You fence?!

[Chobes]

I don't know about anyone else, but i get some strange responses from people when i say i Fence. Some people are like " Wow! thats cool! what's it like?" some are like " Fencing? thats a nerdy sport, your stupid" and others say " What is fencing? you put up fences around houses?"

I personally find this pretty funny, people think its either way cool, stupid, or don't know what it is. What responses do you get when you tell people you fence?

Btw, i think if we could somehow get more people to fence and get publicity about the sport then the wierd responses will dwindle.

[RMasque]

Living in mid-missouri the most common response I get is..."What kind? Barbed wire or decorative? And hey, do ya need a post hole digger?"

[AndrewH]

It almost always goes like this:

"So, what sports do you do?"
"Fencing, and I play tennis for fun"
"Fencing's not a sport!"

I used to try to convince people that there is quite a bit of athleticism involved, but it always met with the inevitable "poking at each other with a sword isnt a sport. Anyone can do that. And what's up with the tight white suits?"

Yea, that one is particularily ironic coming from members of the wrestling team...

[bug]

Yesterday I took the train to my fencing club, and I don't have a bag for my blade, so I just carried it with me. People would look at me cautiously and then ask, "Is that a sword?" One guy was really interested, and I showed him how to hold the pistol grip. Out of the 5 people who asked me about it, only one seemed creeped out. I guess if more people knew what fencing was about, it would be a lot more popular.

[epeemike81]

Originally posted by AndrewH
I used to try to convince people that there is quite a bit of athleticism involved, but it always met with the inevitable "poking at each other with a sword isnt a sport. Anyone can do that.

yup. anyone can do it. doing it WELL, however.....

-m

[epeemike81]

Originally posted by bug
I guess if more people knew what fencing was about, it would be a lot more popular.

DANGER!!! DANGER!!!

Turn back!!



-m

[whtouche]

You'd be surprised how many people I've told that I fence have asked "Is that the thing on horses?"

I politely inform them that they're thinking of jousting, and depending on how well I know them, I ridicule them

[pkt]

Originally posted by bug
Yesterday I took the train to my fencing club, and I don't have a bag for my blade, so I just carried it with me. People would look at me cautiously and then ask, "Is that a sword?" ...

Bug,

In this day and age of heighten, orange alert, I was surprised no one call the Homeland Defence folks on yer. At least you carried it out in the open rather than concealing it. Perhaps wear a great coat and carry your weapon a la 'the Highlander'.

Having said all that, I did the same when I started fencing in HK in 1965! I carried my foil to school on a bus, then after school cross harbour to the Y where I took my lesson. Then repeat the same on my way home... Sure got a lot of funny looks.

To all those yahoos who respond to "I fence" by asking " which kind: chain link..." just say I put holes in people. People like you."
and grin like you're about to eat them alive...

PK

[Katman]

Some typical responses I get when I inform someone I fence are:

"Fencing? Chain link or what?"
"Fencing? Isn't that for rich homosexuals?"
"Fencing? Heeeey, you got a DVD player you could sell me?"
"Fencing? Do you use real swords and actually try to kill each other?"

[jusplainfencing]

I have got some wierd responses....when i went ot the doctor for a broken pinkie my doctor said "no way! theres clubs for that?" (i refered him to my coach and is now a fencer at a different club)
and some people just say fencing whats that?....and then theres always the one i get the most...fencing...like with swords?.....

[whtouche]

More than a few people have told me that fencing is "stupid" because we wear protective clothing and the swords aren't sharp.
I told them they should probably play football or hockey without pads on then to make it less stupid.

[scottracer12]

I moved to Alabama recently...try explaining fencing here! They look at you as though you're nuts! Then they give you the "what kind of fences?" response. I hear "Sissy sport" a lot, too. My response is usually "Yeah, but I'm a bad *** in a knife fight!"

[jusplainfencing]

I hear "Sissy sport"

I have never seen or heard of anybody saying this! that would really make me mad! what part of fighting with swords do they not understand?!?...and it has to be safe to be a sport, so whoever thinks this is truly a retardo. ok im done venting....

[Catlady]

I've mostly gotten good responses like, "Wow, I've always wanted to try that". or "There's a club here. Where?"

Though there's a few stupid ones,

"You mean with swords?!?" (no with rolled-up newspaper of course)

I talk about it constantly at school too since aside from school and church about the only other place I go regularly is fencing and I've managed to incorporate it in someway into a few projects I've had to do (I'm working on a grant that started out as part of a class to start a wheelchair fencing program at my club and last semester I did a really basic web page on fencing for a class in web writing--not ready for public view yet as far as I'm concern, but when/if I get it where I want it I'll let y'all know) so most of the people in my program as well as the professors know me as "the girl who fences". Most are impressed.

The only problem is with as many people as have said how interesting it is and how much they've wanted to try it, none of them have ever shown up at the club afaik

[pkt]

Originally posted by whtouche
...I told them they should probably play football ...without pads on then to make it less stupid.

