"only Rubes wear bandanas" and other myths

[dilznik]

Originally Posted by broncofencer

Apparently no one wins when their mask smells like a Czech brothel either.

Grrrrrrrrrr! Now I'm going to have to wash my mask in "Vicki's Secret Czech Brothel Liquid Soap" before every tournament just to win one and prove you wrong! Then if they let me make a speech, it'll clearly be something about Czech brothels. I assume they'll turn off my mic. It'll be my own little Grammy awards...

[broncofencer]

see now you know why people wear silly socks and bandanas

[fencerontheline]

Originally Posted by broncofencer

see now you know why people wear silly socks and bandanas

They have a deeply-rooted masochistic desire to suck in competitions and to be made fun of online???

[parrythis]

I pretty much LMAO at folks that take a functional device and try to insult it as a fashion statement. Note that the original post was not about a bandana worn "babushka" style, but rather rolled up to absorb sweat. I started doing this to prevent sweat from pouring down my forehead and down my nose and making my glasses slip down my nose. Sports straps for the glasses helped some, but the best solution was to prevent the sweat from getting there in the first place - hence the bandana. Since then I have switched to contacts for eyewear, but have retained the use of the headband/bandana. At the end of an evening of fencing, it is 100% saturated. This is sweat that I've kept out of my eyes and off my mask. Doing this keeps my mask from smelling like the bottom of a boy's gym locker at the end of the school year. I've tried experimenting with motorcycle skull caps, but found that they don't absorb the same quantity of sweat and are not as effective.

Originally Posted by el chucko

Recently, a coach from another club told one of our young fencers that she shouldn't wear a bandana, because "good" fencers don't do that, and it makes her basically look like a Rube.

That's sad that the coach is so narrow minded as to think that the device is just a fashion statement. It speaks poorly of them that they would make that kind of deprecating critisizm without taking the time to understand the reason for the device.

Anyone that eschews the use of this device simply because they think it's "uncool", well that's their loss and my gain.

[Mr Epee]

Originally Posted by parrythis

I pretty much LMAO at folks that take a functional device [bandana]... snip ... I started doing this to prevent sweat from pouring down my forehead and down my nose and making my glasses slip down my nose... snip ... hence the bandana... snip ... I've tried experimenting with motorcycle skull caps, but found that they don't absorb the same quantity of sweat and are not as effective.

Ahhh... not being blinded by sweat is a noble goal...

If you are really interested in functionallity and effectiveness, can I suggest you try wearing one of these bad boys?

Or a similar product specifically designed for your stated purpose.

It's gotta be better than tying a cotton rope around your skull.

[achilleus]

Bandana's don't make one suck, however, in general, only guys who suck wear them.

I mean, David Rosenberg wore one for a while. Viviani even wore a headband once. They aren't bad fencers. Sure lot's of female fencers wear headbands to keep the hair out of their face. It makes sense. Even good ones.

But really, if you take a look, the good fencers do without one. I can't explain why, all I know is that it doesn't do squat for me (except get in the way), and that if I see guy wearing one, chances are they suck.

Kinda like seeing someone use a Ziv grip.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Originally Posted by Mr Epee

Ahhh... not being blinded by sweat is a noble goal...

If you are really interested in functionallity and effectiveness, can I suggest you try wearing one of these bad boys?

Or a similar product specifically designed for your stated purpose.

It's gotta be better than tying a cotton rope around your skull.

I honestly prefer the one sold by allstar.

[pacer]

Hmmm, This year I didn't have good results - and it was the first year I wore a bandana! Ya think it'd change for me if I get rid of the bandana?
Somehow I think I need more than that -l ike better skills developed through more lessons and practice. Seriously, without a bandana or headband, i get too sweaty and my glasses slide down my nose.

[reawl]

Originally Posted by kalivor

Uh-huh, but kids who fit into all the gear properly *last* year aside ... adults generally don't have to replace everything at once. While it's possible that you're facing a very good fencer and recent lottery winner in these situations, for the most part everything brand new = brand new fencer, too.

