Beginner Fencer here, questions.

[King Thunderblast III]

Hello - Yeah not sure whether or not this should be in here or the introduction section.

Anyway, so yes I shall be beginning Fencing soon, yay. Though not the coming week but the week after.

I was wondering, since I have the internet at my fingertips, is there anything I should reach/watch until then?

Thanks.

[Pescados666]

Nope, not really. You can only learn from first hand experiance with most stuff.

[freerider258]

You can read books and watch film to re-enforce what you learned, but start with actually fencing.

[Hobbes]

read the rule book.... whenever you have a question about the rules and ask it here, you will get told to go read it about 6 times before someone gives you an answer anyways. Save yourself the grief.

[King Thunderblast III]

Ah okay. What about Youtube links of Great Matches with legendary Fencers?

[FoilBlender]

Watch The Princess Bride a couple of times, it's standard watching material for ALL fencers.

[freerider258]

Ah okay. What about Youtube links of Great Matches with legendary Fencers?

That's good to watch to pick up strategy tips, but I advise you not to mimic the actually moves of them just because their are competing at such a high level using very advanced footwork. You must learn your own style of fencing first.

[gatsby]

Watch The Princess Bride a couple of times, it's standard watching material for ALL fencers.

errr...it's cool and all, but i'm not sure ALL fencers aspire to be cary elwes
just keep in mind that real fencing and movie sword fighting are two totally different beasts

[Nolano]

errr...it's cool and all, but i'm not sure ALL fencers aspire to be cary elwes
just keep in mind that real fencing and movie sword fighting are two totally different beasts

I'm pretty sure it was a joke...

[gatsby]

I'm pretty sure it was a joke...

my bad.
just been around some SCA & D&D types recently...they can get rather annoying at times: "in a real sword fight [fill in (idiotic) statement here]"

[Mihail]

Ah okay. What about Youtube links of Great Matches with legendary Fencers?

It depends. Fencing often looks silly, especially if you don't know anything about it.

A lot of what you learn as a beginner is the skill of how to learn new skills. Eventually, you should be able to watch a bout on video and understand why something works and why it doesn't. But until you can see the nuances, you'll just see a bunch of jumping, bouncing, wiggling, and screaming.

Which weapon are you taking up?

[mrbiggs]

read the rule book.... whenever you have a question about the rules and ask it here, you will get told to go read it about 6 times before someone gives you an answer anyways. Save yourself the grief.

Frankly, that's a ridiculous thing to say. I've been fencing for nearly 6 years now and reffing for nearly that long, and I STILL don't understand many of the rulebook's intricacies. The rulebook is confusing and badly written, and any knowledge you get from it is as likely to be wrong as correct. Reading the rulebook is a good idea for fencers trying to get into refereeing or people who have a specific rules question, but I don't think it's a good idea to apply it to more than that.

It would be much more productive, in my opinion, to watch high level fencing videos. Of course, you won't be fencing like they do for awhile, but it will give you an idea of how the sport is played. Plus, it's a lot of fun to watch.

[King Thunderblast III]

Frankly, that's a ridiculous thing to say. I've been fencing for nearly 6 years now and reffing for nearly that long, and I STILL don't understand many of the rulebook's intricacies. The rulebook is confusing and badly written, and any knowledge you get from it is as likely to be wrong as correct. Reading the rulebook is a good idea for fencers trying to get into refereeing or people who have a specific rules question, but I don't think it's a good idea to apply it to more than that.

It would be much more productive, in my opinion, to watch high level fencing videos. Of course, you won't be fencing like they do for awhile, but it will give you an idea of how the sport is played. Plus, it's a lot of fun to watch.

Aye, I watched the Bonn Mens Final in Foil here, http://youtube.com/watch?v=VRvAVyziKfQ. And was very entertained. I found it weird though, how they only use small steps yet move so fast. The left handed fencer at once point just...blitz'd across the piste at an alarming rate.

I watched some Epee too, it was cool and entertaining. I watched some Sabre it was...I didn't actually understand what was happening, it was very quick. Cool how they made cuts though.

So, any actual recommendations?

[sionnach]

I watched some Sabre it was...I didn't actually understand what was happening

Don't worry, you never truly will. No one will (:

So, any actual recommendations?

Keep watching those videos, watching things being done helps you to do them yourself. Keep watching videos of the best fencers in the world. It helped me and it'll help you.

[King Thunderblast III]

Thanks. Any Fencers/Matches in particular worth watching? Rather than searching for random stuff.

[King Thunderblast III]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=79EsZgZFZqA

Now that, was bloody cool.

[sionnach]

None to recommend on youtube i'm afraid, I get the DVDs of world championships to watch. The good image quality and especially the slow motion replays of each hit make them way better than any youtube videos. Once you've been fencing for a while i'd really recommend picking up a few dvds and seeing how the best fencers attack and defend in slow motion. Invaluable if like me you don't have access to excellent coaches and need to improve your fencing all on your own.

[King Thunderblast III]

Ah ok, I think I'll Fence for a few weeks before investing in DVDs though. Thanks for all the help. ^^

[freerider258]

None to recommend on youtube i'm afraid, I get the DVDs of world championships to watch. The good image quality and especially the slow motion replays of each hit make them way better than any youtube videos. Once you've been fencing for a while i'd really recommend picking up a few dvds and seeing how the best fencers attack and defend in slow motion. Invaluable if like me you don't have access to excellent coaches and need to improve your fencing all on your own.

How much film is on these DVDs? (In minutes)
Is it worth investing into?

[ysbadadden]

I was wondering, since I have the internet at my fingertips, is there anything I should reach/watch until then?

Thanks.

Watch the basic footwork videos put out by David Littell and those featuring Alex Beguinet. You will see the basic movements performed as they should be -- probably better than your first coach will be able to perform them -- and when you take your first lesson, you will have an idea of how you should be moving.