Slightly odd injury

[pammie003]

Okay, this injury is just too good not to pass on. Last night at practice, I was fencing one of the male epeeists. I was doing a little better than usual, but excessively well. I believe we were tied when he came in for a hit without trying to get my blade out of the way. Somehow he managed to slam full-force into my bell. The bell then slammed into my right hand and I am now the proud owner of two rather sore, stiff, and discoloured fingers. to make it even better, final exams start next week!
I just thought I'd share, seeing as how this is by far the oddest spot for a fencing bruise I've ever seen. Still a little puzzled as to how he got that much force to connect with my bell. If he would have hit my arm, I would've been oblitterated! Anyone else have any interesting injury stories to relate?

[Aoife]

Admittadly, I've not been fencing long, so I've not had time to accumlate that many unusual bruises.

I did have an 'interesting' one recently though.

A week or so ago there was a sudden influx of new members, and there wasn't enough chest guards to go around. Not wanting anybody's first experiance to be an especially painful one, I opted to go without. Everybody was very good in not hitting me too hard in my high-line.... except the coach who forgot. He remembered as soon as he'd done it, and apologised, but nonetheless I became the proud owner of a ten pence coin (same size as a US quarter) sized bruise in an uncomfortable area. (I was about to say 'use your imagination', but on second thoughts; don't. )


Other than that the most unusual injury I've got is the very painful bruise I've got on my hip from fencing last night..... but that's because I walked into a door

[haggis]

My oddest fencing injury is really a fencing-related injury. About two weeks before the Glasgow World Cup Mens Epee (which I'd qualified 2nd for) I staved my thumb playing basketball as a warm-up at the club. Two weeks later my thumb still looked like I'd repeatedly smashed it with a hammer and I couldn't fence.

Two conclusions from this. 1. British people can't play American sports 2. God hates me. The first one I'd already strongly suspected but the second one still disappoints me.

I've also got a couple of scars from times when my opponent's blade broke then continued through my kit (pre-kevlar/maraging blades). Perhaps this was God warning me but I clearly wasn't paying attention so He decided to take it out on my thumb.

Hope any future injuries you may suffer are less serious (or irritating).

Haggis

[Inquartata]

No bruising involved, but I once got hit hard high on the right side of my chest while dabbling in epee. No problem that day, but by the next I couldn't quite catch my breath and had a pain like a knife under the right shoulder blade, both of which lasted several weeks. Ah, referred pain! The impact site itself was completely pain free...

[Dee EffEll]

I decided a long time ago you can tell what weapon people fence by the nature of their bruises. (Foilists get little dots on the legs from mal parries, epeeists get bad forearm bruises, and yes, sabreists get big welts.) I fence epee, and make all too many distance mistakes. *All* of my bruises are *my* fault. I have had some doozies on my right (weapon) arm - extra special purple/red/blue/yellow ones the size of tennis balls. (Even had one punch a bruise *through* my right bicep. He hit me inside, and the bruise was both inside, and on the outside toward my tricep. Couldn't feel my weapon hand for about 30 seconds after that one.)

But I got an extra special one last night. It isn't uncommon for me to get huge bruises on my feet. (I fence epee, remember?) I got nailed last night on the top of my right foot, not by my opponnent, but with my own epee! I made a prep out of distance, and got exactly what I asked for - a fairly agressive counter attack. I made the requisite pare (prime) and as he went by, made the obligatory step in to attack to his leg. He tried to remise around the parry, and *bang* my attack landed on the top of my foot.

And yes, I did get the light. And I acknowledged the off target hit.

[Inquartata]

Pity the three-weapon fencers, they look like particolored leopards!

[Dav3ey]

Back in 2000 during the last tournament of the year (fortunately), I had been co-opted to fill in the third spot on the foil squad and had gotten just demolished (4 lost bouts to 1 win). While we were waiting for the women's teams to start, the women's sabre squad asked if I'd warm them up. (Hooray! -- Oh.)

Since we were just doing low-key back-and-forth, I thought it would be a good time to try out some junk: line, parry seven -- and the flunge. Off the line. The balance of the womens' sabre team asked me to do it again (they're quite the persuasive bunch) so that they could get a photo. OK. Or two. OK. And one more. O *pant* K.

By this time my opponent was tired of getting rung up on the head, so she gave me a parry five-riposte -- which caught me in the mug with the forte of her blade. No problem, part of the game.