In case you don't know, that's called rugby.


In that regards, rugby is for real men and American football ... well, I'll let you draw your own conslusions.

PK

[pkt]

All,

Fencing IS a martial sport. It IS pretend killing someone with a sword-like instrument.

And if your questioner still insist it is a sissy sport, tell them we wear ballistic-nylon clothing. Then you ask them, 'You do know what the ballistic nylon is and why we wear them, right?" Make them look stupid.

In our gala finals in this neck of the woods, we ask professional football players and B-ball players when we had a pro b-ball team here - I have forgotten the team's name) to make fools of themselves with our sissy equipment on stage and in front of the paying public. And Catal, we have a theatre full of paying customers. (The theatre holds 2-300 people.)

And guess what these pro players invariably say afterwards...

PK

[Wizardly]

My favorites continue to be:

"Can you see out of the mask?"

No no, we do it all blindfolded. Can't see a darn thing. We're just really good and did I mention we're all psychic? That's what the wire mesh is for; it amplifies the reception of signals form the opponent.

Sometimes I wanna say something like: nope, that's why there's a periscope at the top.

"Are the swords sharp?"

Yes they are. Why do you think there aren't that many fencers? Yes, the high school allows us to bring actual sharp swords to school. It's big in college because you get to kill people. Insurance companies have no problem whatsoever with joining a fencing club. You don't get in trouble for killing a man if you duelled him after all. Just think, a DE bout lasts for 15 touches! The lack of scars on my body means I'm reallyl good.

This one was from back in high school, when I had "fencing" on my jacket (yes, I was a dork).
"How'd you get into fencing?"
My high school has a team.
"Your high school has a team that puts up fences?"

Yes, that's right. It's the 100m fence-build. This is why fencing is at odds with football; all that wasted land on which we could be putting up fences.

I used to carry my foils 'cause my bag wasn't big enough. Had them protected in PVC plumbing pipe. Bus driver could have sworn they were ski poles. Thought this all the way through spring...
Yes, it's grass skiing. Latest craze. You should try it.

Oh, and another favorite is the fencing impression: spread your legs, bounce up and down, and jab a lot. Or the notion that you can grab your opponents "sword" with your off hand, spin around, and come appart on the other side of the strip (damn you Captain Picard). Or that fencers wear armor. On the subject though, why DO we still wear white (although by white I mean sorta gray with a few brown spots of rust, I mean "blood")? Then there's the school boards that disallow fencing because of "weapons at school." Clearly they misunderstand the concept of a club, I mean baseball bat or golf CLUB or hockey stick, or blades (ice skates), or projectiles (balls, discuss, shot put). Actually, I find it kind of ironic that back in the 60's my high school had a shooting (as in rifles) team. I think they used to have archery and javelin too.

All sarcasim asside, I have to wonder sometimes if people honestly don't know about fencing, or just didn't bother to think first.

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

The Swedish word for fencing - "fäktning" is not similar to any other Swedish words, so no problems with cattle enclosure or criminal activity for me.

I have never gotten the "sissy sport" response, the "way cool" one is quite common. Just about all sport intrested people around here know what fencing is, even if they have not seen it themselves - Sw. TV has legal obligation to "fairness in coverage", so they show it every olympics an a few times in between also.

Another thing that I often hear is the story of the Soviet pentahlete, Boris Onisjenko, who installed a switch in his epee and was found out during the 1976 (IIRC) Olympics.

Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[retardedspleen]

Hi my names Chris, I hit other people with peices of metal, also called Swords...On ocasion I stab them. My blade moves at over 136mph on a slow day. I fence. I beat people on a regular basis, and I enjoy every moment of it.


Ive gotten a lot of resposnes...all have already been listed above.

I dont think anybody really understands the true nature of what fencing is untill they have either seen it, or you give them a sword and say "try and hit me" and as the try you simply move out of distance by 1 inch and a half....then hit them a little to make them feel dumb...that gives them a little more apreciation for the sport..

I went to a regional event once, and my friend took his other friend (a non fencer) along with us (ROAD TRIP) well his friend saw me fencing in the finals (fencing off for 3rd) one of the actions he saw was on fence i flunged my my en guard line to the other, it was parried (in mid air, i hadnt landed yet) took my counter parrie, he double crossed over backwards in combination with a skip jump back. my front foot landed, and my backfoot hadnt touched the ground before i flunged for a second time, fient disegage, took the ***** slap accross the mask....it was a sweet touch!

After the event, we all went out to dinner, and we were all talking about the bout (because it was the best bout of the whole event) he was pretty amazed at what had happened, he thought it was cool, and was able to recednize some right of way, and basics of fencing....

the only reason fencing is not spectator friendly is because the majority of the population who would see it on TV are idiots. people with some intelligence can see, understand and comprehend.

Yeah, people who make dumb comments about fencing, are simply not smart. "uhhh....you make picket fences??....." thats some grade A BS


Chris Triplett

[Mischa]

This thread is hilarious!