Learning to Fence
Fencing is a sport of speed and accuracy, requiring good hand to eye co-ordination and agile footwork. Auckland Swords caters for all levels of fencers, however coaching is provided at two distinct levels, senior coaching for experienced fencers and beginner coaching for new comers.
Above - classic lunge demonstrated during a coaching lesson at the Auckland Swords Club
The club runs beginners classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights with juniors meeting on Thursdays and adults on Tuesdays. If you have not fenced before then you will initially be in the beginners group which includes all first year fencers. This group trains alongside the more advanced foil fencers and as they progress they will be taught the more advanced techniques available. Juniors stay in this group until they are 16 or 17 years old, but a few of the more experienced ones train in the advanced class on Tuesdays as well.
A typical nights activities will often consist of :
Basketball or soccer warm up, stretching and line work to stretch, tone and strengthen leg muscles, group coaching to practise fencing moves and scoring hits, and judged bouts in which you compete against other individuals. We often finish up with some informal bouts without judging.
Right - Fleche attack at an international competition
Basketball or soccer
This is played by the whole club as a warm up exercise, feel free to join in as you arrive. It doesn’t matter if you are late and miss this, but please try to get yourself warm before you start fencing so as to reduce the risk of injuring muscles.
Right - riposte after an attack has failed in foil
Stretching and Line Work
Is designed to stretch the muscles ready for fencing but will also give you a chance to practise moves, the coach will demonstrate each move for you, so that you know what to do. We are mainly concerned with stretching the quads and achilles in the legs, but also the calf, lower back, waist., and shoulder muscles. The fencing moves which we will be practising are fencing steps, lunging, and sometimes cross-steps and fleche attacks (running attacks). You will also be asked to combine moves into sequences which may include step-lunges, lunge and reprise, lunging from an advance and lunging from a retreat. You will probably find this very demanding on your leg muscles, however repeated training improves muscle tone and will have a major affect on your fitness.
Right - organising bouts at the A.S.C
Group Coaching
As part of the beginners group you will be taught how to use a weapon to score points and how to defend yourself against being hit.
We supply foils, helmets and jackets for our beginners so that you can practise and compete safely.
Most of the training in this group is done with Foils, and the important point to remember is that you can only score with the point of the blade, not the edge, and that you will often be trying to hit very small target areas in an effort to avoid your opponents defences. In foil you can only score on your opponents body, not the fencing arm that may be in the way or the helmet.
For defence you will be taught a series of parries, these are described below for right handers, left handers should reverse the moves:
Right - counter six parry deflects the blade past the left shoulder for a left hander
Quarte ( pronounced cart ) is a sweep across from right to left, pushing your opponents blade high to the left.
Counter six ( counter sixt ) is a rotational parry clockwise, pushing your opponents blade high to the right.
Octave ( octarve ) is a rotational parry anti-clockwise, pushing your opponents blade low to the right.
Prime ( preem ) is a sweep from low on your right to high on your left, pushing your opponents blade over your left shoulder.
For left handers the direction of all moves is reversed, so that counter six is an anti-clockwise rotation, pushing the opponents blade high to the left.
The most important factor following all parries is the riposte, a hit which you score immediately after the parry. It is important to choose the correct part of your opponent to hit as their fencing arm and weapon are likely to be blocking some parts of the target.
Finally you must combine these moves with lunges, steps and fleche attacks.
Right - Basketball warm up
Bouts
Finally we will organise a series of bouts where you can test your skills against an opponent. Most of these bouts at junior level use visual judging as I am afraid that we do not have sufficient equipment to provide all of our beginners with electric weapons and jackets, but intermediate level fencers will largely fence electric.
In Foil you can only score on your opponents body, not their arms legs or helmet, and if you both score a point a set of priority rules determines who gets the point, only one point is awarded at a time. In general the priorities favour the attacker unless the defender can execute a successful parry-riposte.
Competitions
The club runs a series of competitions through the year. There are two competitions per month, and a winter tournament in July and an end of year tournament in November. Beginners join in with these competitions but are given a low handicap or ranking to start with, as they start to win bouts this ranking will improve and matches will get harder.
Equipment
The club provides Foils, helmets and jackets for beginners, but if you decide to stay then you will want to buy your own kit. Below are some of the items in a fencing kit and an approximate price (see the clubs treasurer for the final word):
| Foil (electric)- $110 | Mask - $160 | Jacket - $100 + |
| Glove - $25 | Lame Target Jacket (Foil)- $220 | Plastron - $30 |
| Epee (electric) - $140 | Body wires - $30 or $40 | Ladies Breastplate - $15 |
Jackets vary in price dramatically depending upon whether you buy a locally made cotton duck jacket, or a more expensive type. The Plastron is a half jacket worn under the main jacket covering the fencing arm, chest and armpit. Ladies also wear a plastic chest protector. The Lame jacket is a metalic jacket worn in electric Foil over your main jacket and is the target for your opponent to hit, it is not used in Epee. A body wire connects your weapon to the spools and scoring equipment.
To learn more then come along to our club! If you have made it this far into the site then you have obviously found it interesting so why not give it a go! You can come along any Thursday night from March to October, or contact me at:
ken.snow@xtra.co.nz