Is anyone else getting an email literally every minute saying that this thread has been updated and it is this post from kalivor every time?

[El Chucko]

Originally Posted by Mr Epee

Ahhh... not being blinded by sweat is a noble goal...

If you are really interested in functionallity and effectiveness, can I suggest you try wearing one of these bad boys?

Or a similar product specifically designed for your stated purpose.

The terrycloth sweatbands get all shredded by the velcro-strap retainers in my LP mask. I tried that.

I think this thread has become quite entertaining, BTW. Especially since some people seem to get so serious about it. I never imagined that my bandana would evoke such strong emotions in people!

I hear that this is how the Gulags got started...

(Oh, and Will, no I am not getting the e-mail problem. Maybe it would stop if you wore a bandana. )

[bmcfencer]

Oooooooh, this thread has made me sad. Some of my happiest memories from my last year of high school were of being the very Rube so many of you have attacked. I loved fencing because for the first time I thought I'd found people who were okay with me being a complete dork. Who maybe even liked me for it. Who encouraged me even though I was a terrible fencer. I've spent most of my (okay, relatively short) life being attacked for being a non- conformist, and here was a group of people who celebrated non-conformity. I guess I got really lucky with the fencers I met, and am delighted that I didn't meet a lot of you.

Shame on you people. Really. What's wrong with being a beginner with silly romantic ideas? What about those Rubes who go on to be great fencers? I don't understand why being a dork with odd socks is offensive. The world is a hateful enough place as it is, why do you have to poison it more?

Sigh.

Here I stand branded. "Bmcfencer, the awful fencer with funny fashion ideas". Woot! I've been called worse.

Edit: And on a note of complete hypocrisy, I do the same sort of thing at dance auditions (very quietly in the back of my head). Dancers wearing brand new canvas ballet slippers (or worse, oddly colored socks) and something with the words "I Love Dance" or any sort of spiffy leotard are usually not much competition. It's the dancers with extremely plain-cut graying black leotards and tights with no jewelry and hair pulled back as severly as possible (with extra-ordinarily ugly feet partially covered in medical tape a bonus) that I watch out of the corner of my eye. At an audition, the louder an outfit, generally speaking, the newer the dancer. Of course, appearances matter more in this sort of thing, where you're judged on everything from how you enter the room before the audition starts to how you hold your head while you plie.

[Peach]

The discussion rather reminds me of the kind of things my middle-school students say about what people wear or otherwise display. A few years ago it was Pokemon cards

One of the things I've always liked about fencing is how surprisingly non-elitist it is, considering its image. I think that holds true generally. Remember that many people who read this forum simply ignore threads like this

[parrythis]

Originally Posted by Mr Epee

If you are really interested in functionallity and effectiveness, can I suggest you try wearing one of these bad boys?

Good suggestion, but one fencer in our salle uses a traditional elastic tennis-style sweatband like this and it is constantly slipping off. It doesn't have the necessary tension. The tied-on bandana stays in place.

Some complained that the bandana's knot would bind up with the back of the mask. This can be avoided by rotating the bandana about 10 degrees to the left or right so the knot and the tab on the back of the mask don't line up.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by bmcfencer

Oooooooh, this thread has made me sad. Some of my happiest memories from my last year of high school were of being the very Rube so many of you have attacked. I loved fencing because for the first time I thought I'd found people who were okay with me being a complete dork. Who maybe even liked me for it. Who encouraged me even though I was a terrible fencer. I've spent most of my (okay, relatively short) life being attacked for being a non- conformist, and here was a group of people who celebrated non-conformity. I guess I got really lucky with the fencers I met, and am delighted that I didn't meet a lot of you.

Shame on you people. Really. What's wrong with being a beginner with silly romantic ideas? What about those Rubes who go on to be great fencers? I don't understand why being a dork with odd socks is offensive. The world is a hateful enough place as it is, why do you have to poison it more?

Sigh.

Here I stand branded. "Bmcfencer, the awful fencer with funny fashion ideas". Woot! I've been called worse.

