fencing all weapons..

[ntjst4sprt]

I'm coming up on fencing for about 2 yrs now and I still dont really have a favorite weapon.. I enjoy the different aspects of each one..

did you all have one weapon that said "pick me, pick me".... ?

what I'm afraid is happening is that by spreading my time over all the weapons, I'll be good at all of them but not exceptional with one.. not that I am or expect to ever be really good but I think you know what I mean..

so do you think I should make the choice and concentrate on just one weapon or keep doing what I've been doing?


thanks.....

[chefencer]

The usual advice is if you plan on being competitive (read: seriously train to win) then you should pick the weapon with which you have the most success/talent/personal resonance. If you're looking at recreational - having fun but keeping score, so to speak - then 3 weapons gives you more opportunity to recreate...

[oiuyt]

did you all have one weapon that said "pick me, pick me".... ?

Yes.

And then five years later it switched.

You can be successful with multiple weapons. You can have fun with multiple weapons. You can be successful fencing a single weapon. You can have fun fencing a single weapon. Where you'll have the most success and where you'll have the most fun (likely but not always the same place) is going to depend on your individual situation.

-B

[tbryan]

so do you think I should make the choice and concentrate on just one weapon or keep doing what I've been doing?

It depends on your goals. A lot of fencers enjoy focusing on one weapon. Your coach may also prefer for you to pick one and focus on that. But fencing multiple weapons can give you an interesting perspective on all three. If you enjoy fencing all three and are happy with what you're doing, why change?

I used to fence at the same club with Ray Sexton in Austin. I was annoyed one day because he left the epee group to go practice with some saber fencers who had showed up at practice. I only fence epee and foil. I harrassed Ray about his saber fencing, and he responded in a sarcastic, condescending tone: "Well, all real fencers fence all three weapons."

That was just shortly Sexton first got his ratings up to a B in all three weapons.

[RoninX]

Well, it depends. I personally started but epee just clicked. It fits my natural game. I'm 6'4" so people were always saying I should try it anyway. If you have not yet competed, try competing with each weapon. Sometimes it is hard to pick a favorite just through practice.

I advocate fencing all three weapons (of course after a day of dealing with BS ROW calls my affinity for epee grows all the stronger).

People may argue with this but I find that fencing all three weapons helps keep me out of some of the "ruts" and plateaus I have somethimes found myself in in the past.

Unless you are really geared up to try and make olympic teams, or you are going to be (or are) fencing for a college team then fencing more than one weapon probably won't interfere in your goals. I (personally) but like to earn my epee A and then boost my other weapons up to around C level.

I don't really have the time or money to put into making it to the national or international circuit events on a regular basis, though, so why put myself through the one weapon grind?

P.S. - you can make sabreurs look really silly 2-3 times a bout with epee moves, and when foilists bite on a feignt to the toe, that is just priceless.

[Goldgar]

I wouldn't worry about it yet. I've been fencing for 20 years, and I still fence all three (though I have to admit sabre is a distant third to epee and foil). In epee and foil I'm reasonably competitive; in sabre, I haven't kept up.

Many people feel you need to concentrate on just one weapon if you're to be competitive. That may be true, for them, but it isn't true for everyone. I've never had a lot of trouble adjusting to whichever weapon happens to be in my hand, though people do say that my epee game is rather "foilish". Fortunately, there's no one right way to fence epee.

Also, a lot depends on what level of fencing you consider "competitive". If you're talking about being a top-level national/international competitor, it wouldn't surprise me if the conventional wisdom holds true, as the timing and distance is so critical at that level that even the slightest delay in adjusting to what weapon you're fencing this time is likely to make a critical difference. But I believe that you can go quite a way competing in multiple weapons before you get to the point that you really need to concentrate on one.

Deciding if and when to specialize should be based on how you feel. If you think your game in all weapons is still improving, and they all still appeal to you, then I say keep on fencing them all. Probably you'll find that you have to make choices about which competitions to attend, and after a while you'll find that you're favoring one (or two) weapons over the other(s). At that point, your decision about specialization will have made itself for you.

[KD5MDK]

That was just shortly Sexton first got his ratings up to a B in all three weapons.

He wasn't able to maintain that triple B, his epee rating made A this season.

[Ordway]

Yes, it's a very individual decision. I knew sabre was my primary weapon from the first moment my college coaches allowed me to play with it I still kept up doing some foil competitions, though, partly just for fun and partly because there weren't many opportunities to compete in sabre where I was living. My foil fencing looked very much like sabre fencing, though. This was when I'd gotten up to a D/C in sabre and an E in foil.