On the next one, as I flew through the air, I feinted to the head, she threw up her parry five, and I -- all before touching down -- cut over and cut to her left cheek.

I walked back to my line and when I turned around, I found she, insensed (playfully so, I find out later), had followed me and went to give me a close-quarters chop to the head.

Reflexes take over and I parry five, but her full arm chop lands to the side, right on the knuckle guard, twisting the tang of the blade inside the handle (which I held steady, cracking the aluminum sleeve inside) allowing the guard to spin forward and her blade to come down squarely on my middle knuckle. Owwie. Yowch.

That compressed the soft tissue between my third and fourth metatarsals -- an injury for which there is no treatment but time. In my case, it took about six months before I could really manipulate a weapon again.

All better now with a wicked-looking notch in my guard as a souvenir. I was hoping to find I had gained some super fencing power upon recovery. Alas, I still stink.

[Inquartata]

I trust that you made her feel suitably guilty for the duration?

[Dav3ey]

Yeah, as it turns out she is very sweet, very low key and certainly the last person to want to really hurt anyone.

She fully intended to ring me up on the top of my mask but I think that she had just never actually swung that hard and had no practice aiming such a move.

She apologized. She got me ice. [Time passes] She apologized. She made me brownies. It got to the point where I would tell her it was no big deal -- that it was really OK that my paw was all busted up. She really did feel bad.

A good person at heart. It made the whole instance just that much odder since there was no shortage of folks that wouldn't have felt half as bad.

[sallearmourer]

My most unusal injury acured at a cirucit event which are called NAC now a days. It was 1985 in New York City and for some ungod reason I decided to fence foil that weekend. I was at my end line and started a fleece attacked just as I started the tape on both side of the strip rip and I went flying though the air about three off the strip and landed on my face. After laying there for a mintue I manage to get up and off the strip blood steam out of the cuts on my fore head from my mask slamming into my face. Plus I broke my nose and the next day I had two black eyes as well. I wish I still had the video tape of it showed me three feet in the air and parrell to the strip

Tim

[Zelda]

I have to say my "oddest" injury has to be my purple toe nail (I'm a foilist). I think I did it lunging at nationals last year in October and "smushing" my big toe on my leading foot against my shoe as I like them nice and tight. 4 months later its still there and only slightly grown out... I think it will be a reminder to watch my footwork for awhile!!!

[sallearmourer]

My most unusal injury acured at a cirucit event which are called NAC now a days. It was 1985 in New York City and for some ungod reason I decided to fence foil that weekend. I was at my end line and started a fleece attacked just as I started the tape on both side of the strip rip and I went flying though the air about three off the strip and landed on my face. After laying there for a mintue I manage to get up and off the strip blood steam out of the cuts on my fore head from my mask slamming into my face. Plus I broke my nose and the next day I had two black eyes as well. I wish I still had the video tape of it showed me three feet in the air and parrell to the strip

Tim

[pammie003]

Sounds like some good ones. I can honestly say that I've never been airborne, nor have I seriously injured myself during warm-ups, although I have come close to this second one a few times (damn europeans and their mad soccer playing skills!). Bicep bruises are, sadly, all too common. But keep the stories coming! Some of them are great!

[jusplainfencing]

i have had a recent injury to my pinkie of my fencing hand i was at fencing practice and i was carrying a chair for my mother and it slips and breaks my finger riping the tendons away from the bone i thought i had dislocated it so my fencing instructor proceeds to yank on it as hard as possible to "put it back in place" i said fine and wanted to continue with the practice but my mom and coach made me go to the doctor turns out this injury takes me out of fencing others for 3 1/2 months! and now i have a permanant bend in the joint by the tip.....so i was taken out of fencing,disfigured,and a big headache....for a freaking pinkie! and i dont even have this excelent story to tell of how it was down to the last touch and i soar through the air to win the match of my life.....no i was just carrying a chair.....

(as you can tell im still a little bitter)

[Joule]

I think the oddest bruise I've had because of fencing I got at my second training session. I was fighting a friend of mine, it was her first week. I can't remember exactly how her foil ended up in my groin but I can remember the pain. I ended up on the floor because of it. I had a strange bruise there for about a week or so afterwards.

