Reading fencing books as a beginner?

[Glyphenblade]

Why aren't there any good fencing books for beginners? There are good beginner books for most other sports. Is there something about fencing that makes it particularly unfit for useful beginner books, or has a good book simply not come around?

I'm not sure if there are really any good books for beginners in any sport. At least not in the sense that you can learn how to do the sport by reading the book. All sports require interaction with other people in order to really learn them. You can't, for example, learn how to time an attack from a book; this holds whether we're talking about fencing or karate.

That said there's no reason why books can't complement your learning. I think "The Big Book of Fencing" by Volkmann is a good resource. I've also found a number of old fencing books from Google Books that have useful information. For example, when I was learning to fence I was told about First Position, which was used as the first part of the salute, and En Guarde, but wasn't told about the other five positions. I have no idea if anyone else teaches them anymore, but I always teach them to my students because having them go through the sequence aids them in having a good En Guarde.

[swordsen]

I think a book can be very useful for a beginning fencer. It is nice to have something to compare to what the coach is saying. Another explanation of how a move is done, and just a wider background for the sport.
Certainly not a technical book but a fun one and an easy read is This one Once can ignore the section on mutant saber at the end but the authors diary of learning to fence is quite interesting.

[Belegur]

One problem I've noticed is that when beginner fencers see Youtube footage of World Championships or similar, they think "I'll try to do that", seemingly unaware of the fact that the actions performed there are the result of many years of training. Really, for beginners, it should all be kept as simple as possible. Part of the problem with books is that they also discuss complex actions. There's always the danger of people skipping ahead to the more complicated stuff without gaining an understanding of the basics. It would be like trying to gain an understanding of integral and differential calculus without having understood basic algebra.

[Allen Evans]

Why aren't there any good fencing books for beginners?

In fact, as has been pointed out, there are few good fencing books, period, for any level of fencing. Often I read books simply because they are a snapshot of what fencing was like at the time. Alaux's book being a good example. I don't learn much from the books, but they are interesting reading.

http://www.leonpaul.com/acatalog/The...o_Fencing.html

I found the Complete Guide to Fencing very difficult reading, mostly because of the translation from German (I assume). Some of the translation was so bad that if I hadn't had a background in fencing, I'm not sure I would have understood what they were talking about.

I've been meaning to pick up Dr. Volkman's manual and add it to my collection.

A

[Inquartata]

One problem I've noticed is that when beginner fencers see Youtube footage of World Championships or similar, they think "I'll try to do that", seemingly unaware of the fact that the actions performed there are the result of many years of training.

I am finding that the same thing applies to veterans ( alas ). Except that in our case the obstacle is that we can't physically carry out the actions with the speed and strength needed to make them work any more...

OTOH, I like to think that just making the attempt improves my fencing---makes it more varied, at a minimum.

[pjsise1]

I actually agree with a lot of what has been said here. There are lots of books out there that don't really seem to serve a purpose aside from just being another book about fencing. They are still worth reading though I think because every so often you come across something new or something that turns on that light bulb above your head.

For beginners though, there is a new book that is written just for them. Yes, my book. http://www.shop.swordplaybooks.com/p...c?productId=11 I'd be silly not to mention it, right? Anyway, I recognized, just like you, that there were not many good beginners books out there so I wrote one. I actually wrote it at first so that I could have something to give my students when they enrolled in my intro class. We gave away several early prints at the USFCA conference this summer and already I've had coaches tell me that they will be using the book in their fencing classes at their clubs and in college fencing PE classes. The book starts off very simply and helps reinforce what most coaches teach in the first 6 months of fencing. In includes information not just on how to fence, but also things like information about fencing equipment, commonly used websites for fencers, how USFA competitions work, how to fill out scoresheets, and it includes a couple quizzes. Finally, about half the book is an extensive glossary which gives the book more lasting value.

The website says that the book is "coming soon" but I'm told it actually started shipping yesterday. Perhaps the website will be updated soon.

[RITFencing]

I normally recommend Fencing Steps to Success by Elaine Cheris when a beginner asks me about a good book to read.

[wrightsa]

To the OP, I was thinking earlier today that something you might find more effective is videos with commentary. Search for a few on youtube; they vary in scope and depth and you might find one that you consider helpful. I don't think any deal with things like basic lunge technique, but there's a lot of up to date information on there you might find helpful. User CyrusOfChaos there (who has the same screenname here) is a good place to start.

Since I am a novice, I do not have the informed opinion of an experienced fencer. However, I found this playlist of very basic drills useful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN8d8...37F013&index=2

[big daddy]

In my opnion videos are so much better than books. Concepts I have read about for years become understandable when I see them. One cannot learn to fence from a book no more than one can learn to dance from a book.