4 ms·

If you want to try sword fighting there are a bunch of ways to do it. HEMA people are generally very welcoming and probably slightly mad. quite expensive to ge

If you want to try sword fighting there are a bunch of ways to do it. HEMA people are generally very welcoming and probably slightly mad. quite expensive to get into, but great fun. Fencing is more common, but start out with epee, foil is a big weird as you have right of way, its a training system and it shows, its harder to learn and not as fun. Sabre is for people who like shouting lots, more one hit wonder. For the eastern styles: A good Aikido class should start out with weapons, you wont be going full speed as even with wooden sticks, stuff gets dangerous pretty quick. Korean sword work is going through somewhat of a renaissance, I don't know that much about it though. If you're doing eastern style sword work, don't be tempted to get a metal sword, you'll never be able to train with it, and they are almost always poor quality. (unless you know what you're doing)

yial 1y ago
I would disagree about starting with epee. But that may be a bias about form. I fenced 4-5 times a week for about 10 years, even teaching and was at one point ranked. Our policy was to start people on foil with a strong focus on form for usually about a year before moving to Sabre or epee. Of course, we also usually started people with a French grip, and wrist up vs sideways. One goal for example would be in lunge practice to have a penny or dime a few inches in front of your shoe, and have that go flying without your shoe hitting the floor. I agree with you though that epee is the most fun, and also the most realistic. The right of way in foil is not realistic. Furthermore, I always disliked Sabre as it is very showy but not nearly as enjoyable. In short, foil to learn initial form and practice, and then move to epee. (I realize the arm position difference can create a challenge for some there ) “Foil is art, Sabre is theater, epee is truth”.
- blackguardx 1y ago
  In Epee, if you poke someone in the toe, it "kills" them. Not sure it is any more realistic than foil.
  - some_random 1y ago
    It's a duel to first blood.
  - XorNot 1y ago
    I mean conversely if you drove a blade into someone's foot, the chance they recover before you deliver a follow-up strike is probably quite low.
    - ses1984 1y ago
      On the contrary, when your blade is in their foot it’s not delivering a lethal strike nor is it defending you. Driving a blade through bone doesn’t always come out easily. A trained opponent could probably kill you before they even felt any shock.
  - psunavy03 1y ago
    The way it was explained to me, foil evolved from training for duels to the death (body strikes only), epee evolved from training for duels to first blood (hit anywhere works), and sabre from cavalry training (edge is legal, but only waist up as you're often on a horse). Then they took on their individual quirks like right-of-way.
- KaiserPro 1y ago
  Touche as one might say, you make a good point. I think my bias comes from starting out with japanese sword styles and then moving to european. Instead of huge wide swings, it was all about jabbing someone on the wrist, or intercepting and controlling the blade. I think because I tried Epee first, foil just seemed slow.
  - yial 1y ago
    That makes complete sense. If you’ve tried epee, moving to foil I believe would be hard and not as enjoyable. I know I myself while continuing to fence with foil for years, much preferred epee. Even when teaching, as soon as class was over and I had free time I would put down the foil and switch to epee. One thing I will say is that foil is more enjoyable in my opinion without electronic scoring. Either for fun acknowledging when you’ve been hit, or, with a four judge system. Japanese sword styles have always been fascinating to me, though I lack any formal education in them.
blktiger 1y ago
I enjoy Foil _because_ of right of way, it encourages blade work, movement and technique. Without right of way Epee is quite boring to watch because the fencers spend so much time trying to figure out how to hit their opponent without being hit themselves, but the lack of rules makes it easy to learn. Saber kind of has the opposite problem in that it's so fast it's hard to watch and there is very little extended blade work. To each their own though.
- some_random 1y ago
  Foil is definitely a better game to play, the problem is fencers (usually those starting from Epee) who are thinking of it as a duel.
a_commentator 1y ago
> If you're doing eastern style sword work, don't be tempted to get a metal sword, you'll never be able to train with it, and they are almost always poor quality. (unless you know what you're doing) This is so wrong. Metal is fantastic. Just buy a sparring quality Jian (metal), or wood. "Keep it real" so to speak, for weight, handling, etc. Get the Rodell Sparring Jian. Chinese Swordsmanship is undergoing a renaissance. Yes, it is dangerous. Buy protective gear (especially your eyes), and work with a teacher.

