Doug Werner - Fencers Start-Up: A Beginners Guide to Fencing

Fencers Start-Up

A Beginners Guide to Traditional and Sport Fencing
2nd Edition
By Doug Werner

Tracks Publishing
140 Brightwood Avenue
Chula Vista, CA 91910
(619) 476-7125
www.trackspublishing.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Copyright 2010 by Doug Werner
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Werner, Doug, 1950

Fencers start-up: a beginners guide to traditional and sport fencing / text and photography by Doug Werner. - 2nd ed. - San Diego, Calif.: Tracks Pub., c2010.
p.; cm.
(Start-up sports; #8)
ISBN: 978-1-884654-77-0
Previous edition: 1997.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Fencing-Amateurs manuals. 2. Fencing-Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Swordplay-Amateurs manuals. 4. Swordplay-Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title. II. Series.

2010934311
1010

GV1147 .W47 2010
796.86-dc22

Dedicated to

Nestor Rosario

Christopher J. Reinhard
Griffin Reinhard
Maureen Reinhard

Kathleen Wheeler

Buzz Hurst

Cabrillo Academy of the Sword

Olivia Newby

Deborah B. Waldron

Dan Epperly
Danny Green Legs

Matt Huntley
Van Dyke

David Waller
Gem Meister

Alan Lachica
Tattoo

Dave Burgess
Alaska Dave

Mark Stanford
The President

Calvin Fan
Sara Allen
Eric Walker
Matt Kennel

Phyllis Carter
Lynns Photo

Until I took it up, fencing had always been something that was totally out of my realm. Nothing about it connected. Sure, I dug Zorro as a kid, but what he did was a lot different from what I saw fencers do on TV.

Besides, who fenced? Nobody I ever knew. It was blatantly upper crust and exclusive. Something East Coast preppie types might do. Or a jaded aristocracy somewhere in an old gray castle. It was not a growing up experience or an everyday street occurrence.

Watching the scurrying figures during the Olympic broadcasts (where else?) in their white suites with wires attached had a vague appeal (maybe James Bond fenced?), but overall looked sorta strange. Even silly. Since most of the winning fencers were European, it couldnt be hip (not to an American kid!) and the final verdict (if I ever took the time to form one) was that it was old fashioned and ritualistic. It was like watching a reenactment of an ancient battle. All these kooks getting dressed up in costumes to pay homage to something that pretty much puts most of us to sleep.

Well, guess what? It aint like that. I have never dealt with a sport that, in reality, was so completely different from its popular image.

The fencing experience is electric! Facing your opponent with sword in hand, the adrenaline rages and crackles throughout your body like some wild beast in heat. The action is astonishing and wonderful in its utter completeness your focus is on the fight and nothing else. Its a heavy mind game propelled by every ounce of your energy all wrapped neat and tidy only to be blown to bits in one brilliant explosion after another. The skill, endurance, athletic prowess and intelligence that you and your opponent bring to the bout slam-bangs together in tiny segments of time that leaves you breathless but hungry for more.

In other words, despite its Count Charlie reputation, fencing is an utter blast and as much fun as anything Ive ever tried. Its one of the best kept secrets in sports.

My prediction: One of these days kidsll be engaging blades like they shoot hoops. In the gym and on the blacktops from coast to coast. Its that cool.

Doug Werner

As founders of Winsor Sport Fencing, we are pleased to sponsor Fencers Start-Up: A Beginners Guide to Traditional and Sport Fencing by Doug Werner. The newest addition to the Start-Up Sports Series provides a vibrant compliment to our own efforts to promote participation in the sport. Our combined effort is committed to cultivating and broadening interest in traditional fencing and to promote participation in the newest of the fencing arts: Sport Fencing.

As a rule, fencing books are written by experienced fencing coaches. However, with but a few sparkling exceptions, most of these books tend to be a bit too complex and academic for the everyday person. This book is different. Like all of Dougs Start-Up guides, this

book is written from the beginners perspective. Doug will take you along on his personal journey into the world of fencing, from his first bewildering lessons on through to the more advanced stages of his formal instruction and training. As you learn about fencing, Doug will share his highs and lows, the good and the bad and, yes, even the comical events that make up any learning experience.

In 1993, as I began to teach my son Griffin about fencing, it became clear to me that fencing, this wonderful sport that has provided me with such fun and personal enrichment for so many years, had little hope of ever earning a place in the hearts and minds of our youth. Here in Southern California, traditional fencing was simply no competition for the many new and exciting action sports and leisure pursuits available. It was evident that if fencing was to grow and prosper beyond the 1990s, something had to change. We felt that fencing deserved an opportunity to return to the future. Fencing was too great a sport to wander aimlessly into sports oblivion.

So over the next year, father, son and good friends pioneered a new, simplified form of fencing which we now call Sport Fencing. Sport Fencing is a casual, recreational form of fencing which places great emphasis on physical and aerobic conditioning, coordination, mental agility, strategic thinking and sportsmanship. This new sport is designed to promote a spirited and controlled competition as part of the fencing experience. Sport Fencing is ideal for those seeking fun, excitement, a hearty aerobic workout and an intellectual challenge. It can be enjoyed on any open area having a level, nonskid

surface, such as a gym, a basketball or tennis court even your backyard patio!