Favourite fencing game

[Masterurethane]

As it was the last day of fencing for the year today, we played lots of most excellent games, mostly with foam sabres.

Wow, it was loads of fun, especially the team based games like defend the castle.

Just thought I'd mention as I just got back and a great time.

Anyone else have a favourite fencing game?

[yamashk]

Our club plays a few games every once in awhile that the younger kids seem to really enjoy and always seem to ask to play.

First is Holy Grail. This game is doesn't really help your fencing at all but the kids love it. It's based on the scene from the Monty Python movie..."it's only a flesh wound!" We start in a circle and at "Fence!" everyone scatters and challenges another fencer. They fence as normal except that a touch an arm renders that arm useless. A touch to a leg renders that leg useless. A touch to the head or body means your out. You keep fencing until you're "dead" which often results in someone hopping on one foot with a foil tucked under their arm (both arms and one leg touched). While this is going on, a fencer can "cut in" by tapping the floor behind someone. Repeat until one fencer survives. As I said, this game is not especially educational, but the youger kids like it.

Another game we play is a sort of "Bridge Battle." The bridge is really just a strip. Each team lines up behind the strip and the first fencer from each time lines up at the en garde line. The goal is to push your opponent off the end of the bridge/strip or land a valid touch. Likewise, if you step off the end, the sides or are touched, you "fall" off the bridge and are out. Once out, the fencer is replaced by the next person on the team. Continue until one team is victorious. Kids like it because they're sword fighting over "lava" or "alligators" or something...but they're learning to fence on a strip and control distance.

[kalivor]

Well ... not quite what you're looking for, but I'm fond of that old video game (some sort of Olympic games thing?) where, if you hit the other guy in the leg, he'd crumple to the ground.

Funniest fencing video game on the planet.

[Delmont]

Probubly has more of a home in SCA then fencing. But something we do after club or when we just feel like goofing around is 2 on 1 circular sabre. With the 1 going twin weapon. Don't know how to spell the french term so I won't Whole bodyis good touch, go until dead. Doesn't really help fencing but it is a blast.

[wflaschka]

When I was growing up, we used to have group fencing called Melees. Groups of kids would fight each other, all at once. I thought it was quite fun at the time. Nowadays, I'm teaching, but I'm terrified that one of the crazy kids will get hurt (stabbed under the mask or something).

It was safe enough for me, so why shouldn't it be safe enough for today's kids? Does anybody have any input whether this game is acceptable today, or should it be retired forever?

[Joan of Ark]

Originally posted by kalivor
Well ... not quite what you're looking for, but I'm fond of that old video game (some sort of Olympic games thing?) where, if you hit the other guy in the leg, he'd crumple to the ground.

Funniest fencing video game on the planet.

Yes! Yes! I know THAT game! It IS really funny. One time, I was playing and I figured out how to salute in the middle of the bout.

[leia]

we sometimes play a game, king of the hill.
the group splits into two, each group has a king,
the aim to get the other persons king before they touch yours,
if you get touched you have to retreat back to your king and then go on etc.
it come to some crazy moves by the kings and knights butits heaps of fun, duno if it teaches u much though lol.

[Fencingrocks41]

Originally posted by Masterurethane
As it was the last day of fencing for the year today, we played lots of most excellent games, mostly with foam sabres.

Wow, it was loads of fun, especially the team based games like defend the castle.

Just thought I'd mention as I just got back and a great time.

Anyone else have a favourite fencing game?

Yeah , actually i do, it's a game were you've got 2 teams:
(its from a war fought in Belguim in 1600 or so...)
1: The flemish
2: The French part of Belguim, do't know how you say it in
English..


- The 2 teams fight each other (foil or epee)
- one team in the one part of the room and in the middle of the room there's a bench, on the other side of the bench the other team...
- Then they start fighting against eachother and if you get stabbed, you've got 2 back down.
- eventually only a few fencers are left, who ever wins, is the winner....

Its my favorite game because i win all the time...




Greetz Carlos

[Fencingrocks41]

Originally posted by Joan of Ark
Yes! Yes! I know THAT game! It IS really funny. One time, I was playing and I figured out how to salute in the middle of the bout.

Do you know a site orsow were you can find it ore play it online?
Would really appreciate it...


Greetz Carlos

[viojen]

We had a melee at our end of season celebration last year (melee, pizza, and "Princess Bride"). With a few basic rules, it's pretty safe. I think we used whole body target, although we're all foilists, so that's where most of the touches were scored. The main rules were no attacks to the back of the head, and no attacks from behind.
I believe the idea there was to kill as many people on the opposing team as you could.

The other game we played is "Kill the Queen" Just because... It's very similar to a melee, but you don't win until you've killed the other team's queen (or king, if you'd like. But we had the state's men's hs novice champion be our first queen. We couldn't let him get away with anything dignified). The rest of the team tries to kill off anybody else as well, to weaken defenses.
It's also fun when you don't know who the queen is. Teams can mark their queen with a piece of masking tape, and we did say it had to be on the front of the body, but it doesn't necessarily have to not be hidden. Then the best strategy is to kill *everyone*, and hope that one of them was the queen.

[Bonehead]

Heres a fun one for those who do some coaching, Its called Vikings and villagers. The coach is cosidered the viking, and all the students in the class are villagers. The coach must be honest (generally if your coaching a class you are) and I guess you can do it with any weapon/target areas.

You pick a reasonable number of lives for the coach generally relative to the number of kids in the class). The studens each get 2 lives. The first one they sit dow until a freind saves them, the second one they lie down.

then its the coach vs. the class, Extremly fun if its a well matched game, becuas the kids get to "Beat" the coach, and the coach gets to fight off 8-20 kids at a time.

last time I played i was helping coach a juinor beginer class with one of the coaches at my club, we each got 5 lives against about 13-16 kids. We won the first round but lost the second round.

Its amazing, Even though I'm confident I could have beaten every one of those 30-0 in a normal bout its amazingly hard when theres 7 or 8 pining you in a corner ! Its also fun when you can catch one of them outside the group, because if you come down fast enogh on them, you can scare the heck out of them and get behind them to use them as a shield . The only way the coach can win this game is if s/he keeps moving the entire time, otherwise you will get cornered. its great fun.

Same safety rules apply, no attacking the back of the head, no dangerous slashing (try not to trip over the ones lying on the ground)

[Fencingrocks41]

Originally posted by wflaschka
When I was growing up, we used to have group fencing called Melees. Groups of kids would fight each other, all at once. I thought it was quite fun at the time. Nowadays, I'm teaching, but I'm terrified that one of the crazy kids will get hurt (stabbed under the mask or something).

It was safe enough for me, so why shouldn't it be safe enough for today's kids? Does anybody have any input whether this game is acceptable today, or should it be retired forever?

I think that if the kids liike it, you can play it... But there has 2 be some protection , otherwise they COULD get hurt..
Like someone in my club was fencing and he didn't have a protected pair of pants... the other guy stabbed him right in the nuts, quite funny, but it must of hurt... He spend 15 minutes in the loos after that!



Greetz Carlos

[FoilyGeezer]

No real game here but a fun one to run on 1 or 2 strips. Fencer's sign up at random and fence 5 or 7 touch bouts. Winner stays, Loser walks, next name on the list fences the winner. It's especially good when we have an accomplished visitor to the Salle as it's always fun to see new stuff.