Reenactment Fencing

[EvilWeasle]

Hey, i'm kinda new here but I was wondering if there were any reenactment fighters out there. I've been looking into it and talking to people who do it, but i'd like to here from you who do that sort of thing how the actual combat relates to more traditional sport fencing.

[Christopher J Umbs]

Ok... a couple of definitions first

1) Reenactment fencing/fighting: Recreating a famous battle, you know which historical character you are and you know that at 12:35 you fall down from a cannon blast

2) Re-creation fencing: The battle is not pre-set and you fence to the best of your ability under the rules. Sadly, in America, re-creation standards are very low with the SCA being the largest group. The fencing skill level tends to be very low as well since the fencing is just one of the many activities of the group

3) "Actual Combat": Doesn't happen. The closest you can get are schools that practice Western Martial Arts or some of the more martial minded classical schools.

See www.ahfi.org and it's links page

[lochinvar]

To add further to what Chris said:

So far as I can determine, "re-creation" (read: Classical) fencing doesn't bear much resemblance to sport fencing, except that they both use a blade and some of the same basic footwork.

Classical fencing is all about touching without being touched, if possible. One could probably best liken it to sport epee, but even then the similarities are probably superficial. Classical fencing often uses a main gauche, a dagger in the left hand used for parrying and infighting; sport epee does not.

Sport fencing is more like playing tag with wire coat hangers. It's fun and demanding in its own right, but it's far removed from actual swordplay, which is what Classical fencing tries to re-create.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

My club recently had an "US vs SCA Light Combat fighters". It was a massacre, they kept trying to grab our sabres.

[The0ne]

just sport fence, your geek factor will go down.

[EvilWeasle]

Originally posted by The0ne
just sport fence, your geek factor will go down.

It would be a grate shame to miss out on something simply to (maby) save face. it's just not right, show alital back bone man. if i had frited over what some one else thought i would have been long gone by know. besides they're peasants and infadels the lot of them! who cares as to the opiniuns of the iliterate!

[EvilWeasle]

sorry about that bit of a rant, but sometimes a good rant dose you good. it gets the blood flowing

oh ya, thanks for clearing up those terms for me guys.

[pkt]

read the DEcember issue of National Geographic. Apparently reenactment happens in Japan too...

PK