Fencing AMA Ask me Anything

Let me know if you have any questions about fencing.

- I was a casual fencer for 6 years did a few yearly local competitions 

- I was in college club fencing

- my daycare owners son was a US national team fencer who had opportunities to go to Paris Olympics but decided not to. He also did NCAA college fencing.

 1259:

wow

Its not really a popular sport in the US. It's quite expensive and niche. I also forgot to add that my instructor coach did go to the Olympics.

Fencing is popular in Korea though.

How is the fencing shown in the drama, is it accurate?

 Sinasina:

Why is fencing so expensive? Are the swords & the gear need replacing very frequently? 

Better then my write-up: https://www.fencingparents.org/for-beginners/2018/4/17/how-much-will-it-cost-for-my-child-to-fence

------
Firstly, I was not part of a school club but I took group lessons so I can't compare to the leads in the drama. However, since they are bringing their swords (we call them either épée, foil, or sabre based on what type of fencing you are doing) back and forth to home at times it seems that they may own their own swords. Add on episode 6 this week I can certainly say that the main female lead has owned her fencing saber (they are fencing saber in the drama) for quite some time.

So I will go over buying vs using community equipment (with paid lessons) 

Stuff you have to buy and or have - 

• sword of choice and or 3 other swords of choice (I will explain this in my next comment but it's odd because I only see one type of fencing being played in the drama), usually we want to have both a practice and an electric blade.
• clothing - fencing pants (we call them fencing knickers, during practice sessions we won't wear them that much but during competition we will wear them), fencing jacket (over $100), electric bib (it's the mesh looking overcoat that you see in the drama)
  • there are also different types of fencing jackets light, packed, front-zip, back-zip,
  • there are different electric bids for different types of fencing as well  
• glove - this is something you will want to replace a lot!! my old fencing glove is gross and I am not sure how machine washable it is  
• mask - wearing someone else's mask thats not fitted to you is the worst so this is usually one of the first fencing investments made, add that there is a bid that's adjustable so that it can rest on your chin better.

Optional - 

• fencing shoes - typically cost over $150 dollars maybe even more in present day mainly because fencing is such a niche sport especially in my country the U.S. most of the companies we order from are coming from European companies. I even wanted to buy fencing shoes from Addidas a long long time ago but the shoes I looked at were not available anymore and were Europe exclusive I believe
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/Fencing/comments/akh47q/the_ideal_fencing_shoes/ (highlights that you could go through many different shoes and types of shoes throughout fencing career)
  • within the drama the fencers are wearing special sneakers
• chest protection - for woman with breasts it can hurt being pierced by the metal so this is something to invest in, add that there are different types of chest protections as well, some people are more umm violent in their fencing then others (I underestimated in college fencing what a first time fencer would feel like in the chest area, for this reason I hardly let her get any points on me to save face during a bout)

All these investments besides instructor dues can be avoided but if you don't like sharing things with people (smelly masks, smelly gloves,  ill fitting jackets and such) then you have to buy into it.

 pinksprings01:

How is the fencing shown in the drama, is it accurate?

Parts that I really like 

• the fencing form (the way the backfoot and leg looks and how you go up and down)
• the emphasis on analytic competitive fencing, how the female lead knows that when her opponent does A opponent typically does action B
  • my daycare owner's son would typically post-competition pop-in recordings to the TV in the living room and review the footage with his family and analysis any clues or things that other opponents were doing, it wasn't just his own bouts but others bouts as well
• how they highlighted people delaying the bout!!
  • nothing says psychological warfare like when your opponent who is loosing asks the ref if they can do a touch check to make sure everything is working (sometimes it is not working but typically before the game starts this will be done) 
• The noises!! 
  • I don't know why but fencing became like tennis where when you get a point you just scream to the ground!! even if you haven't won the match. You would think the person who got hit would make the noise but nope. 

OH YES ONE OF MY MAJOR GRIPES!!!

* When the MFL and MML were talking and they were playing with the sabre without masks on!!!!! I was in a class under 16 years old so we were taught to not touch our swords without our masks on when we were next to other people. I was frightened watching that scene!! Your only a few steps away from poking someone's eye out!!

Sorry can you elaborate on the principle of “right of way” like how does one get priority?

 jeanfiles:

Sorry can you elaborate on the principle of “right of way” like how does one get priority? 

This video explains it well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7zxpDW8nb0&t=122s

This one has a lot to digest but it's quite cool because it's a womans sabre gold match like the one we watched last week : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHbysntM36A

Oh my goodness, thanks to you I've learned so much about a sport I didn't even care for a month ago, but now I'm quite interested in. My only question is related to the swords. 

It gives me anxiety every time I see players and the drama characters folding their swords constantly as if the sword is having a cramp or something. I know they're sturdy but won't that affect it in the long run? And if not, why the constant bending?