Quit?

[Li'l Bebe]

I've noticed that a lot of really good fencer's who've been doing it forever, have "quit, never to return" several times. (Someone even quit around 8 times.)

Have you guys ever quit, just to come back to it?

[fencergal33]

I quit once, but I was pregnant, so I comsider it more like "taking some time off", than quitting.

[Peach]

I never quit because I came to fencing late in life. I can see why people do it, though--college fencing is like working full time and going to school at the same time, and fencing becomes a job. People who fence at the world-class level and start getting older often quit because everything feels like losing if you're not always at that level. Also, peaking and achieving a dream goal can make a person feel as if they should quit.

I wanted more than anything to make the first World Veteran Championships women's sabre team and to do that I pretty much gave up my free time for much of a year to train; that got pretty old once the championships were over. Fortunately for me, I take the month of September off from fencing every year, so by the time October rolled around I felt like going back.

[oiuyt]

Don't know about "sinful", but I've never quit.

Actually, I do know about "sinful". Quitting isn't, it's just not right for me. There are perfectly good reasons why people quit. But that was the closest option offered in this flawed poll.

-B

[dreamer90024]

I tried fencing for a year when I was 9 or so and i was just too young for it. So I stopped and came back to it when I was 13. I wasn't serious about it then, and now that I am, I can't imagine quitting.

[sabreur]

I fenced for six years in my early twenties, then quit for fifteen years and played squash, primarily because I moved to a place where there wasn't very good fencing after being in a place with exceptional fencing, and I just couldn't deal with the change. I started fencing again when I moved back to a place with good fencing at a time when I had maxed out my squash game.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

a couple years back i spent less time fencing.... i didn't go to every single practice and didn't go to most competitions.

i spent the time in slam poetry.


..... it was nice to have a break for a while, and there were some pretty cool opportunities.....

but it was good to get back into fencing when i did.....


PS- if i quit fencing now, i wouldn't have any friends.

[fencergal33]

PS- if i quit fencing now, i wouldn't have any friends.

Good point.....if I quit fencing now, I would lose my wonderful husband!

[akaiyuki]

Never did quit... unless you count the my non-fencing seasons back in high school (stupid season only lasted about 3 months long tho).
I don't see myself quitting, at least not until I graduate. Hehee, and I have a roommate that will kill me if I quit xD

[Morion]

I actually started Fencing once in the late 70's. About a month into my sessions they changed my shift at work and I had to quit. 25 years later I tried again and stuck with it.

[KD5MDK]

When I was in 6th grade I did a summer program of fencing, but didn't like it. It was foil, didn't make a whole lot of sense, and I was constantly being dinged for letting my back arm drop. So I gave it up, and didn't get back in until the my junior year in college.

[dknj]

I quit in 1999 after World Championships when the men's foil team didn't qualify for the Olympics, but I came back a year later.

[Larrison]

I started fencing in around 1980, and fenced fairly heavily through about 1984-1985. Then I dropped the sport, as a number of other things came up -- at one point I'd go to work, work 7-4, then go to MBA school (about an hour's drive) from 4-9 and then either go back to work or to fencing (another hour's drive) from 9-11.

I restarted fencing last year, and have been doing it 1-2 nights a week and restarted going to competitions this year. Had to replace most of my uniform gear, as the jackets and pants all seem to have shrunk ( ), and have since replaced all my electric equipment since 20 year old stuff I just didn't have comfort in trusting it after 20 years without really reworking the gear anyway...

What I'm still using for equipment that is 20 years old -- bodycord (!!), glove, and practice weapons. And while my lame doesn't fit me, it was used by a friend at a recent competition.

[Ordway]

If there were a "sort of, but not really" option, I'd have checked that, but otherwise, "Never."

I fenced as an undergrad, then took off most of my senior year so I could put more time into getting into grad school. (In retrospect, I'd have been better off fencing, but hey, it was what I thought was best at the time.) Now that I think about it, I think I viewed it as quitting, and said as much to my coach, but he said something along the lines of "No way. You'll be back." (Obviously he was right.)

When I moved to NC to do my master's, I intended to pick up fencing again, but got a bad vibe from the club at UNC and ended up doing other things instead. (I got a bad vibe from UNC and the entire state of NC in general...) So I ended up taking a 2-year break then. When I went back to my alma mater, UMass, for my Ph.D, the very nice fencers there made sure I felt very welcome, so I started up again and have never even considered stopping since then.

In fact, over the past 5 years, fencing has become much more important to me... so now, with some depth of perspective on things, I definitely see fencing as a lifetime sport for me.

[Feltan]

I fenced for eight years. After college, I went in the military and didn't pack my fencing gear.

After thinking about it on-and-off for a while, I started up again after a mere 22 year break.

I plan to keep at it until I drop dead -- which I thought was pretty close at hand after the first couple of practice session after I started back up.

Regards,
Feltan

[jeff]

I've 'quit', but in the sense of "no time or opportunity now", never in the sense of "don't plan to do it again", and don't intend to unless infirmity forces me to.

[jrgunn]

I fenced for two semesters at a local jr college and kept it up at the CSU where I got my bachelor's. But then life happened and I didn't have a chance to fence for 15 years. I came back and fenced regularly for 3 years, ran out of money, but now I'm back.
Have I quit? Not really. More to the point, do I want to? Nope.

[epeeisky]

My top college choice has no fencing program and the city around it does not have one either. The nearest possible club would be in Little Rock, Arkansas which is a 30(45 to normal drivers) minute drive from where Hendrix is. I dont want to quit, but if I go there then my fencing would take a dramatic hit.

[glowstix]

Good point.....if I quit fencing now, I would lose my wonderful husband!

no you wouldn't!!!!

[glowstix]

i very well may quit fencing because i can't get the level of training that i want..and i'm out of money.