yial 1y ago

I would disagree about starting with epee. But that may be a bias about form. I fenced 4-5 times a week for about 10 years, even teaching and was at one point ranked. Our policy was to start people on foil with a strong focus on form for usually about a year before moving to Sabre or epee. Of course, we also usually started people with a French grip, and wrist up vs sideways. One goal for example would be in lunge practice to have a penny or dime a few inches in front of your shoe, and have that go flying without your shoe hitting the floor. I agree with you though that epee is the most fun, and also the most realistic. The right of way in foil is not realistic. Furthermore, I always disliked Sabre as it is very showy but not nearly as enjoyable. In short, foil to learn initial form and practice, and then move to epee. (I realize the arm position difference can create a challenge for some there ) “Foil is art, Sabre is theater, epee is truth”.

blackguardx 1y ago
In Epee, if you poke someone in the toe, it "kills" them. Not sure it is any more realistic than foil.
- some_random 1y ago
  It's a duel to first blood.
- XorNot 1y ago
  I mean conversely if you drove a blade into someone's foot, the chance they recover before you deliver a follow-up strike is probably quite low.
  - ses1984 1y ago
    On the contrary, when your blade is in their foot it’s not delivering a lethal strike nor is it defending you. Driving a blade through bone doesn’t always come out easily. A trained opponent could probably kill you before they even felt any shock.
- psunavy03 1y ago
  The way it was explained to me, foil evolved from training for duels to the death (body strikes only), epee evolved from training for duels to first blood (hit anywhere works), and sabre from cavalry training (edge is legal, but only waist up as you're often on a horse). Then they took on their individual quirks like right-of-way.
KaiserPro 1y ago
Touche as one might say, you make a good point. I think my bias comes from starting out with japanese sword styles and then moving to european. Instead of huge wide swings, it was all about jabbing someone on the wrist, or intercepting and controlling the blade. I think because I tried Epee first, foil just seemed slow.
- yial 1y ago
  That makes complete sense. If you’ve tried epee, moving to foil I believe would be hard and not as enjoyable. I know I myself while continuing to fence with foil for years, much preferred epee. Even when teaching, as soon as class was over and I had free time I would put down the foil and switch to epee. One thing I will say is that foil is more enjoyable in my opinion without electronic scoring. Either for fun acknowledging when you’ve been hit, or, with a four judge system. Japanese sword styles have always been fascinating to me, though I lack any formal education in them.

blktiger 1y ago

I enjoy Foil _because_ of right of way, it encourages blade work, movement and technique. Without right of way Epee is quite boring to watch because the fencers spend so much time trying to figure out how to hit their opponent without being hit themselves, but the lack of rules makes it easy to learn. Saber kind of has the opposite problem in that it's so fast it's hard to watch and there is very little extended blade work. To each their own though.

some_random 1y ago
Foil is definitely a better game to play, the problem is fencers (usually those starting from Epee) who are thinking of it as a duel.

a_commentator 1y ago

> If you're doing eastern style sword work, don't be tempted to get a metal sword, you'll never be able to train with it, and they are almost always poor quality. (unless you know what you're doing) This is so wrong. Metal is fantastic. Just buy a sparring quality Jian (metal), or wood. "Keep it real" so to speak, for weight, handling, etc. Get the Rodell Sparring Jian. Chinese Swordsmanship is undergoing a renaissance. Yes, it is dangerous. Buy protective gear (especially your eyes), and work with a teacher.