how did you get into fencing ?

[lfortier]

I was talking with a friend at lunch who brought up taking fencing, then I wanted to do it. After bugging my parents forever, I found an ad a year later for a fencing center which was just up the street from me all along; I took the beginner's lessons, and been progressing rapidly since.it's the best thing that happened to me!

[MyrddinsPrecint]

i went to 7th and 8th grade in a small program attached to the high school.

whenever i actually read the high school announcements (i had to sneak them out of the trash), i saw a fencing announcement. Having just read a series of books about a female who hid her sex, became a knight, and was really really good at fencing (after having been really bad)--- i was interested. I sneaked out of the 7th/8th grade area, figured out where the coach's homeroom was, and asked him about it. i went to maybe a couple month's worth of practices and was ready to buy my own stuff when

BAM

the coach stopped teaching at my school.

which ended fencing until the next year-- but by the next year, i'd sneaked into the high school again to get a really great role in the high school play (puck- midsummer night's dream)

i didn't start fencing again until the begining of freshman year.

no one remembers that i was the little 7th grade chick that fenced for a couple months, especially the coach. Although he might know now, it came up in convorsation. although they didn't beleive me until i correctly identified the locker we kept the equipment in for a while....

[me:"hey, i remember that!"
them: "no, you don't"
me: "no, really i do, you don't remember me..."]

so, which i always claim to have been fencing for 3 years, technically i've been fencing (where 'fencing' defines knowing how to hold a blade, knowing footwork, and knowing basic ROW concepts for your weapon- rather than actively participating) for 5 years.

[Catlady]

I've just always wanted to fence. I did the whole dueling with sticks, pencils etc. thing as a kid. I think maybe movies had something to do with the obsession but I don't know.

I didn't start fencing until I was 23, but also would have started sooner if I could have. One day I got a catlogue from the local university advertising their community education programs. On the front of the catalogue there was a picture of a man wearing fencing gear (as it turns out one of my future coaches) it said something like "Engage in life". I saw that and said "Wow, do you think they really have fencing classes?". Yes they did. While I'm not very good it's been four years I've been hooked ever since.

I'm currently foil only, but would like to do sabre and some day may also pick up epee.

[jusplainfencing]

me and my sister wanted to do it, and my mom found info. from a homeschool thing i started when i was nine! fenced for a year quit and came back last year (but i fenced my sister the years between lol),....when i stared and told my coach i was nine he stood there for awhile and said "well that's okay".....i was like gee thanks!

[Event Horizon]

I have always been interested in swords and fencing. Would always watch swashbuckler/musketeer movies and anything that had fencing in it. I thought that it would be really cool to learn. I never did find any places that taught fencing near where I lived (even as I moved to different places around the country) so it just became a unfullfilled dream of mine.

When I transfered to a university, I found out that the city it was in had two fencing salles. Finally, there's fencing within my reach. Yet, it took 3 years before I decided to go and take lessons! I kept telling myself, "yeah, I'll go take lessons someday." Someday turned into 3 years. Finally I told myself, stop making excuses and just go. Had a friend of mine go with me to meet the instructor. He gave us an intro to fencing ptich and was sold. We both signed up, but he dropped out after a few months. I stuck with it and want to stay with it for long as I can. I'm probably one of the few people on this board who started late in fencing (age 31).

[Capt. Slo-mo]

You might be surprised. When I was a novice fencer, I was considered a veteran, being 40 or older.

[Peach]

I started out at 43, because I was bored watching my daughter fence and because I already knew I liked hitting people.

My daughter started because the neighbor kids were going and they invited her. They stopped, she kept going.

[glowstix]

i was obsessed with 'the ighlander', thought i could be immortal and decided to get lessons to defend myself..LOL!!

actually, i've always been fascinated with swords so learning was an obvious next step.

[Bavwaqnip]

My wife, two daughters and I were wandering around a Rennaissance Festival when we came across a little group, offering you the chance to fence, either one of your friends or one of theirs. My family was alone, and the wife didn't want to try, so she goaded me into squaring off against this really tall intimidating guy dressed like a pirate. I guess we were using sabers, but it could have been rapiers with fencing blades attached. The equipment they outfitted me with fit better than I guessed it would have, and the "pirate" went easy on me at first. He scored a touch while I tried to figure out what I was doing. I don't think I moved my feet the entire bout. I must have gotten lucky then because I scored a touch right in his torso, and he seemed really shocked. Well then Mr. Pirate turned it up a notch, and I was really glad that I had never done this before. Becase then I would have been obliged to be embarassed. We came home and I spent the better part of the next week trying to get in touch with a local fencing club so that I could start. I was hooked. Unfortunately, the closest fencing club is a three hour round trip twice a week. I think it will be worth it.

