Epee Fencing
2 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Summary: A great reference bookJuly 12th, 2003
I'm not too big on fencing books. I feel that it's better to spend time in the salle than reading books to improve.
If I read a fencing book it usually will be either a novel with swashbuckling in it or it will be something entertaining, like a history book.
I found that Imre Vass' book is however a good addition to the epee fencer's library. There are 2 great things about this book:
The first one is the illustrations of the actions, which are numerous and very well done. They give the reader a good idea of what the move should "look like" while being executed. And it shows different steps of the action, not just the final position, which helps figuring out how it is made. For people who learn by example, like me, it is a great thing to have.
The second great thing is the translation by Stephen Kinoy. The translator did a great job annotating the Hungarian text, and added some references to more modern moves which weren't in use when Vass wrote the book. S. Kinoy also notes differences in terminology between the different systems when there are some, which can be definitely helpful if your coach speaks French fencing or Italian fencing, as some terms in those systems are different than in the Hungarian one.
You won't read this book from front to cover, and it is not expected in any case. What I found useful was for me to look at this book after my lessons to see how my coach's lessons were progressing in parallel. Not that I was checking up on him, but reading about some of things we did in lesson gave me some ideas on other things to try in bouts based on the same preparations and sequences that we had worked on.
So overall, this is one technical fencing book that is worth it's price. If you want to by a book about epee fencing, this is probably the best one there is available right now.
If I read a fencing book it usually will be either a novel with swashbuckling in it or it will be something entertaining, like a history book.
I found that Imre Vass' book is however a good addition to the epee fencer's library. There are 2 great things about this book:
The first one is the illustrations of the actions, which are numerous and very well done. They give the reader a good idea of what the move should "look like" while being executed. And it shows different steps of the action, not just the final position, which helps figuring out how it is made. For people who learn by example, like me, it is a great thing to have.
The second great thing is the translation by Stephen Kinoy. The translator did a great job annotating the Hungarian text, and added some references to more modern moves which weren't in use when Vass wrote the book. S. Kinoy also notes differences in terminology between the different systems when there are some, which can be definitely helpful if your coach speaks French fencing or Italian fencing, as some terms in those systems are different than in the Hungarian one.
You won't read this book from front to cover, and it is not expected in any case. What I found useful was for me to look at this book after my lessons to see how my coach's lessons were progressing in parallel. Not that I was checking up on him, but reading about some of things we did in lesson gave me some ideas on other things to try in bouts based on the same preparations and sequences that we had worked on.
So overall, this is one technical fencing book that is worth it's price. If you want to by a book about epee fencing, this is probably the best one there is available right now.
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