Research paper on fencing... sources?

[Morra[PrFC]]

I am writing a research paper on fencing for an English class. The topic I chose is "The History of Women's Sabre Fencing and its Current Olympic Status." I thought it would be a good topic because, 1. it's not too large of a topic, as women's sabre is a fairly new sport, and, 2. the debate about adding it to the Olympics is so current.

Two years ago, I wrote a paper on (I think) the general history of fencing and how the sport has evolved. It was a surprisingly vast topic, so I mostly presented information about sabres as cavalry weapons and foils as dueling weapons, and not as much about the modern sport. There were many available and relevant sources.

The problem with my current topic is that I didn't realize how limited it really is. There are not many (if any) books on either of the two aspects of this topic, and this being a research paper, sources are essential. Anyone know of any good books, websites, magazine articles, or anything else?

Thanks!

[JEC]

I guess your sources would really heavily in the previous threads of this forum. Staney Johnson wrote several articles (President's letter) in at few recent issues of American Fencing.

[DHCJr]

You might check with the Metropolitan Division and ask about Ruby. Especially in the U.S. she was a major driving force in getting Women’s Sabre a reality. I don’t know a true history could be written without her.

[Jason]

You might want to look a little into the origins of women's fencing, in general.
Find some info on Angelo--he was one of the first fencing masters to coach women in foil.
You might also want to look a little at how epee got girl-friendly.
These things all led, in some way, to the development of women's sabre.

Wait a minute... English class?
Shouldn't this be for history class?
What in the world are they learnin' you kids these days!?!

[Kiwifencer]

Also check out the FIE website, in NEWS - the various letters and proposals that come out from FIE and various congresses show a troubled and sorry saga of the road to 'Olympic status'. Escrime magazine on PDF may also have some background on current olympic status.

Has the fact that the IOC has actively discriminated against women fencers by NOT recognising Women's sabre as a distinct event and admitting it to the program been argued or even mentined at local/national level somewhere, either in news media, fencing or National IOC committees? By forcing FIE to drop other weapons, the IOC has sent the message that women sabre fencing is not recognised and if the FIE wants it, then they have to make room within the allocation of medals.

[sabrepoet]

christina,

depending how quickly u need this, i may be able to supply you with some of the letters that the FIE has sent out concerning the IOC decisions on including WS in the olympics. also, i think that you are in a really good position to do some primary source research. Talk to people like caroline purcell and/or the jacobson sisters about their experiences and feelings on it. if you need introductions on any of these people, let me know, i am on pretty friendly terms with all of them and would be happy to send off an email asking if they would mind answering a few questions for you.

[sabrepoet]

how's your french? the FIE has most of it's letters concerning the subject online at www.fie.ch they're all in the 'news' section, although you might also want to take a look at the 'historique' section as well.... but, again, it's mostly or maybe even all in french

[Morra[PrFC]]

JEC: Thanks. I'll look through previous posts and the articles that you mentioned.

DHCJr: What is Ruby's last name?

Jason: It does sound like it should be for a history class, but it's a research paper on a topic of our choice, as long as it follows the rules of Standard Written English.

Kiwifencer: Thanks. I'll check the FIE site.

Jon: The paper is due December 20th. I plan to get most of it done on the weekend of the 13th-16th. I had been thinking about using primary sources. The only person I could think of that I know well enough to contact is Ariana Klinkov. If you could help me out with contacting the others (if they (and you) wouldn't mind), that would be great.

My French is decent... but is it just me, or is the FIE site kind of difficult to navigate (regardless of the fact that it's in a different language)?

[Peach]

Originally posted by Morra[PrFC]
What is Ruby's last name?

Watson