[a517dogg]

I played soccer, and got very sick and so I was too sick to play anymore. I also broke or otherwise injured my ankles a few times, and was fed up with teammates not pulling weight, so i wanted to switch to an individual sport. My doctor recommended fencing because he had another patient who fenced who loved it.

[thyme_daniels]

my dad has been fencing ever since he was in high school, so i would crawl around the gym, dodging weapons and the like. i took a group lesson in epee once when i was 7 and didn't like it, so i did not fence, but i tried foil when i was 10, and i liked that so i fenced foil for 4 years, and eventually i switched back to epee, which i fence now. i am a fencing brat.

[Ariela]

Originally posted by a517dogg
I played soccer, and got very sick and so I was too sick to play anymore. I also broke or otherwise injured my ankles a few times, and was fed up with teammates not pulling weight, so i wanted to switch to an individual sport. My doctor recommended fencing because he had another patient who fenced who loved it.

ive also tried other sports , from soccer i broke my right foot , form handball i broke two fingers , from volleyball i broke another one and from swimming i had pneumonia but i didnt quit those sports because of the injuries i quit them because i ended up thinking that the relation cost/benefit wasnt really worthy . also got to like individual sports better , but not because some ppl dont make enough effort but because in team sports usually the "stars "are "more equal than others " thats what made me quit soccer .... the "star "of the team hit me real hard in the foot while i WASNT with the ball , and broke my foot and the coach didnt even tell her to "take it easy "

[mep350]

I got into it this past year (in January) when my current fencing coach came to demonstrate at my school. The rest is history, as they say.

[lochinvar]

Like Event Horizon, I've always been interested in swords. I watched every swashbuckler/medieval/pirate movie I could find, and never missed a re-run of the old William Tell TV series.

Unlike Event Horizon, I started my first year of college. I saw they had a fencing club, went down the same night and signed up, and never looked back. It wasn't what I imagined (Basil Rathbone was nowhere to be seen), but I discovered I liked it anyway.

(Insert ten-year intermission here.)

Spent a semester working out with the Notre Dame team during the Mike Dicicco era; gave it up when my wife died and I had to concentrate on raising a son alone.

(Insert twenty-year intermission here.)

Found my old gear when cleaning out the storage room. Decided to take it up again. Was fortunate to find a program close to home, and have been back with it (off-and-on) for the last three years.

[Zelda]

Myrddins - that series you read wouldnt happen to be the Alana series by Tamora Pierce would it???
I started fencing at 20 after a very messy break up. I was depressed, not getting out, sitting at home driving my parents nuts and crying. I had wanted to try fencing at Uni but the classes always clashed with lectures. The guy working in the office next to my dad was doing an advertising campaign for the fencing club in town and asked my dads opinion on some ads. Dad took the info, asked me did I still want to do it and I went from there. A 10 week beginner course later, I was hooked.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

Originally posted by Zelda
Myrddins - that series you read wouldnt happen to be the Alana series by Tamora Pierce would it???

oh it absolutely is!!!

[sabresamurai]

i have always loved swords and watching sword fights and it looked very interesting also my favorite tv show, Rurouni Kenshin, has TONS of sword fights in it and so i was on the internet looking for neat sports to try and then i though"swords, i like swords, ...FENCING! that is a sport with swords!" so i did some internet research to find the nearest club to my house and vwala! now i fence

[R. Exnicios]

I thought I would ad a bit of levity to this thread (it's better than actually working!).

I started fencing in College in the now defunct PE program. The way I decided to sign up is the funny thing. I was at freshman orientation and I saw these two very attractive girls standing behind the fencing club table. I just had to meet them. To make a long story short, I signed up for the PE class, joined the club, dated one of them for a while and have been fencing ever since.

Now to make the storey even more interesting. A couple of years after that I saw an even more attractive girl walk into a tournament with fencing gear. I was more than a little distracted that day. That beautiful fencer is still fencing but now her lame has the same name on it as mine : )

Okay maybe its more of a sappy storey than funny but I thought I would pass it on.

The moral of the story - Have your female fencers do the recruiting.

Cheers

[Ramrod]

Exnicios,

So .... how long has your mom been fencing now?

[remise]

I put my son in fencing at aged 7, and watch him have all the fun for 3 years. I finally had the courage to try (I was 42 by then) and I liked the adrenaline rush I got when I was out on the strip. My son has never tried any other sport (he hasn't the inkling) and so all the fencing moves are so ingrained in him they are as natural to him as walking.

For me, it's another story. I am always grateful for the advice I get on this site - everything is appreciated.