St. Louis Newbie

[Alexandria]

Hi,
I'm Alex,

I'm 17, and as new as they come to fencing.
I'm starting a fencing class on tuesday through my college. The instructor is Bella Valter, I think the name is. I have no idea what I'm getting into, honesetly. I needed a PE credit. I'm a martial arts addict. I saw fencing 1. It only seemed logical, even if fencing doesnt quite fit my personal definiton of a martial art. Still, sword fight!

I was kind of wondering what I was getting myself into. Will I need to buy a bunch of things? Will I be forced to use my right hand? I'm naturally left handed, but have gotten pretty ambidextrious through my kenpo training.

In my martial art you have to train to a certain level, which takes 3-6 months, before you can 'fight'. But fencing doesn't seem like something you can practice without an opponent. How soon will we be fighting (or whatever the term is)? Any general information would be greatly appreciated.

Alex

[JackOfHearts]

First off, welcome Alex! Secondly, different places do it differently. At my school, we focused on footwork for the first few weeks before even handling a foil. At other places, they may thrust a weapon into your hand in the first day. Odds are the class has its own gear you can use, and if so, I'd reccomend waiting to see if you're really into it before buying a full kit. You can fence either right or left handed, whichever you prefer. I'm right handed, but I sometimes practice with my left hand. Unless you have a classic italian grip, you're going to need a seperate weapon for each hand if you want to be ambidexterous. As for how soon you'll fight, that depends on your coach. Good luck, and have fun with it.

[VERITAS]

Welcome!

I don't know where you're at, but I know the salle at St. Louis U. is excellent -- see their site http://slu.cfssda.org. I'm a member of the branch in Milwaukee. You'll learn a more martial approach there. It'll probably share some things in common with your previous training.

I have no clue what you'll find elsewhere.

Most teachers tend to be of the sporting persuasion. Very much a competitive Olympic sport, and not particularly martial. You'll most likely be fighting away in no time.

In Foil, Saber, or Epee, you use one dominant hand -- the other is kept back out of the way. You may learn with either (or both) of your hands. A traditional curriculum may include older two-handed weapons for advanced study as well.

Enjoy!

Charley

[Alexandria]

Don't you have to be a SLU student?

[ThatReallyHurt]

Hello, Alex - welcome to the forum, enjoy your stay!

[VERITAS]

Don't you have to be a SLU student?

Nope. Open to all interested.

Check out the faq for more information.

[RITFencing]

Hi Alex,

As far as fencing being or not being a martial art, there's a whole hornet's nest waiting to be stirred up. You may find that fencing helps you out with your kenpo, though. Fencing teaches some very tight distance and timing, so much so that Bruce Lee used a good bit of it in developing Jeet Kune Do, which my coach made required reading for me. This coach (Jamey Odom), btw, is definately in the modern sport end of the spectrum, he just knew that there was a wealth of great fencing information about footwork, counter attacks, counter time, etc in there. I would keep an open mind and really think about what the instructor says. Even though the teaching style will probably be radically different from what you're used to, some of the information conveyed my be very valuable to you.

[Alexandria]

Fencing teaches some very tight distance and timing, so much so that Bruce Lee used a good bit of it in developing Jeet Kune Do...

You're right about this. It was actually why I decided to take up fencing; a major concept we use in sport fighting in my style originally came from fencing, via the Lee.

We use a technique called independant motion, where you do not give any tells at all that you are about to attack - no shuffle, no looking away your target, not turning your body, not pulling on your pant leg... its very difficult to get down. The idea is to get your weapon (first or heel or top of the foot or whatever) to the target as fast as possible. It originated I believe from... the fleche?

All I know is I score SO much using independant motions, both in class and, in tournaments.

[RITFencing]

The idea of the fleche is basically to get your point to the target as quickly as possible, true. I think you'll also get a bang out of the timing involved in counter attacks (if you do epee) and the really fine adjustments to timing and distance in general.