Right-of-way

[TodG]

Can anyone suggest some good references on right of way for an epeeist who's moving over to foil? We are starting up a club and I'm the closest thing to a coach. We are going to start beginners with foil.

I spend some time with the foil and never really grokked ROW.

Thanks.

[KD5MDK]

Moved to Coaches Corner.

[AaronK]

I am just curious: why did you choose to start students in foil and not epee? It would have circumvented the ROW issue.

[Jason]

I agree with Aaron. Screw foil. You're the coach: make an epee club and be proud of it.

[Allen Evans]

I'll make it unanimous. Teach what you know. Beginning fencers aren't going to know foil from epee from saber from pick-up-sticks. Teach epee.

Allen Evans

[MdA]

Another consideration is a shortage of qualified foil referees in your area. I agree with the others that it would be better to get an epee program going in Montana. There seems to be an old rule that says you must start beginners with foil. There are many succesful single weapon clubs out there that start fencers just fine in all three weapons...I agree with the others...do what you know.

[Adler]

I agree with the rest, if you know Epee then teach them Epee.
Generally I find that the most sucessful competitive clubs tend to be single weapon or have one weapon which is fenced by the majority.

[thekoby]

I agree with the rest, if you know Epee then teach them Epee.
Generally I find that the most sucessful competitive clubs tend to be single weapon or have one weapon which is fenced by the majority.

IndySabre is a sabre-exclusive club here in Indiana. They do pretty well (although I feel like some of their members don't really know as much as they would like to think they know about fencing in general) as a single-weapon club. I would agree with everybody else on this as well. If you are interested in teaching foil in your club, I would find an experienced foil instructor/fencer to help you, or take private lessons in foil from another coach (IMO).

[geofmclean]

No one seems to have answered your question directly so...

The rule book is just a start - read it, then get a good director to explain the interpretation and to show you some of the subtleties. The basic idea is simple but it quickly becomes complicated in real life.

For a beginner's class, you can keep things simple: Get much beyond attack, riposte, remise or counter-riposte and their minds start to boggle. The toughest thing is attack/counterattack - Why did he get he point and not me?

You can see from these forums that there is quite a bit of discussion on the subject as well...

[noodle]

No one seems to have answered your question directly so...

The rule book is just a start - read it, then get a good director to explain the interpretation and to show you some of the subtleties. The basic idea is simple but it quickly becomes complicated in real life.

For a beginner's class, you can keep things simple: Get much beyond attack, riposte, remise or counter-riposte and their minds start to boggle. The toughest thing is attack/counterattack - Why did he get he point and not me?

You can see from these forums that there is quite a bit of discussion on the subject as well...

noone answered the question directly because everyone disagreed with the premise of it.