Switch to foil from epee without a coach

[Kettch]

wow you epeeists take offence easily. I was not actually saying anything bad about it. Obviously epee reqiures a finer sense of distance and timing than foil does. Foil has rules that protect you if you make a small error in distance or timing. In epee you have to get it exactly right (or at least more exactly right than your opponent).

As for history:
My understanding is that epee evolved from the dueling sword, and that Foil was invented to train people to use the dueling sword. I am happy to be corrected if anybody has a more accurate account.

[tchwojko]

Originally Posted by Kettch

wow you epeeists take offence easily.

Thanks! Our defence is very good too.

[Kettch]

And anyone who thinks that you don't need to understand, at least subconsciously priority to fence (good) epee is ... wrong.

Correct. Which is why I said "Foil teaches you the conventions which you should follow in epee."

[Kettch]

Our defence is very good too.

Even if it does mostly consist of counterattacks

(jks)

[garyhayenga]

Originally Posted by Kettch

As for history:
My understanding is that epee evolved from the dueling sword, and that Foil was invented to train people to use the dueling sword. I am happy to be corrected if anybody has a more accurate account.

Epee was not invented until the late 1800's and is by far the *newest* of the three weapons.

I recommend you try Richard Cohen's "By the Sword" if you're at all interested in the historical development of sport fencing.

[Kettch]

*sigh* did you even read what you just quoted?

My understanding is that epee evolved from the dueling sword, and that Foil was invented to train people to use the dueling sword.

Edit: Yes, my original post in which I claimed that foil was in invented as a training weapon for epee was a slight distortion of the truth. Nonetheless, for a long time foil was seen as the weapon with which you learned to fence, before moving on to either sabre or epee.

[Kimmuriel]

Finally, yesterday one my clubmates (a former foil fencer) introduced me to foil fencing. Firstly my job was to hit him only on his torso with my epee. Then two other clubmates joined us, so we switched to dry foil, and they started to comment on RoW. It was really confusing for the first time! During the bouting I always forget to deflect my opponent's blade first (when he/she has RoW) with a blade contact if I want a valid touch. So my technic is quite dumb right now. But I really enjoyed it! I think it's uncomparable with epee fencing, this is a totally different 'game', the rules are very different. But switching to foil from epee might be easier than switching to epee from foil, I guess. Back to the point, I really enjoyed foil fencing, it was a real fun, so I decided to continue it.