Epee!
Had a great fencing session today. First was a private lesson with Kate, the epee coach--a bit short because I got stuck in traffic and came in late. Still, this was more than enough for what I could take. I told Kate I wanted to try epee, and maybe join her group, if she'll have me. She was delighted, because she actually wants to have more women. And even though all the others in the group are more advanced than me, at least some are closer to my age group. Fencing against teenagers is really not my thing.
I'm not quite sure what we did in during the lesson--she spent some time correcting my posture and movements, as I was too excited and messing up. Also, I don't think I learned my "sixte" correctly, or maybe it's a bit different for epee. Then I did some attacks on her wrist and chest. The wrist part was quite a change from foil!
Mostly, I really like the way she teaches. She spends time explaining and seems to care if you get it,. vs just ticking a box of, "that's done, on to the next one."
So after the lesson I asked her advice--I want to continue with epee, but I'd always thought that it was more physically demanding than foil. Kate totally disagreed. She said epee is more tactical, and so the bouts tend to be less energetic, and so requiring less overall stamina. She said that's the reason seniors' games are thriving for epee, much more so than the other weapons. And she said she knows a woman who started fencing in her sixties, and is now doing world championships in her age group. At that point, I was totally sold.
The actual session had six epeeists, three men and three women, me included. I was with the women group, with a young woman whose name I forgot, and Andrea, a lovely Austrian woman who's about my age and really happy that I joined the group. We did electric sparring, with Kate watching and commenting. It worked really well, because with the three of us, one could always be resting. Obviously, I got beaten squarely, but did manage to score some points, so yay!
For now, I can't say for sure that I really prefer epee as a weapon (or not-prefer it), but I definitely like working with Kate, and general atmosphere in the epee group. I was a bit sorry as all the others from my beginners' group were there today, doing foil... Still, I wasn't sorry enough to want to change back.
The hardest part now is that I have to get my kit. All the other epeeists have it, and it was rather embarrassing as I was still using the club gear, without breeches, and so without a pocket to hold the transmitter (we've moved to wireless for epee), and had to ask my partners to hook it into the back of my very sweaty tracksuit pants... So yeah, I have to buy kit -- and I've just had a glance at Leon Paul, quality British brand, and the epee starter it is... £450... Gulp! Could probably find something a bit cheaper but half the quality... I've got the money, but it was earmarked for something else... I need to sleep on it.
And in the meantime, here's a great brief video I found that shows the differences between the three weapons. Really neat visuals!
I'm not quite sure what we did in during the lesson--she spent some time correcting my posture and movements, as I was too excited and messing up. Also, I don't think I learned my "sixte" correctly, or maybe it's a bit different for epee. Then I did some attacks on her wrist and chest. The wrist part was quite a change from foil!
Mostly, I really like the way she teaches. She spends time explaining and seems to care if you get it,. vs just ticking a box of, "that's done, on to the next one."
So after the lesson I asked her advice--I want to continue with epee, but I'd always thought that it was more physically demanding than foil. Kate totally disagreed. She said epee is more tactical, and so the bouts tend to be less energetic, and so requiring less overall stamina. She said that's the reason seniors' games are thriving for epee, much more so than the other weapons. And she said she knows a woman who started fencing in her sixties, and is now doing world championships in her age group. At that point, I was totally sold.
The actual session had six epeeists, three men and three women, me included. I was with the women group, with a young woman whose name I forgot, and Andrea, a lovely Austrian woman who's about my age and really happy that I joined the group. We did electric sparring, with Kate watching and commenting. It worked really well, because with the three of us, one could always be resting. Obviously, I got beaten squarely, but did manage to score some points, so yay!
For now, I can't say for sure that I really prefer epee as a weapon (or not-prefer it), but I definitely like working with Kate, and general atmosphere in the epee group. I was a bit sorry as all the others from my beginners' group were there today, doing foil... Still, I wasn't sorry enough to want to change back.
The hardest part now is that I have to get my kit. All the other epeeists have it, and it was rather embarrassing as I was still using the club gear, without breeches, and so without a pocket to hold the transmitter (we've moved to wireless for epee), and had to ask my partners to hook it into the back of my very sweaty tracksuit pants... So yeah, I have to buy kit -- and I've just had a glance at Leon Paul, quality British brand, and the epee starter it is... £450... Gulp! Could probably find something a bit cheaper but half the quality... I've got the money, but it was earmarked for something else... I need to sleep on it.
And in the meantime, here's a great brief video I found that shows the differences between the three weapons. Really neat visuals!
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