Last year when I started at a new club, with a coach and a more serious plan to be competitive, my coach told me that I shouldn't fence foil if I wanted to seriously train in sabre. He's a smart guy and knows what he's talking about. Some people are obviously able to do it, but it was causing interference for me. So I committed 100% to sabre and it has been much better in terms of really fine-tuning distance, timing, and form.

I'm working on being competitive at the Div II / sectional open level, to give you an idea of where I'm at. Not the elite level by any manner or means, but hopefully someone whom my opponents take seriously

I'd also like to add, ntjst4sprt, that you should not assume ahead of time that you can't ever get really good. Talent is useful, but determination, will, and desire to improve matter more than talent. I'm a pretty decent fencer now, but I didn't get this way by having natural talent (trust me); it's from hard work and focus, and that's something that's open to anyone.

Edited to change "in advance" to "ahead of time" - attack of the weird out-of-context glossary feature!

[ntjst4sprt]

thanks to all for the input..
I have not competed yet, but hope to do so in the near future.
I'm coming up on 40 so I think my chances at the olympics are a little out of reach..... :
Right now I feel comfortable with foil, mostly because that is what the class spends most of the time on.

This summer I'm moving and will be going from a fencing class at the college(taken it about 7 times) to an actual fencing club.. nwfc in portland oregon.. and I think I will concentrate on foil..

[VELISARIOS]

You stay on your search long time. So you must choose now. See what sword feat on your style. You and your coach has the final word.

[LUDICROUS]

I fenced foil for the first two years, did a few bouts of epee and instantly fell in love with it.

I'm actually thinking of fencing epee right now

[Feltan]

thanks to all for the input..
I have not competed yet, but hope to do so in the near future.
I'm coming up on 40 so I think my chances at the olympics are a little out of reach..... :
Right now I feel comfortable with foil, mostly because that is what the class spends most of the time on.

This summer I'm moving and will be going from a fencing class at the college(taken it about 7 times) to an actual fencing club.. nwfc in portland oregon.. and I think I will concentrate on foil..

I fence all three weapons, but will generally sign-up for saber in a tournament first. I rarely fence foil in competition anymore, but enjoy practice bouting.

For me, fencing has always been 1/3 foil, 1/3 saber and 1/3 epee. Even if you decide to concentrate in one weapon (and many do for good reason), I would advise you to occasionally dabble in another weapon. Perspective can be gained.

Lastly, on an odd note, I have often found if I am training harder in one weapon, say saber, I will do better in competition in another weapon. Don't ask....I have no idea.

Regards,
Feltan

[glowstix]

I'm actually thinking of fencing epee right now

actually i think about fencing epee all the time..

[rcmatthews]

In my experience, people who fence multiple weapons do it with foil and epee for the most part. I think you either love or hate sabre, there is not too much middle ground. Of course, there are always exceptions.

[RebelFencer]

*shrugs* I love fencing sabre.

[ntjst4sprt]

In my experience, people who fence multiple weapons do it with foil and epee for the most part. I think you either love or hate sabre, there is not too much middle ground. Of course, there are always exceptions.

my coach is an epeeist so I get plenty of time fencing epee.. I like it (maybe too much) but I get caught up in the game of it instead of concentrating on what I should be....

I really enjoy sabre and do ok for my experience.. I'm just not wound up enough all the time to go all out sabre...

I'm a competitive person but can also fence all day and not keep score.. alot of times I will try to keep the bout going so I can spend more time analyzing my opponent.... not a good thing I know, and I'm sure thats what gets me into trouble with epee....

part of the problem is that besides the coach and one other person, most of the people I fence are new each term..

anyway, back to the original topic, once I move I've decided not to make a definate decision until I get there and get a feel for things... It should be a totally different environment so who knows what can happen....
I'm thinking foil though..

[rcmatthews]

*shrugs* I love fencing sabre.

Yeah, but you fence it how often? A lot less then you fence foil, I would bet, at least in tournaments.

You should fence it next time were at the same competition

[slain4sooth]

well... there is some room for cultural relativism here.... both monogamy and polygamy, so to speak, are potentially functional kinds of relationships.

[Feltan]

In my experience, people who fence multiple weapons do it with foil and epee for the most part. I think you either love or hate sabre, there is not too much middle ground. Of course, there are always exceptions.

Of course, but I'd rather you said exceptional instead of exceptions.

Regards,
Feltan

[gh02t]

I became a dedicated epeeist after about 7 months of fencing. I started with foil, which is ok... and then saw sabre fencing and thought, "Hey, that looks cool." I picked up a sabre, then realized I didn't like it (mostly because I wasn't making any progress in it, there was only 1 other sabre fencer in my club) Up until that point I had thought epee was boring and a touch uncivilized, until I was drafted into the epee rounds at a tournament (they needed 1 more to make a C) and realized how much I loved it. Since then its been pure epee.

Moral of the story: try everything then settle on what you like.