Fencing- what weapon is the most fun?

[Blarg]

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Blarg,

Based on that, you want epee. Trust me. Aren't you on the slight side anyway? Epee favors the tall, thin and breadstick-shaped.

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Yeah, I'm basically on the slight side. I am almost 6'2" and people used to constantly ask me if I'm a marathon runner. Now I'm much thicker through the waist because I haven't been working out lately (the biz I'm in works the sh*t out of me and all I do is eat and sleep). But at my fighting weight and in somewhat decent condition I'm basically a somewhat loose ectomorph of over 200 pounds but whose bones are so small and thin he looks weaker than he is, and much, much lighter. People seriously guess my weight often as 20 pounds or more lighter -- built like a dang bird, wrists like a friggin chick despite exercising like a madman since I was 8 years old.

Does epee allow one to attack the wrist and hand, then? I love the idea of closest weapon(in unarmed combat, the lead hand/leg) to nearest target(the outstretched hand/leg of the opponent).

And do you get any points for attacking the knee or shin? Honestly they seem to me some of the smartest targets. Crippling someone or letting them bleed to death seems like an awesome way to fight, to me. I don't see any particular honor in killing them in one awesome, holy heart stab. I just want the mother dead, and like the idea of making getting anywhere in my space a dangerous and terrifying thing.

[Anacardo]

Epee is the only weapon whose target area consists of the entire body. Toe-shots are popular. You'll love it. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

[Blarg]

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Epee is the only weapon whose target area consists of the entire body. Toe-shots are popular. You'll love it. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

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Sweet! For a guy with no shame who only wants to (theoretically only) kill people, that sounds awesome!

I only wish you could get credit for slashes, though. I'm truly shameless when it comes to saving my life, and think everything should count.

I'd be perfectly willing to put the blade aside and leave everyone alone if they'd just let me mind my own business.

[BCPVP]

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It's late and I can't sleep, and this thread got me all worked up about fencing, so here's a tasty link for you all:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...ideo&hl=en

2005 Men's sabre championship. Check out the parry-riposte at 4:30.

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It seems that ties are won by the first person to shout at the judge...

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There were no ties. Right of way, nigga! The slo-mo illustrates who began their attack first, which is the key to everything.

Man, these guys' guards are wild. I'm a nit about these things, but the hand positions I see in this tape are almost insolent. Guess it's good to have an awesome sense of distance.

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I was just kiddin', I can see that they're not really ties and someone gets hit first. It's just funny to see the yelling and fist pumping.

[gurgeh]

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This is kind of off topic, but I know nothing about fencing. How often do people get hurt? How bad?

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Broken blades, as Anacardo said, are the real danger. Aside from that, consider the following:

In sabre, you are wearing the standard knickers, shirt, fencing jacket, glove, and mask. If you are going electric (as in the video, with both fencers hooked up to have lights go off whenever blade contact is made), then you are additionally wearing a lame. This is another jacket on top of your jacket, and hence it would be EXTREMELY hard to get hurt by an opponent's slash with all that padding. Of course if you have a lazy on guard with the guard pointed down, that leaves the side of your hand exposed, and that can be bad news when you try to parry there.

In epee, there are no lames. You also aren't being slashed at, you're being stabbed at with a thick piece of metal. If you run into it going very fast and at the right angle, it may hurt and cause a very deep-level bruise.

Fencing injuries were never even a consideration for me. I had seen what my brother and his friends would get from football, sometimes not even coming out of the game with various ailments, and this isn't even comparable.

[mosta]

I don't disagree with you, but one special danger factor in saber is that the little tip can break off without anyone ever knowing it. A guy on my team in college took a puncture wound into his abdominal cavity, through a lame. He was standing ready for the next point, but Coach insisted on unwrapping and inspecting him--What are you doing Coach? Get out of the way, would you?--Uh, guess we're going to the hospital now. But yeah, with modern equipment (and decent technique) it's really rare.

Someone mentioned 'no ties in saber' above. I can't watch the video right now, but have the rules or the game changed in the past few years? In the early nineties, high level saber fencers decided to fence only half the time. Every other touch was a laughably deliberate simultaneous attack. They didn't fence until someone had priority.

[Anacardo]

Mosta - priority ceased to exist long ago. Also, the saber fleche is now illegal - one may not cross the back foot in front of the front foot. Those capteurs aren't around either. Welcome to 2006. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[mosta]

Okay I managed to get it going. Yeah, this is a lot different from last I looked. Does anyone know if hte rules changed (or the interpretation promulgated)? It became vogue around the early 90s that literally both guys would hop foward with their points dangling towards the ground and then at the same moment casually tap each other on opposite side. "Simultaneous attack. Warning." "Pret, allez." same thing. "simultaneous attack. Priority." and the score keeper would hit a button for the scoring box to pick one guy at random and turn on his Priority light. then if there was a simul attack on the touch, the priority guy gets it. then they start the whole charade again with no priority.

I didn't fence saber, so I don't understand how this came about. I'd supposed that is was because the first attacker was too favored when they figured out to withhold their arm a bit while advancing. so the ideal defense was to do the same simultaneously. but that doesn't completely satisfy me b/c then you're still left having to fence without priority half the time.

[mosta]

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Mosta - priority ceased to exist long ago. Also, the saber fleche is now illegal - one may not cross the back foot in front of the front foot. Those capteurs aren't around either. Welcome to 2006. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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wow. I just read some of this. I was wondering why they weren't flying past each other in that video! maybe I'll get my epee's back out and try to enter the senior olympics. when you're 6'10" it doesn't matter how slow you are...

PS was anyone else around when saber was dry, and touches were called by four unoccupied foil and epee fencers standing in the corners of the piste? those were the days. when it first went electric and all these little touches started showing up around the guard, people were worried it might ruin saber altogether.

[mosta]

and the capteurs!? when you said above saber was the easiest maintain, I was baffled b/c all I could remember were false touches going off all the time and a lot of shaking and tweaking at the thing.

next thing you're going to tell me is they dont' score epee touches with squid ink anymore?? (and a lemon to clear it)