, but this is the internet, it's only everyone with access to the 'net that has access to these boards.

[fluidfencer]

hmmm... I am familiar with rec.sport.fencing and fencingsucks.com, but are there others? Those two seems kind of useless now.

[Gav]

UK Fencing forum,
Schermaonline
The French one (can't remember what it's called)
The Irish Federation board ...

These are just the 4 I can think of off the top of my head.

Then there's:

Numerous club boards
Numerous divisional boards

And so on...

There's life out there, but not as you know it.

[fluidfencer]

Sorry Gav. My narrow-minded Americentric self forgot about the euro-based ones. I might check it out, but I would guess that the FNET forum will be most helpful because of the USFA emphasis. Only so many hours in a day.

Originally Posted by Gav

UK Fencing forum,
Schermaonline
The French one (can't remember what it's called)
The Irish Federation board ...

These are just the 4 I can think of off the top of my head.

Then there's:

Numerous club boards
Numerous divisional boards

And so on...

There's life out there, but not as you know it.

[BenTheEMOP]

"sushiisgood563: Fnet is the only place in the world where a scrub can tell an olympian "you're wrong" and have it be completely appropriate, often gaining the support of other scrubs."


When your friend says that it is "completely appropriate" does the mean the scrub is right an the Olympian is wrong? Believe it or not, that could actually be the case.

Just because someone has attained a high level of success does not mean infallibility.

It is kind of like when accomplished fencers try to teach things to other fencers and mistake their own style for correct technique.

Also, I am relativley new to these boards, but I don't know who the Olympians are and who the scrubs are. I am only sure that I have met three other people who have posted here in person. So, I have to evaluate the comments here against one another and my own experience.

But I appreciate that even as a stranger, I can post and ask for advice and not only get replies on the board but even in my personal e-mail. So, if no good fencer can learn anything from these boards, then I guess I am one of the bad fencers. But, based on some of the other things I've read here, I am in pretty good company.

Yours in scrubbing.

[Allen Evans]

Originally Posted by downunder

Any good fencer has learned nothing on here.

I do not imagine that Pavel Kolobkov is going to be lurking on Fencing.Net, read one of my posts and slap himself in the head: “I wish I had thought of that!”.

Fencing.net is like any other public forum where anyone with a milk crate (in this case an electronic one) can stand up and say something. Sometimes it’s wrong. Sometimes it’s foolish. Sometimes it’s mean. Often it’s funny (sometimes for the wrong reasons). Once in a while, it is very very smart. It’s the nature of the animal.

The best fencers don’t learn anything from Fencing.net, probably true. But I think it would be beyond belief if there wasn’t some learning going on.

There is another element to these boards that I think is also valuable: the discussions that go on at fencing clubs and at tournaments about topics raised on the board. I have had a couple of conversations with Virginia fencers stemming from threads on Fencing.net. The board may not see or benefit from these discussions, but fencing, and fencers do at the level where it counts the most.

Isn’t that the goal?