Joule

[a517dogg]

at 2002 Junior Olympics, it was my first time for U-20. had no idea what was going on... beat tim french national champion, and lost to a U. very strange. anyway.
so in my first DE, i draw jackson ranes, who is a pretty damn sick fencer. he was hitting me on straight attacks to body, i would sometimes get doubles, sometimes pick him off, whatever. its like 11-10 with him winning, closer than it should be.

so one time i tried to parry. it worked, but i didn't get my riposte in. next touche, he tries to disengage or something, but ends up pulling his arm back and his point goes under my bib, over my jacket, and his blade bends down, so it bruised my trachea. i stopped breathing and went to the emergency room where they stuck me on the EKG thingy and i saw it go flatline twice. my head would go down because i was getting little oxygen, so when my head would go down my breathing passage would be obstructed and so i would stop breathing, my heart would stop, the noise would go off, and the nurse would flip back my head and slap me, and i'd start breathing again.

other than that, only stuff like spraining ankles or something.

[Mappiq]

This is not really an injury, just a peculiar happening that I am not sure if it is common or not since I am new to fencing.

On my first day of actual fencing bouts (last Thursday) I was fencing another newbie. That was the day that I discovered that I have horrible and very weird point control (and I have been practicing hitting tiles on my wall with a "foil" made from wire coat hangers ever since). Anyway, I was fencing this girl and she went in for some kind of attack (I wasn't really paying attention so I don't know exactly what she did), and I decided that it might be a good idea to poke my sword at her. I did so, and it somehow managed to go _under_ her lame through one of the leg holes. About this time the director called a halt (we were fencing dry, by the way). I took the meaning of "halt" quite literally, so I kind of froze; this resulted in a protracted interval of seconds where my foil blade was strangely lodged between her legs and under the lame. The director, who was also female (I'm male) came and looked at the situation, said, "I don't think that counts," and no points were awarded because the girl never hit me either. At this point it occured to me that I should attempt to extricate my foil, which also took a process of seconds. Upon relating this incident to my roommate, he asked if that had been awkward; I had not noticed it being so, but on reflection I realized what he meant...

[Catlady]

Jusplainfencing,
that sounds like something that happened to a club mate of mine. He wasn't fencing when he hurt himself either. He was at home and somehow knocked a glass onto the floor, he either tried to catch it on the way down, caught it, and then had it shatter in his hand, or he cut himself on one of the pieces when it was all ready on the floor and he was trying to clean up. Anyway, he cut himself and noticed that his first finger on his right hand (his fencing hand) was just sort of hanging there.

Typical for him, he wrapped a towel around his hand, finished picking up the glass and then finally drove to the hospital.

It turned out that he cut the tendon at the base of the finger. He had to have surgery to have it reattached, and it was supposed to be about six weeks until he could even try to move it again, let alone start fencing with it.

The story gets better though. After about a week, where he had been incredibly careful not to stress the reattached tendon, jar the hand or do anything else that might jeopardize his recovery, his arm felt like it needed a stretch. He was careful to not actually move anything in his hand. As he reached the end of a nice satisfying stretch, he felt something in his hand give.

You guessed it, it turns out the way things are connected in there, if you stretch your arm, it also stressed the tendons in your hand and fingers, so he'd just ripped the tendon loose again.

So more surgery, and this time, there's scar tissue, and an even longer recovery.

Poor guy, he even resorted to fencing lefty for a while. Now a year later, he's fencing again, although it'll be quite a while before he gets decent movement, or strenght in that finger again. Although, it basically will never be as good as it was before.

[jusplainfencing]

catlady,
i feel VERY sorry for your friend i know how bad it is to have a tendon injury and his was far more worse than mine since i did'nt cut my finger there was no blood or surgery (i had to keep mine totally straight and wait for the tendons to reatatch) but it is not fun having to do the physical therapy stuff to get it to move just a little bit ,but the bad thing was my finger would have been fine and straight but a couple days after i got out of my splint i dropped my hair dryer on it so i re broke it leaving it with the permanet bend so anyways the purpose of this post was to say im very sorry for your friend tell him to stick with it itll get better,.....and thanks for giving me a bit of perspective...... im not the only one god hates oh and tell him to wear mittens the cold does wicked things to previously broke fingers........

[Joule]

I thought of another strange one that I've had. I was fighting with one of my friends, and she tried a (I think its called a 'flick') I dropped my shoulder and she tried to hit me on the back but where I had my arm against my back, she caught my hand instead!

Joule