Is it painful?

[sabresamurai]

Hey all you fencers. I am going to start my first lesson in a few days I have wondered, Does fencing hurt? So I posted this asking you "Does fencing hurt?"

[R. Exnicios]

NO!

Fencing does not hurt. Wear the proper equipment and be sure to warm-up before you start.

Have fun!

[NJP3]

Many touches you wont even feel!

But even when Im hit hard I rarely ever feel pain (at least not till after the tourney). I think its cause of all the adreanalin pumping through my body.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

i've been fencing for 3 years- my coach knows that i can rarely pull my fencing together for myself, but i know what i should be doing at any given time, and knows that when i watch or work with the newbies, i know exactly what they're doing wrong. therefore, during drills and practice bouts, i end up with the newbies a lot.

rule # 1 of fencing in sabre- there is always a newbie you don't want to fence because they always hit too hard after blatently prepping.

after fencing them for 15 minutes straight, yes, it does hurt.

however, the name of the lesson for me is "learn to [insert several expletives] parry!!"

i'm not sure what weapon you're starting with, and if prepping newbies hurt in epee or foil-- but no, it shouldn't hurt, unless the person you're fencing is very very bad.

[sabresamurai]

hehe yeah i am starting in sabre but i will probably be the newb that needs preping lol

[thyme_daniels]

it will hurt if you do not warm up, cool down and stretch. don't push yourself beyond your physical capacity, otherwise you may hurt yourself. good job tho, about the lesson. i hope you are excited!

[sabresamurai]

ok, i will try to remember to stretch before going to my lessons, thanks for all the advice /info

[glowstix]

it doesn't hurt but make sure you wear good protection and if you are a guy, WEAR THE NECESSARY PROTECTION if you know what i mean; sometimes i get tons of hits down there.

also, wear a good mask with a good bib. once i had a pretty worn out mask owned by the club and the bib was curled upwards and i didn' t really notice until i got an epee point in my throat!! it wasn't a flush hit but still hurt. just be aware always and you'll be fine.

[DangerMouse]

Here's another take...

Fencing hurts! The first 3 months after I started, my legs felt like they were going to fall off. Of course, this was only minor compared to the first 3 months of Ultimate Frisbee...

-DM

[jusplainfencing]

my legs felt like they were going to fall off.

gosh i can remeber after me and my sister had our first class...our muscles hurt so bad! our arms and legs felt like jello for what seemed like forever...but after you go a couple times and get conditioned to using thoes muscles you wont even be sore anymore...but I'd say yes the first class always hurts lol!

[Inquartata]

Just about anything can hurt. People pull and strain things in their sleep, after all. But fencing is no more likely to hurt than any vigorous physical activity, and a good deal less likely to do so than most.

[pkt]

sabresamurai,

Of course fencing hurts.
Remember fencing is pretend killing of someone with a sword.
So, getting poked or slashed will definitely hurt esp. when you fence other newbies who have very little control of themselves.

You'll do this one exercise:
double hitting a mask.

This exercise teached you control of your sabre. It teaches you to hit with your fingers, not the whole bloody arm.

It is a fencing sabre not a katana!

Yes, for the first week or so, depending on your prep the inside of your legs will hurt. You have never had the chance to use those muscles.

If it is any consolation:
a sabre whip is less painful than an epee hit esp. on the crook of your arm. A sabre cut only stings for a few seconds whereas a deep epee bruise lasts for a week in general.

Another 2 pieces of sabre equipemnt you should always wear are the elbow guard and a full-sized (versus half) platron.

Get yourself a properly padded sabre glove your hand will be happy that you did. You can continue fencing after you've been hit on the hand.

Yes, indeed, learn to parry. If not, learn to keep distance.

Remember, if you hit hard, you'll receive hard hits back. Knowing that you're 13 y-o, don't cry when the cut hurts.

Above all else listen to your coach and enjoy yourself.

PK

[KShan5[PrFC]]

I have one bit of advice, learn footowrk correctly the first time. I got away with doing it wrong because I am a good athlete and I could still manuver as well as the other newbs, so I thought I was good. Now I look back and I have in the past few monthes essentially, started over. I'll point to one fencer in my club, as whtouche says "the next fencing godzilla" and say do that to me. It is much harder the second time around. So fight through the pain because 4 monthes from now you will be happy you did.

[Porkchop]

Seriously though,

i have been fencing 20 years(on and off) Can't seem to giv eit up, and I have never received a serious injury, worst can be a few bruises from a heavy hitter, but hey, they can be battle "scars" and the plus is they go away.

[Artisan]

Paint Ball is worse...and leaves bigger bruises.

[jusplainfencing]

Paint Ball is worse

I've heard paintball is painfull I don't know how anyone can play that,... seems too painfull for me!

[Marcos]

yeah it can hurt

pain in sabre goes away straight away - like being whipped by a belt

i find epee far more painful - haven't fenced epee in 8 years but still have some scars

only time foil is painful is when some muppet tries to flick hit you and they miss

[edew]

Well, I got my Singapore-style caning in sabre this past Sunday. Had nice lashes all over my back.

[sabresamurai]

hehe

[sabresamurai]

Well, thanks for all the help.