Is fencing important in your country

[Carlos37]

is fencing a national sport or is it important in your own country?or is it like in Spain,where it doesn´t have too much coverage?

[edew]

I don't think there's a single country where fencing is the "national" sport. The three big ones, France, Germany and Italy certainly do write-ups and their top fencers are treated like celebrities. But I think soccer (football) is more "national" in those countries, by far. Other sports include auto-racing, motorcycle racing.

National sports might be:

* baseball for USA
* squash in India (or Bangladesh?)
* cricket in Pakistan and/or other south asian countries
* archery for S. Korea (maybe not national sport, but a very popular one)
* curling in Canada
* ping pong in China

[SJB]

*cough* Hockey in Canada *cough*

[Coldfire]

Dont forget about lacrosse Its getting pretty big as well.

[edew]

Originally Posted by SJB

*cough* Hockey in Canada *cough*

I had to drop curling into some desolate northern country. So Canada it is...

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Originally Posted by edew

I don't think there's a single country where fencing is the "national" sport. The three big ones, France, Germany and Italy certainly do write-ups and their top fencers are treated like celebrities. But I think soccer (football) is more "national" in those countries, by far. Other sports include auto-racing, motorcycle racing.

National sports might be:

* baseball for USA
* squash in India (or Bangladesh?)
* cricket in Pakistan and/or other south asian countries
* archery for S. Korea (maybe not national sport, but a very popular one)
* curling in Canada
* ping pong in China

If one defines "national sport" as the sport which recieves the most media coverage in that nation, soccer will win in the great majority of countries, so that it best to list the few where that is not the case. OTOH, some countries have a marked winter and summer sports season, so that some other sport than soccer can be the sport with the most media coverage in the winter season. That is the case in Sweden (Ice hockey), Norway (cross-country skiing), among others.

Norway may be a special case - over there, many sports watchers consider the summer season as something that has to be endured as a stopgap while there is no snow, which is the default season. Have a look at the number of Norwegian Olympic medals in the winter vs. summer games, and you will see what I am getting at.

A few years ago, Azerbadjan was getting medals on the world stage from WS fencing. I doubt that they got all that many golds from any other sport, so maybe that is your best bet - at least for a limited time.


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[edew]

In the US, I would say football (American version, of course) is the de facto national sport while baseball is only the national sport by name, "baseball, the national pasttime..." Basketball is not "national" enough, although I'm sure its adherents would argue otherwise.

[KD5MDK]

Baseball was the national sport before the NFL got the marketing going. It's certainly been strongly surpassed by now.

[tehcow]

Originally Posted by edew

National sports might be:

* baseball for USA
* squash in India (or Bangladesh?)
* cricket in Pakistan and/or other south asian countries
* archery for S. Korea (maybe not national sport, but a very popular one)
* curling in Canada
* ping pong in China

I think you may be overestimating the popularity of squash. India is by far the biggest cricketting nation in the world, and it is also huge in Bangladesh. But I suppose I get your point.

[ysbadadden]

Originally Posted by Carlos37

is fencing a national sport or is it important in your own country?or is it like in Spain,where it doesn´t have too much coverage?

In the US, fencing won't get noticeable national coverage even for a world championship medal. There are numbers of smaller countries where a fencing medal will get some national notice.

Beyond that, there are countries where fencing is in some sense a national sport, even though soccer is much bigger: Hungary, Italy, France. In those countries, there is a part of the national psyche, left over from the old days of the duel of honor, that still cares about fencing.

A Hungarian once told me that the saber was as much part of the national identity as the Western six-gun is for the US.

[wahrman]

Anytime you'd like to go curling, send me a PM.

There are leagues in Fremont and San Jose....

Originally Posted by edew

I had to drop curling into some desolate northern country. So Canada it is...

[Shi no Tenshi]

I work overnights, so I can actually see fencing on TV every once in awhile. Cause they only play it at 3 in the morning...

[D'Artag-NOT]

I'd say that here in the US, fencing is considered a fairly exotic or elite sport. The only time US networks have covered it at the Olympics is when American athletes were favored to win (though that says as much about US television sports coverage as it does about fencing).

Go into an American sporting goods store and ask to see fencing equipment. To reach the sales associate--who will give you a blank look--you'll pass equipment for four different racket sports, a display of seven kinds of snowboard wax, and several dozen pieces of gimmicky fitness gear. Then you'll go home to turn on your computer and order your fencing kit from a mail-order house several hundred miles away.

I keep hoping that our American fencers will continue to do well enough at the Olympic Games that the sport will get more attention. Until then, I think American fencers should talk it up all they can--especially emphasizing how much fun it is.

[Fencergrl]

Originally Posted by SJB

*cough* Hockey in Canada *cough*

SJB's right.... curling is popular, but by far.... hockey is THE sport that is played throughout Canada. I have 3 hockey arenas within a 1 mile radius of my home.... and still they are all fully booked.

From the most remote villages in Northern Canada to the most crowded city centres you will find kids playing ice hockey, street hockey or roller hockey. Nearly every, man, woman and child that I know has picked up a hockey stick at some point in their life. If you haven't.... well you just haven't been living in Canada very long.

[wahrman]

There are also portions of the US where Hockey is more important than football.

I don't even remember learning how to skate.

[tbryan]

Originally Posted by wahrman

I don't even remember learning how to skate.

Perhaps that's because you fell and hit your head on the ice so many times in the process?

[wahrman]

I'm sorry. What were we talking about?

Originally Posted by tbryan

Perhaps that's because you fell and hit your head on the ice so many times in the process?

[KD5MDK]

Causes of amnesia. Don't make me repeat it.

[seven6ty]

Oh c'mon, everybody knows that hockey isn't a real sport.

[poor_nizzie]

Hey, according to George Carlin, fencing's not a real sport either because you can't bet on it. He also dismisses field hockey, lacrosse, and ice hockey.

We now return to the regularly scheduled programming.