See, the thing is, I'd like to say I don't judge other fencers based on their appearance. I'd like to say that I'm open to those things. I don't think less of anyone as a person for wearing a bandana or stuff like that... but when a fencing competition comes around and I see someone new, I can't help but consider those factors. I do prejudge fencers with bandanas as lesser fencers. I do prejudge fencers with weird colored socks as lesser fencers (weird color socks excludes club color socks or school color socks or bloody socks). I assume other fencers make judgments about me because I have long hair with a headband (that's really the only thing remotely unusual thing about my appearance). Ideally they look at me and think to themselves "damn, he's so handsome... I bet he's really good too and so I won't even try against him and I'll just let him win" but more likely they think "oh, it's just a stupid scrub, I'll take him no problem"--then ideally if they fence me a few times and get to know me a little, they will judge me based on how I've fenced and who I am... but until then, I guess really the only other way for me to get my name out there is to put up some national results (maybe some day?).

[Montoya]

I have no preconceived notions about bandannas. On the other hand, I have irrational, unjustified prejudices about people who wear unitards . . .

[dilznik]

Originally Posted by bmcfencer

I loved fencing because for the first time I thought I'd found people who were okay with me being a complete dork. Who maybe even liked me for it. Who encouraged me even though I was a terrible fencer. I've spent most of my (okay, relatively short) life being attacked for being a non- conformist, and here was a group of people who celebrated non-conformity. I guess I got really lucky with the fencers I met, and am delighted that I didn't meet a lot of you.

The world is a hateful enough place as it is, why do you have to poison it more?

Eh it's a side effect of fencing in the US. You're fencing in a group of mostly rich kids who gossip about each other, make fun of each other behind their backs, jump ship to other clubs without telling their current coaches, use manplates to defeat new timings, have their parents pay $100 a month for their club with an extra $30 a lesson on top of that, and on and on.
If you want equality, come to Germany where every fencer is dirt poor. It's only affordable because it's state subsidised (Munich) or privately sponsored (TBB, Bonn) and some of the best guys have to carry their roll bags because the wheels broke off 10 years ago and half of their clothes are marked with their brother's name and don't really fit right and they have tape on models of shoes that haven't existed in 6 years.
No my dear bmcfencer, there's no pettiness, gossip, making fun of people, or any of that here. There's only the alcohol abuse that comes from having a bar in every club... and the universal desire by everyone in Bavaria to slap the skin right off the face of the obnoxious left handed epee fencer from USC Muenchen who wastes everyone's time by saying her stuff isn't working or the strip isn't working every time she's down in a DE.
Although there is a beginner in Wuerzburg who hunches over, wears a bandana Easy Rider style, and has a bunch of wild facial hair. Everyone calls him "the pirate."

[sabreur]

Evidently, spending more time rules-lawyering than fencing is also an attribute of a certain faction of US fencers... (I've never actually seen anyone use a card at a tournament here, including satellite FIE tournaments and national championships.)

Oh, and there is a sort of newbie German epee fencer named Imke Duplitzer who wears a bandanna all the time (admittedly, she's a bit of a pysch case, but she is also a fair to exceptional epeeist).

If you saw me at a tournament, you might be blinded by my brand new FIE togs and mask and unmarked adidas fencing shoes--I train in shorts or sweats, an old Santelli sabre jacket, my older mask and lame, and volleyball shoes. I just get the new stuff out for tournaments--it makes it easier to pass mask and lame inspection, among other things.

IMNSHO, thinking about how your opponent looks is a waste of time. Making fun of the way your opponent looks is mean-spirited, cliquish and also a waste of time.

[dilznik]

Hey, you know what looks really stupid? Manplates. If you use a manplate, you look stupid. If you had purple socks with Barney the Dinosaur on them, a shocking red bozo the clown wig, gene simmons face paint, a dunce cap, and a "kick me" sign on your back, you wouldn't look stupider than you do with a manplate.

[RebelFencer]

Good points on both sides, but honestly...what does it matter? So someone wants to wear a bandana and have a romanticized view of fencing--let them. While I'm pretty hardcore sports fencing, not everyone is suited for that path.If they want to join this great sport and just have fun let them.